How Newberry College football is dealing with familiar feeling of high expectations
Football has become a part of life at Newberry College.
With Todd Knight leading the way, the Wolves have become the dominant team in the South Atlantic Conference.
As the defending SAC champions, the stakes remain high for the Wolves: The team has been picked to repeat that accomplishment this season.
“We’re coming off back-to-back championships,” Knight said. “That’s never been done at Newberry, so there is a lot of excitement in camp. The level everyone thinks you should be playing at is pretty dang high. I don’t know if we can match that. I think we have a good team.
“We’ve got a lot of experience in a spot or two and, at others, they don’t have a lot of reps under their belt.”
There is one place Knight has to find a replacement. That’s running back where all-conference performer Mario Anderson has exited.
After rushing for 1,560 yards and 19 touchdowns, the Summerville resident transferred to South Carolina, leaving a hug void.
“We lost a really good tailback to South Carolina,” he said. “That’s going to be a question mark for us. It’s going to be a little bit by committee. But we’ve got some really good kids. We might look a bit different and we might have to run some different plays, but I think we’ll have the same outcome.”
Anderson’s replacement “is something we need to figure out quickly. We’ve got two really big tailbacks we’ll probably put back there.”
Newberry returns a solid offensive line with four of five starters return.
“We’ve got a lot of kids back,” Knight said of the line. “We feel good about the guys up front on offense. Hopefully, with those big backs, we can wear people down. We will be more power-run oriented.”
The defensive front seven is also solid.
“I think we’re very strong as a linebacking corps,” Knight said. “Inside, both kids are back. One of them was the defensive MVP last season.”
One of the leaders there is senior Luke Taylor.
“With the success we’ve had, the expectations remain high,” said Taylor, who had 44 unassisted tackles in 2022, including nine for loss and three sacks. He had 27 assists, one forced fumble and two interceptions at linebacker. “This is my fourth season and I feel really good. We feel good about the potential of this team.”
Taylor’s brother, freshman Colby Taylor, is a 6-3, 260-pound defensive end that has caught Knight’s attention.
“He can do a lot of things,” Knight said. “He stops the sweep, rushes the passer and just holds up his side when the run is coming at him.”
The Wolves received six first-place votes and 114 points to earn the top spot in the preseason South Atlantic Conference poll.
They return 18 athletes who played in 10 or more games last season — six on offense, 10 on defense and two on special teams.
The Wolves are ranked 24th nationally and open the season on Sept. 2 when they battle Shippensburg University (Pa.) on the road.
Three key players
Dwayne Wright, sophomore, running back
Wright will be given a chance to make his mark in the backfield. The 5-11, 225-pound sophomore rushed for 133 yards against Allen and 80 against Erskine as a freshman.
Kevon Gregory, senior, defensive back
Gregory is one of three transfer portal players who will be counted on to make an immediate impact.
Luke Taylor, senior, linebacker
Taylor had a dominant junior season. Included in his stats were nine tackles for loss, three sacks, two interceptions and one forced fumble.
Three big games
Sept. 30 vs. Carson Newman
Carson Newman has long been a power in the SAC. It was picked to finish fifth in the league this season.
Oct. 21 vs. Lenoir-Rhyne
Lenoir-Rhyne opens the season ranked 25th nationally.
Nov. 11 at Mars Hill
Another strong SAC competitor, Mars Hill is picked to finish fifth in the league.
