CARROLLTON, Ga. – 655 days.

That's how painstakingly long the University of West Georgia football team has waited for game day.

Well, that wait is officially over.

Following a fall without football in 2020 due to COVID-19, the Wolves return to the gridiron for the 2021 kickoff on Thursday in a 7 p.m. season-opening showdown against Carson-Newman from Burke-Tarr Stadium in Jefferson City, Tennessee.

Needless to say, UWG head coach David Dean and crew are chomping at the bit to take the field and toe the line against the No. 24 Eagles.

"It's been a long time and camp's been long. You can tell there's a little bit of a different atmosphere in practice this week. There's just a little bit of different energy knowing that it's right around the corner," Dean said.

The 2021 version of West Georgia football will feature some familiar faces who served as key contributors on the 2019 squad, while there will also be several new components to the program to ignite the charge toward a postseason push.

Looking ahead to the matchup against Carson-Newman, it makes for a major challenge right from the jump upon getting back to action against a traditional power out of the South Atlantic Conference.

The Eagles are kicking off the Mike Clowney era, as the former All-American linebacker took the reins at his alma mater in 2020. C-N played one game in the spring of 2021, registering a 40-37, four-overtime victory over Virginia-Wise, marking the longest game in school history.

In its last full season of competition in 2019, Carson-Newman finished 9-3 and reached the second round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs, including a 20-13 victory over eventual national champion West Florida in the season opener.

"There's just a lot of uncertainty. They've got a new coach and you don't know if they've changed a lot. We weren't able to see them play last year, haven't been able to see them play this year," Dean said. "There's going to have to be some adjustments that have to be made during the game that we probably have not been able to practice, haven't been able to see. That's just part of football."

Although they still operate out of the triple option, the Eagles have opened up the offense featuring a major threat in the passing attack in the form of senior wideout Braxton Westfield, one of the most dangerous weapons in all of Division II.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound James Madison transfer hauled in 36 receptions for 680 yards and 11 touchdowns during his first season at Carson-Newman in 2019.

"He's electric with his speed. We've got to jam him on the line of scrimmage and make him start and restart, stay in his hip pocket. We've got to harass him a good bit," Dean said. "But it's all going to start with us putting pressure on the quarterback. If we can force him to have to get rid of the ball pretty quick, that kind of negates his speed. But if we let him stand back there and let him get going and running down the field, we're going to have a hard time staying with him. We don't have anybody on our team that can run that fast."

C-N will also try to get the ball in the hands of play-makers Gourel Soumare, J.J. Lewis and Romain Kelly on the perimeter.

In the backfield, the Eagles return Troy Dendy, who rushed for 700 yards and six touchdowns on 85 carries en route to SAC Offensive Freshman of the Year honors in 2019. He will be the featured back after the Eagles graduated the program's No. 3 all-time rusher Antonio Wimbush, who finished his career with 4,003 yards and 43 touchdowns.

Defensively, the Eagles have to replace their entire secondary, including a pair of All-Americans, but do return experience at linebacker and on the D-line, powered by All-American linebacker Rondrow Peebles, who led C-N with 93 tackles, including 18 for a loss with nine sacks in 2019.

Dean is excited to see how the UWG offense operates with several new play-makers taking the forefront. The offensive line is anchored by Benjamin Walters at left guard, who has 24 career starts under his belt entering his senior campaign.

"Our offense each week has gotten a little bit better. The first scrimmage we were OK. The second scrimmage we played a lot better. Over the course of the last week, our timing is starting to get there," Dean said. "We had a lot of receivers that went out early in practice with some injuries and they've been able to come back and get the timing with the quarterbacks, which is good to see. I'm pleased with where we are. But you just don't ever know until you get out there and play and get under the lights and hit somebody else. I'm excited to see how these guys are going to respond for the first time playing together. It's been almost two years since they've played."

Walters is one of four senior leaders that the UWG players voted as team captains last week, joined by wide receiver Mechane Slade and safeties Mike Miller and Chris Blackston.

"I think the team made a great choice on all four of them. All four are great leaders. They're the guys that were here all summer, worked out all summer with our strength staff and did our OTAs. They led those OTAs a lot of the time," Dean said.

"I'm really proud of Mechane Slade, a guy coming in here for the first year and being voted captain. That says a lot for him and his work ethic and what he brings to the table every day. Then the other guys, Chris Blackston and Ben Walters have been here a long time. Basically, they're here for their sixth year. So they deserve that opportunity. Then Mike Miller, from the first day he came in here, he's been one of those guys who's stepped forward and pushes everybody and knows how to lead in the right way."

From the leaders to the newcomers, it's been a long grind to reach this point. But it's finally here – Week 1 of the 2021 football season.

"For as physical a camp as we've had, it's good to see that they've made it through that. Hopefully, we can stay healthy throughout that game and hopefully we can stay healthy throughout the season and continue to get better each week," Dean said. "We've got a young team. I'm looking forward to seeing how they're going to respond the first time out."