ELON – The Elon football team held an early 3-0 lead against No. 10 Rhode Island, but the Rams pulled away with a dominant first half performance. The Rams scored 24 unanswered points and did not look back in the 34-20 win over the Phoenix.  

The Phoenix (4-6, 2-4 CAA) dropped their second straight CAA, home game on Saturday. The Rams vaulted to the top of the CAA following the win today and a Monmouth loss to New Hampshire.  
 

After trailing 24-3 in the second quarter, a last second touchdown pass to Isaiah Fuhrmann gave the Phoenix life heading into halftime. A punt return touchdown by DJ James-Hamilton got the Phoenix to within 10 in the second half, but that would be as close as they came. Rhode Island ran off over nine minutes of clock in the fourth quarter to seal the win.  

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• The Phoenix offense jumped in front first for the sixth straight CAA game. Landen Clark delivered on the opening drive with a 39-yard pitch and catch with Landyn Backey. The long pass play would lead to a career long, 50-yard field goal from Luke Barnes to put Elon up 3-0.  

• Rhode Island responded with a 16 play, 97-yard touchdown drive to take a 7-3 lead.  

• After their opening drive score, Rhode Island continued to stretch their lead with three straight scoring drives and 17 points to take a 24-3 lead.  

• Elon countered with a touchdown on their final drive of the first half. With four seconds left, Landen Clark found Isaiah Fuhrmann through a double team on a goal line fade for a score. The touchdown pass gave Elon life and just a two-score deficit into the locker room.  

• The third quarter has been troublesome for the Phoenix in 2025, but Elon came out of the locker room with momentum. On the first drive of the second half, Rhode Island added to their lead with a field goal. An Elon defensive stop on the next Rams' possession was capped off by a 70-yard punt return touchdown from DJ James-Hamilton to cut the deficit to 27-17.  

• Rhode Island countered with another complete touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter to double up the Phoenix on the scoreboard. Needing points, the Phoenix counted on Luke Barnes again who hit a 40-yard field goal with 3:15 left. After a failed onside kick, the game was wrapped up by the Rams and they left Rhodes Stadium with a 34-20 win.  

NOTES & STATS 

• Elon now leads the all-time series against Rhode Island, 4-3. After four straight wins in the series, Elon has dropped the last two.  

• Kahmari Brown delivered another high-quality, pass rushing day. Brown finished with a pair of sacks and eight total tackles against Rhode Island. Brown's season sack total of eight is second in Elon's FCS history for sacks in a season. The sophomore is one sack away from breaking the record of 8.5 held by Andre Campbell and Marcus Hillman.  

• Isaiah Fuhrmann caught his sixth touchdown pass of the season on Saturday. Fuhrmann has caught a touchdown pass in three straight games and has four touchdown grabs in CAA play so far in 2025.  

• Landen Clark completed 66.7% of his passes in the loss. It is the fifth straight game of 60% completion or better for Clark.  

• Four different Phoenix had 1 tackles or more with Tony Hart III leading the way with 12. Hart was joined by James-Hamilton (10), Brodie Carroll (10) and Jevean Brown (10) with 10 or more stops.  

• Brown and Ishmel Atkins both forced a fumble in the loss to Rhode Island.  

• Kenaz McMillian had a career high five catches for 42 yards.  

• Elon continued to be efficient in the red zone with its one red zone trip of the day resulting in a touchdown. Elon is now scoring at a 91.2% (31 for 34) clip inside the red zone.  

UP NEXT 

Elon heads back on the road in CAA play next Saturday at Campbell. Kickoff in Buies Creek, N.C. is at 2 p.m. ET. 

SUPPORT THE PHOENIX 

Fans can support Elon Athletics through the Phoenix Club. To purchase 2025 tickets, visit TicketMaster.com/ElonTickets. 

STAY POSTED 

For further coverage of Elon Football, follow the Phoenix on X (@ElonFootball) and Instagram (@ElonFB). 

-ElonPhoenix.com-