ELON, N.C. – The phrase "defense wins championships" is a popular one in the world of sports. Although the Phoenix fell to Wake Forest in its season opener, Elon's defensive unit had its fingerprints all over the stat sheet.

Elon's defense held Wake Forest to just 98 rushing yards, marking the first time Elon has ever held an FBS opponent under 100. Head coach Tony Trisciani said the feat was thanks to all around effort.

"It's the d-line, it's the linebackers and it's our safeties," Trisciani said. "Everybody was fitting on those runs. So to hold an ACC team to under 100 yards rushing, it's a big deal."

A key playmaker in the matchup for Elon was defensive lineman Marvin Pearson. Pearson, who posted a career-best 2.5 tackles for loss, said the defense was looking to attack the Demon Deacons whether they ran or passed the ball.

"We worked all offseason and we want to showcase this season that we want to be the best defense in the conference," Pearson said. "The first thing we talked about was running because if they can't run, they have to pass. Tonight showed that we can stop the run and then we can get on the edge and sack the quarterback."

Elon recorded four sacks over the course of the game, with four different players recording at least a half sack. Pearson said pressure on the quarterback can help lead to key plays for the defense.

"When you hit the decision maker, it changes his whole way he plays the game," Pearson said. "He's going to be thinking about getting hit."

The defense helped lead the charge in the second half as the Phoenix outscored the Demon Deacons 17-13. Six of those points came off a big play from safety Caleb Curtain. Elon had just scored their first points of the game and Curtain and the defense looked to capitalize.

"It's just being in the right spot," Curtain said. "We've been running through it for months and I just stayed in that window. I started looking down and made the play."

Curtain recorded his second career interception on a pass over the middle and charged down the field toward the end zone for a pick six as his teammates ran to celebrate with him. Pearson had a strong game of his own and was happy to see Curtain do the same.

"Oh man, I was so hyped on the sidelines," Pearson said. "I'm so glad because we see it all the time in practice and to then put it into the game. There's just more and more hype."

Elon will be back on the road again on Sept. 9 to face Gardner-Webb. Trisciani said he hopes his defense will continue to bring its resiliency to games throughout the season.

"The resiliency to come right back and play the next snap is critically important," Trisciani said. "It's a long season so we have to correct mistakes and as long as we play one snap at a time and are resilient and do it together, we've got a shot."
 

---

'Rising Phoenix' is a new student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on Twitter (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Jacob Kisamore at jkisamore@elon.edu.

---