The 1999 Carson-Newman football season produced yet another great year for Eagle fans. They won the South Atlantic Conference championship for the seventh straight year, finished the regular season ranked number one in the nation and advanced to the NCAA Division II national championship game for the second straight year. Even though the Eagles fell just short in the title game, 1999 was filled with outstanding plays and great players. “Men of Excellence” was the theme for this season, and Coach Ken Sparks’ team lived up to its theme both on and off the field. After beginning the season with a 41-7 victory over Geneva College in The Smokey Mountain Rotary Classic, Carson-Newman rolled through the regular
season undefeated and entered the NCAA playoffs ranked number one in the nation. Their final game of the season in the championship proved to be the ultimate “nailbiter;” falling to Northwest Missouri State 58-52 in four overtimes. Many have already dubbed this the “game of the century.” 1999 saw a season where Carson-Newman broke many records and placed seven players on the ALL-SAC first team. Coach Sparks was named Division II Coach of the Year by the American Football Coach Magazine. He was later named to the board of trustees of the prestigious American Football Coaches Association at the AFCA Convention in Anaheim, Calif. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes tabbed Sparks its National Coach of the Year in 1999.
