Orono, Maine – The Elon football team went 12-of-16 on third downs and the Phoenix won a road CAA Football game for the second consecutive weekend, defeating Maine 33-23 Saturday. Elon entered the game receiving votes in the AFCA FCS Coaches Top 25 poll.
 
Davis Cheek went 29-of-37 for 332 yards, throwing three touchdowns and rushing for another, as the Phoenix led wire-to-wire to improve to 3-3 on the season and 2-1 in CAA Football play. It is the first time in 2021 that Elon did not trail in the contest. Maine falls to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in CAA Football.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Elon jumped out to quick start, scoring touchdowns on its first two drives. The Phoenix opened the game with a tone-setting 14-play, 75-yard drive that chewed up 6:52. Elon went 3-for-3 on third downs and Donovan Williams capped the possession with a nine-yard touchdown reception, his first TD of the season.
• Maine rebounded with a 40-yard field goal to make it 7-3 but Elon came right back with an 8-play, 75-yard drive that concluded with a Jaylan Thomas 30-yard scoring reception. The extra point was blocked but Elon still led 13-3.
• Late in the second quarter, Maine rolled the dice on fourth-and-two but the Elon defense held the Black Bears to a one-yard rush and gave the Phoenix short field position. Cheek posted his third touchdown pass of the half four plays later, hitting Bryson Daughtry from 39 yards out to put Elon ahead 19-3.
• Maine answered with a critical drive and got a touchdown with 35 seconds left in the half to make the score 19-10.
• The Elon offense continued to roll in the third quarter as the Phoenix went 80 yards on 12 plays to build a 26-10 lead. The big strike was Chandler Brayboy's 40-yard reception to the 4-yard line and Cheek snuck it in from a yard out two plays later.
• Maine, though, was not done and the Black Bears put together back-to-back scoring drives to get to within three points, at 26-23, after three quarters.
• With momentum shifting, Elon once more engineered a touchdown drive, going 60 yards on 11 plays. On first-and-goal from the two, McKinley Witherspoon punched it home for the final scoring in the contest, giving Elon the 33-23 win.

 
NOTABLE STATS

• Elon improved to 3-1 on the road in 2021.
• The Phoenix earned its first 2-1 start to CAA Football play since 2018.
• Entering the contest, Elon had forced at least two turnovers in every game in 2021. Neither team had even a single turnover in the contest.
• Jaylan Thomas had a team-best 96 all-purpose yards, 51 receiving and 45 on the ground.
• Four players had at least 50 yards receiving, led by Bryson Daughtry with 89. Jackson Parham added 71, Chandler Brayboy had 56 and Thomas finished with 51.
• Bo Sanders had a team-high seven tackles, while Cole Coleman added six tackles and 1.5 for loss.
• Torrence Williams finished with five tackles, a blocked kick, and a pass break-up. He also had 0.5 tackle for loss.
• With three extra points, Skyler Davis passed Grover Helsley (1968-71) for eighth-most in a career in program history.
• Elon had 24 first downs and held Maine to 15.
• Elon had a massive time of possession advantage at 37:59-22:01.
• The Phoenix went 12-of-16 on third downs and held Maine to 4-of-11.
• Elon scored touchdowns on all three of its trips into the red zone. Maine went scoreless on two of its three red zone opportunities.

 
FROM COACH TONY TRISCIANI
"I'm proud of our guys. We came up here and got a CAA win and that was our goal. It was a game in which we had to be very resilient. We gave up some explosive plays on defense and special teams and we had to rally back and play the next snap."
 
UP NEXT

• Elon will have a bye before a difficult three-game stretch against three ranked teams.
• The Phoenix is home Oct. 23 to host No. 22 New Hampshire at 1:00 p.m.
• After that contest, Elon plays at No. 3 James Madison Oct. 30 and then returns home to host No. 11 Villanova Nov. 6.