ELON, N.C. -- The Elon Phoenix football team will travel to Chattanooga, Tenn. for a 2 p.m. tilt with the 20th-ranked Chattanooga Mocs on Saturday.  UTC will be the fifth top-25 opponent, and third consecutive ranked foe, for Elon this year.

Site: Chattanooga, Tenn.
Stadium: Finley Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf
Capacity: 22,668
Radio: WPCM 920 AM – David Hibbard (play-by-play) and Taylor Durham (color)
Series: Elon leads 5-2

Live Audio
Live Video
Live Stats
Game Notes

Noteworthy
• Quarterback Scott Riddle is among the players on the Watch List for the 2010 Walter Payton Award which is presented to the top offensive player at the FCS level.
• Aaron Mellette’s 59 receptions, 721 receiving yards and 10 receiving TDs this year all rank among the top-10 single-season marks during the program’s NCAA Division I history.
• Elon has gotten on the scoreboard first in five of its seven games this season.
• This game features the top two passers in the SoCon this season in Elon’s Riddle (2,208 yards) and UTC’s B.J. Coleman (1,871 yards).
• Also featured in this contest are the top three pass catchers in the SoCon. Elon’s Mellette has 59 catches for 721 yards and teammate Sean Jeffcoat has 44 grabs for 563 yards while UTC’s Joel Bradford has caught 55 balls for 875 yards. 

The Coaches
Elon: Pete Lembo (Georgetown '92) is 75-36 in his 10th season as a head coach.  He is 31-22 in his four-plus years at Elon.
UTC: Russ Huesman (Chattanooga ‘83) is 11-6 in his second season as a head coach, both at UTC.

SoCon Showing Support for the Gulf Coast
Southern Conference football teams will show their support for those being impacted along the Gulf Coast by wearing helmet decals with the initials “GC” during the 2010 football season. More than 170 SoCon football players come from states that share a coastline being affected by the oil spill. The nine institutions that play SoCon football agreed to display the decals to express their support and encouragement for the people living in the region.

“Pete Lembo of Elon approached me with the idea while we were at our annual coaches’ meetings in June,” noted Southern Conference Commissioner John Iamarino. “I lived in Louisiana for six years and my son was born there, so when Pete mentioned it, the concept really resonated with me.”

Use of the decal was approved by the NCAA’s rules committee and supervisory officiating organization upon request by the conference.

Elite Company
Quarterback Scott Riddle has led the league in passing yards in each of his first three seasons in the league. No player has ever led the SoCon in passing for four consecutive years. Marshall’s Michael Payton (1990-92) is the only other player to have led the league in passing for three straight seasons.

2010 SoCon Passing Leaders
1. Scott Riddle, Elon - 2,208
2. B.J. Coleman, UTC - 1,871

Tightly Contested
Despite sporting a record of 2-5, the Elon Phoenix has been in some very close contests. Elon has been outscored by only 13 points on the season, an average of only 2.6 points per game.

Four of the five defeats have come against teams ranked in the FCS top-25. In fact, all but one of Elon’s games against FCS competition have been against a top-25 foe.

Mellette Making His Mark
Just seven games into his sophomore season, Aaron Mellette is already etching his name into the Elon record book. Mellette’s 59 receptions for 721 yards and 10 touchdowns all rank among the top-10 on the program’s single-season charts at the FCS level. The 59 grabs rate seventh, the 721 receiving yards also rank seventh, the 10 total TDs are tied for third while 10 receiving TDs put him in a tie for third.