High-powered offenses meet at Braly

FLORENCE - Two of the nation's top offenses will be on display today as North Alabama hosts Carson-Newman in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs.

Kickoff is at noon at Braly Stadium.

Today's winner advances to the semifinals to play the winner of the Grand Valley State vs. Minnesota-Duluth game.

UNA (11-1) enters today's game fourth nationally in scoring, averaging 41.0 points per game. Carson-Newman (10-2) is right behind, ranking eighth at 40.5 points per game.

While both have high-powered offenses, they are entirely different philosophically. The Lions rely on their passing game, led by senior quarterback Harrison Beck.

The Eagles, meanwhile, feature a powerful running game out of their split-veer attack. Carson-Newman leads the nation in rushing, averaging 356.4 yards per game. Carson-Newman features two 1,000-yard rushers in quarterback Alex Good (1,138 yards) and halfback Buck Wakefield (1,236 yards).

"When you play against the option you have to play assignment football," defensive tackle Montrell Craft said. "Everybody has a job to do. The defensive line has to take the dive, the middle linebacker takes the quarterback and the outside linebackers and safeties take the pitch man. Everybody just has to do their job and be disciplined."

The two teams met in the second week of the season with UNA winning 31-14. Since then, Carson-Newman has won 10 in a row.

Carson-Newman rushed for 314 yards in the first meeting, but four turnovers helped UNA take control.

Coach Terry Bowden said it is important for the Lions to get off to a quick start against a team with such a great running game.

"It's hard to catch up against them because they can control the clock," Bowden said. "If you fall behind, you just don't have a lot of opportunities with the football.

"Offensively, we have to balance our ability to control the football with our ability to score points. We have players that can score quickly, but some would argue that you don't want to score too quickly and put your defense back on the field."

Beck threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns in last week's 41-28 playoff win against Arkansas Tech. The Lions average 318.8 yards passing and 111.7 yards rushing per game.

"Slowing them down is tough because they have so much speed and a big offensive line," Carson-Newman coach Ken Sparks said. "Their quarterback does a good job getting the ball out of his hand quickly. I see no weaknesses in them."

Carson-Newman is trying to win for the first time at Braly Stadium. The Eagles are 0-8 all-time at Braly, with five losses coming to UNA and three coming in the Division II Championship Game. UNA holds an 8-1 edge in the overall series.

Sparks said his team is excited about the challenge of playing UNA again.

"We just wanted to play another game - it didn't matter who we played," Sparks said. "But we know that we are probably playing the best team in the country. It's a fun challenge for us."

Jeff McIntyre can be reached at 740-5737 or jeff.mcintyre@TimesDaily.com.