| #5 Elon Phoenix (4-1, 2-0) at Delaware Blue Hens (3-2, 1-1) |
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ELON, N.C. – Ranked its highest in the national polls since the 2009 season, fifth-ranked Elon University football will visit Delaware on Saturday, Oct. 13, looking to win its fifth game in a row to close a stretch in which it's played four of its first six games on the road.
Fans can watch the game live on NBC Sports Philadelphia, SNY and WRDE with Andrew Bogusch and Qadry Ismail on the call. Phoenix fans can also listen to the game exclusively through Phoenix All-Access and on the TuneIn app.
Taylor Durham will have the call with Matt Krause providing color analysis. Links to listen live can be found by visiting
elonphoenix.com/Live. Pregame coverage of Elon-Delaware is set to start at 2:30 p.m.
SATURDAY'S GAME IS...
-...the 972nd in program history.
-...the 221st as a FCS program.
-...the third all-time between Elon and Delaware.
AN ELON WIN WOULD BE...
-...Elon's 506th in program history.
-...Elon's 95th as a FCS program.
-...Elon's first all-time over Delaware
-...
Curt Cignetti's 13th at Elon and 66th as head coach.
-...Elon's fifth-straight victory.
SERIES HISTORY
-Elon and Delaware have met twice to date thus far with both meetings coming in Elon's first two years as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association.
-Each of the two games in the series have been close contests with Elon falling 34-24 in the first meeting in 2014, followed by a 14-10 UD win in 2015.
-In Elon's first meeting with Delaware,
Mike Quinn threw the ball 55 times and Elon mounted a comeback after trailing by 24 at halftime, but it couldn't overcome the deficit in falling 34-24. In the second meeting, Elon had a chance to drive for the winning score with 1:23 to play and reached the Delaware 34 before stalling out.
Connor Christiansen, now a defensive back for the Phoenix, threw for 243 yards and a score in the game.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
-Elon is ranked No. 5 in the STATS FCS poll and No. 6 in the AFCA Coaches Poll.
-Ranked No. 5, it's the highest ranking since Elon was No. 3 for two weeks in October during the 2008 season .
-Elon has now been ranked for 15 consecutive games going back to Sept. 30, 2017, when Elon hosted Albany at Rhodes Stadium.
LAST TIME OUT
-The Phoenix defense forced a turnover with 4:16 to play at No. 2 James Madison and engineered a 10-play, 74-yard drive that saw
Davis Cheek hit
Avery Jones in the end zone from 15 yards out to give Elon a 27-24 victory over the second-ranked Dukes for its first win over a Top-5 program at the Division I level.
-After the touchdown,
Connor Christiansen sealed the win with an interception of Ben DiNucci with 23 seconds to play. Both of Christiansen's career interceptions have come against James Madison after intercepting Bryan Schor in the regular-season finale at Rhodes Stadium last season.
-Elon ran for 212 yards in the contest and allowed JMU just 103. The Dukes had only allowed 78.4 yards per game on the ground entering the contest while racking up 220.4 themselves offensively.
SUMMERS RUNNING WILD
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Malcolm Summers has reached at least 124 yards in each of Elon's last three games, totaling 460 yards on 71 carries to average 153.3 yards per game.
-Summers is now averaging a CAA-best 118.4 yards per game on the ground and his 592 total yards is four behind Stony Brook's Jordan Gowins' 596 with an extra game in hand.
-Already, Summers has touchdown runs of 54 yards against New Hampshire and 59 against James Madison. The 59-yard touchdown run against the Dukes is the longest for Elon since Ronnie Dargan went 65 yards to the house on Sept. 9, 2004, against Wofford.
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP HERE
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Davis Cheek has put together an impressive run in completing 71 of his last 104 passes in Elon's four FCS games with four touchdowns and no turnovers.
-In all, Cheek has completed 68.3 percent of his passes against FCS competition this year.
ROAD WARRIORS
-In each of Elon's last eight road games, it has trailed at some point in the second half. In those eight games, Elon has won six of them.
-Over the course of the last three seasons, Elon has defeated a Top 10 program on the road in each campaign by beating No. 8 William & Mary 27-10 in 2016, No. 6 Richmond 36-33 in 2017 and now No. 2 James Madison 27-24 this year.
CAA HONORS
-After coming up with 11 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a pass breakup in the win over Furman,
McAllister Ingram was named CAA Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 10. The 11 tackles set a new career high for the sophomore. On the second play of the game, Ingram stripped Furman quarterback Darren Grainger and
Greg Liggs, Jr. recovered the fumble and took it 22 yards for the game-opening score.
-With nine tackles, 4.5 TFL and 2.5 sacks,
Marcus Willoughby was named Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 1. In all, Willoughby was one tackle short of tying his career high, but his 4.5 tackles for loss nearly doubled his previous career high of 2.5. He helped set a tone for the rest of the defensive unit that allowed just 46 yards and zero points in the second half.
-After the win over No. 2 James Madison,
Malcolm Summers was named CAA Offensive Player of the Week and
Zack Monson was tabbed CAA Rookie of the Week. Summers ran for 186 yards on 20 carries with a touchdown run of 59 yards to mark a career-long for the senior. Monson, who was making his first-career start, made 12 tackles and had 2.0 tackles for loss with 1.5 sacks.
PRESEASON SELECTIONS
-Linebacker
Warren Messer and offensive lineman
CJ Toogood were picked to the 2018 CAA Football Preseason All-Conference team in July.
-Messer was named First Team All-CAA Football after the 2018 season while picking up a pair of Second Team All-America honors after recording 114 tackles, including 11.0 for loss and 5.5 sacks.
-Toogood, a Second Team All-CAA Football selection a season ago, helped Elon's rushing attack finish fourth in the league and 56th in the nation with 164.5 rushing yards per game. Overall, Elon's O-line group helped the Phoenix rank fourth in the league with 23 sacks allowed.
-In the preseason poll, Elon was picked fifth and received one first-place vote. A year ago, the Phoenix was picked 11th and closed the season third while playing for a share of the CAA regular-season title on the final day of the regular campaign against No. 1 James Madison.
HEAD COACH CURT CIGNETTI
-Elon is under the leadership of
Curt Cignetti who was named the program's 22nd head football coach on Dec. 31, 2016.
-The assistant coach/recruiting coordinator on Nick Saban's undefeated 2009 National Championship team at Alabama, Cignetti previously spent six seasons as the head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, amassing a record of 53-17.
-Cignetti is the sixth man to guide the Phoenix since the program moved to Division I play for the 1999 season.
THE FAMILY BUSINESS
-Elon's second-year head coach
Curt Cignetti grew up around football. His father Frank compiled a career 199-77-1 record as a collegiate head coach at West Virginia and IUP and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013. His brother, Frank Jr., is currently the quarterbacks coach for the Green Bay Packers.
FOR MORE...
-...information about this week's game, visit the game notes in the information box at the top of the page.
UP NEXT
-Ready for a three-game homestand, Elon will come home Saturday, Oct. 20, for the first of three in a row at Rhodes Stadium to host Richmond at 1:30 p.m. The game will air on Fox College Sports and can be accessed through Fox Sports Go.
– ELON –
