ELON, N.C. -- A key Southern Conference battle awaits the No. 19 Elon Phoenix football team this weekend as the squad will travel to No. 1 Appalachian State for a 3 p.m. showdown which will air live on SportSouth.  This will be Elon's third contest against a top-25 team this season.

Site: Boone, N.C.
Stadium: Kidd Brewer Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf
Capacity: 21,650
Radio: WPCM 920 AM – David Hibbard (play-by-play) and Taylor Durham (color)
Series: ASU leads 28-9-1

Live Audio
Live Stats
Game Notes

Noteworthy
• Quarterback Scott Riddle is one of 20 players on the Watch List for the 2010 Walter Payton Award which is presented to the top offensive player at the FCS level.
• Riddle’s 416 passing yards vs. Samford was the second-highest total of the signal-caller’s career and the 16th-highest total ever in league history.
• Elon has gotten on the scoreboard first in each of its five games this season.
• The Phoenix has had a receiver eclipse the 100-yard receiving mark in each game this year.

The Coaches
Elon: Pete Lembo (Georgetown '92) is 75-34 in his 10th season as a head coach.  He is 31-20 in his four-plus years at Elon.
Appalachian State: Jerry Moore (Baylor ‘61) is 220-123-2 in his 29th season as a head coach. He is 193-76 in his 21-plus campaigns at Appalachian State.

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.

Consistently Ranked
Checking in at number 19 in both The Sports Network and FCS Coaches polls, the Elon football team has now been ranked in every poll issued by The Sports Network since Oct. 18, 2007 – a span of 39 polls.

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 - 1,582
2. B.J. Coleman, UTC - 1,123

First Strike
In all five of its games this season Elon has jumped out on top in the first quarter. The Phoenix has struck for the first score in each of its 2010 outings. Four of the first scores have been touchdowns. The lone field goal that gave Elon the early lead came at Duke.

Pass it Along
Against Samford, Scott Riddle passed for 416 yards on 36 completions. The yardage marked the second-highest total of Riddle’s career and ranks as the 16th-best passing yardage total in league history. The SoCon passing record of 534 yards is owned by Riddle and was accomplished at Furman on Nov. 3, 2007.

For his performance, Riddle was recognized as the SoCon X-Factor of the Week by SouthernPigskin.com and as both the National Performer of the Week and National Quarterback of the Week by CollegeFootballPerformance.com.