ELON – The Elon football team returns to the field Thursday night as the Phoenix opens the 2026 season against Glenville State. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET at Rhodes Stadium.
 
The Phoenix is coming off a 6-6 season in 2025 and will begin its eighth season under head coach Tony Trisciani. Thursday's game is Elon's lone non-Saturday contest of the regular season and begins a 12-game schedule that features six home games. Glenville State, an NCAA Division II program from the Mountain East Conference, went 6-5 in 2025 and will play its first game under head coach Jake Casteel.
 
GAME INFORMATION

• Date: Aug. 27, 2026
• Time: 7 p.m. ET
• Location: Rhodes Stadium | Elon, N.C.
• Television/Streaming: FloCollege (PxP: Taylor Durham / Analyst: Dr. Khirey Walker)
• Radio: Varsity Network App (PxP: Jack Marcus / Analyst: Mia Zebley)
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast
• Game Notes: Elon | Glenville State

 
SETTING THE STAGE

• Thursday's matchup will be the first all-time meeting between Elon and Glenville State. It will also be the first midweek home game for the Phoenix since 1995.
• Elon will face a Mountain East Conference opponent for the second time ever and first time since Sept. 7, 2013, when the Phoenix defeated West Virginia Wesleyan 49-7 at Rhodes Stadium. The Mountain East Conference began competition in 2013.
• The Phoenix are coming off a 6-6 campaign in which it went 4-4 in CAA play. Elon closed 2025 with back-to-back victories over Campbell and North Carolina A&T and has finished .500 or better in CAA play in five consecutive seasons.
• Glenville State went 6-5 in 2025 and was picked sixth in the 2026 Mountain East Conference preseason coaches poll. Casteel was named the 26th head coach in Glenville State history on Dec. 8, 2025. He spent the 2025 season as a defensive assistant at West Virginia, working primarily with the linebackers, after being hired by former Glenville State head coach and current West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez.

BRADY'S BUNCH                          

• Sophomore Brady Stober takes over at quarterback after transferring from Samford, but he arrives with more game experience than the typical second-year player.
• Stober appeared in 10 games and made five starts for the Bulldogs in 2025, completing better than 62% of his passes for 1,240 yards and seven touchdowns while adding two rushing scores.
• His best outing came against VMI, when he completed 34 of 43 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns to earn Stats Perform National Freshman of the Week honors.
• Stober also arrived at Elon in January, giving him a full spring and offseason to learn offensive coordinator Doug Martin's system. He takes over an offense that has had four different starting quarterbacks lead the Phoenix to at least six victories and a .500 or better CAA record in each of the past five seasons.

 
THREE'S COMPANY                       

• Elon's backfield offers three distinctly different options in Jimmyll Williams, Dan Frederick and freshman Kamerin McDowell-Moore. Williams provides the proven explosiveness after leading Elon with 673 rushing yards on 104 attempts in 2025, averaging 6.5 yards per carry. Frederick gives the Phoenix a bigger, physical option after his workload increased late last season.
• McDowell-Moore may be the wild card. The Tarboro, North Carolina, native joins the Phoenix after a decorated high school career and gives the offense another option capable of competing for carries immediately. The combination allows Elon to rotate backs without necessarily sacrificing playmaking ability.

 
NALL-AMERICAN SPECIALISTS          

• All-America honors have become almost routine for Elon's specialists under Mike Nall. Skyler Davis developed into a consensus first-team All-American kicker in 2022 before punter Jeff Yurk continued the run with All-America recognition in consecutive seasons.
• Now it is Luke Barnes' turn. Barnes earned Associated Press honorable mention All-America honors after making 15 of 18 field goals in 2025, including 14 of 15 from inside 50 yards.
• That progression has continued into 2026. Barnes was named a Stats Perform FCS second-team preseason All-American and earned a spot on the preseason All-CAA team. He is the second consecutive Elon specialist to earn Stats Perform preseason All-America recognition.

 
MAN IN THE MIDDLE                     

• Few position groups on Elon's roster have a more established centerpiece than linebacker, where preseason All-American Brodie Carroll returns to lead a unit from the Mike linebacker position with competition, experience and developing depth around him.
• Carroll, a redshirt junior, returns after becoming the centerpiece of the Phoenix defense during his first season at Elon last fall. Carroll led the team with 104 tackles in 2025, ranking sixth in the CAA. He also recorded 9.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles while producing four games with at least 10 tackles.
• Carroll closed the season with three consecutive double-digit tackle performances and earned second-team All-CAA recognition.

 
SUPPORT THE PHOENIX
2026 Elon Football tickets are on sale now at ElonTickets.com. Fans can support Elon Athletics through the Phoenix Club.
 
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