ELON, N.C. -- The Elon Phoenix football team will make just its second appearance at Rhodes Stadium this season as it welcomes the Samford Bulldogs for a 1:30 p.m. contest on Saturday afternoon.  Elon enters the Southern Conference showdown ranked 21st nationally.

Site: Elon, N.C.
Stadium: Rhodes Stadium
Surface: Natural Grass
Capacity: 11,250
Radio: WPCM 920 AM – David Hibbard (play-by-play) and Taylor Durham (color)
Series: Elon leads 6-2

Live Audio
Live Video
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.
• Aaron Mellette has posted three-straight 100-yard receiving games, scoring twice in all three.
• Elon is 3-1 on Family Weekend games under Pete Lembo.
• Under Lembo, Elon is 3-1 in its first home SoCon contest. All-time, the Phoenix is 4-3 in its home SoCon openers.

The Coaches
Elon: Pete Lembo (Georgetown '92) is 74-34 in his 10th season as a head coach.  He is 30-20 in his four-plus years at Elon.
Samford: Pat Sullivan (Auburn ‘72) is 41-62-1 in his 10th season as a head coach. He is 17-20 in his three-plus campaigns at Samford

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 21 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 38 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 - 1,166
2. B.J. Coleman, UTC - 1,123

Retiring #19 Jersey
On Saturday, Elon will honor the accomplishments of former standout wide receiver Terrell Hudgins with the retirement of his #19 jersey. In his time with the Phoenix, Hudgins set 19 NCAA, SoCon or Elon records. He is the all-time NCAA Division I leader in career receiving yards (5,250), career receptions (395), career 100-yard receiving games (28) and career 1,000-yard receiving seasons (4).