Elon, N.C. – Elon rallied from a second-half deficit for the third consecutive game, finding late-game heroics yet again in a 30-27 double overtime victory over No. 17/22 Richmond Saturday in front of 9,243 Family Weekend fans. Ranked No. 23 in the country entering the contest, Elon defeats a ranked team for the second consecutive weekend.
 
On a wet and sloppy field, Skyler Davis made his 59^th career field goal, tying the Elon program record, with 37 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 17-17. Johncarlos Miller II earned his first career touchdown on a 25-yard reception in the first overtime, and then Jalen Hampton scored untouched from 11 yards out in the second overtime for the 30-27 win.
 
Elon improves to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in CAA Football play, the team's first 2-0 start to conference play since 2018. Richmond falls to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in CAA action.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Elon struck quickly, as Matthew McKay found Bryson Daughtry for a 74-yard touchdown pass on the Phoenix's first offensive play of the game.
• Richmond answered back just three minutes later with an eight-yard touchdown reception, but the tie was short-lived.
• Jackson Parham caught a four-yard pass with 4:34 to play in the first quarter to give Elon a 14-7 lead.
• From there, the defenses began to take over. Richmond had the only scoring of the second quarter, an eight-yard rushing jaunt to tie it at 14-14 at the half.
• In the third quarter, Richmond went ahead for the first time with a 41-yard field goal.
• Richmond tried to run out the clock in the fourth quarter, taking over at its own 15 with 7:55 to play. The Spiders put together a 13-play drive that ate up 6:05 of the remaining time, but the Elon defense stood tall when it needed to.
• On first-and-goal from the three, Devonte Chandler made a stop for a four-yard loss. After a pair of one-yard gains, Richmond elected to go for it on fourth down. Josh Johnson pressured the quarterback and his pass fell short to end the threat.
• Elon took over with 1:50 to play and quickly moved into field goal position. Skyler Davis connected from 42 yards out with just 37 seconds to play to force overtime.
• In the first overtime, both teams scored quick touchdowns to tie the score at 24-24. Johncarlos Miller II gets credit for the first touchdown of his career, catching a 25-yard pass on the first Elon offensive play.
• In the second overtime, Richmond settled for a 47-yard field goal to go ahead 27-24, allowing Elon the opportunity to win with a touchdown.
• McKay hit Jackson Parham for nine yards to the 16 and then kept it himself for five more yards. Hampton then finished the job, running untouched for the final 11 yards and the 30-27 victory.

 



STATS AND NOTES

• Richmond entered the game 5-1 all-time against Elon in Rhodes Stadium.
• This was Elon's first overtime win since defeating Towson 33-30 in double overtime on Nov. 4, 2017.
• Elon has won four straight games since a season-opening 42-31 loss at Vanderbilt. The Phoenix has won six straight games against FCS competition dating back to last year.
• This is the fourth time Elon and Richmond have played when both teams were ranked. Richmond had won each of the past three contests.
• Elon has now won 13 games over ranked opponents in the past seven years.
• Elon is now 27-27 all-time as a ranked team and 3-0 when ranked exactly No. 23.
• Elon has allowed just six second-half points, a pair of field goals, in its four games against FCS opponents.
• After rushing 62 times for 304 yards over the past two weeks, Jalen Hampton finished just shy of 100 with 93 yards on 15 carries.
• Matthew McKay finished 20-of-35 for 322 yards, his second-highest passing total of the season behind the 333 he had in the season-opener at Vanderbilt.
• Bryson Daughtry had a career-high 134 receiving yards, bettering his previous high of 112 at James Madison on Oct. 30, 2021.
• Cole Coleman had 13 tackles, his high since posting 17 against Davidson on Feb. 20, 2021.
• Bo Sanders' 11 tackles were a career-best. His previous high of seven tackles came on four previous occasions, including last week at William & Mary.
• Jackson Parham finished with seven catches for 69 yards.
• Jeff Yurk averaged 45.6 yards on eight punts, landing four inside the 20. He had a 58-yarder downed at the four-yard line late in the second quarter and a 42-yarder downed at the six in the third quarter.
• Marcus Hillman was again a disruptor for Elon, finishing with seven tackles, 1.0 for loss, two pass break-ups and two quarterback hurries.
• Antonio White had two pass break-ups.

 
UP NEXT

• Elon will host Towson Saturday at 2 p.m. looking to improve to 3-0 at home on the season.