As I blogged about earlier this week, I was dead wrong in last week's prediction of Elon defeating the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It was quite the opposite.

This week, the Phoenix football team takes on a completely different type of opponent: the North Carolina Central University Eagles. The Eagles are fairly new to the Football Championship Subdivison level, joining the FCS as an independent in 2007 and the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference in 2010. NC Central has had only one winning season since 2007, their inaugural season in which they went 6-4. But since joining the MEAC, NC Central has gone 5-17.

Last week, the Eagles defeated Div. II Fayetteville State University 54-31. It was a Div. II team, so the outcome of that game is not a good barometer of NC Central's ability.

What I want to tackle are the three keys of the game for Elon and for NC Central, and then give my fated prediction.

Three Keys for Elon

1. Win the special teams battle: Last week against North Carolina, Elon gave up a punt return touchdown to running back Giovani Bernard and allowed an ACC-record 260 punt return yards. With NC Central senior wide receiver Giovonie (funny coincidence) Irvine being a danger on returns (he took a punt back for a TD last week too), controlling the punt coverage game will be crucial. Elon junior punter Kenton Beal punted ten times for a whopping 440 yards, but most of his punts did not allow for the Phoenix to set up good coverage.

The key: control the punting game, get solid punt returns from senior cornerback David Wood, who was not able to return a punt last week. Special teams is a facet of the game Elon coach Jason Swepson bragged about throughout the offseason. Time to prove it.

2. Get Aaron Mellette going: Elon senior wide receiver Aaron Mellette struggled last week under persistent double coverage from North Carolina's secondary, having just two catches for nine yards. He also dropped a couple of balls, including a wide-open pass over the middle that probably would have gone for a touchdown and could have changed the whole game.

He will probably be able to beat the double-coverage that NC Central is likely to throw at him, but it will be crucial to do so if Elon is to come out with a win. I've heard that he is a guy who will get down on himself. Mellette must not allow last week's poor performance to slow him down. He had a big game (16 catches. 237 yards and a score) against NC Central last year. He'll need to back up what he told me last Saturday: "I'm going there and I'm going for a great effort, so watch." Yes, watch.

3. Don't allow the big play: North Carolina had 17 offensive plays for ten yards or more against the Phoenix, exploiting a middling-talent secondary. Irvine definitely has that ability for the Eagles and the first-team all-MEAC receiver will look to use his speed to make big plays for NC Central.

Make tackles. It's something the Phoenix struggled with against North Carolina all game. If Elon defenders can get arms wrapped around the ball-carrier and take them down ten yards from the line of scrimmage instead of 30 yards, those big plays will happen much less.

Three Keys for NC Central

1. Slow down Mellette: North Carolina was able to limit Elon's offense by not allowing Mellette to make plays, or even catch the ball. Elon senior quarterback Thomas Wilson only targeted him eight times because the coverage was tight, and one of those targets lead to an interception.

Size-wise, Mellette (6-4, 220) is much bigger than any player in the NC Central secondary; the tallest is senior cornerback Marc Lewis (6-1, 190). The Eagles must use numbers to slow down No. 3, because their size and speed most assuredly won't.

2. Exploit weak kick coverage: As I discussed above, Elon's punt coverage against North Carolina was woeful. For NC Central, it was a key against Fayetteville State. Irvine returned three kickoffs for 76 yards and two punts for 36 yards and a score as the Eagles had 113 punt return yards on four returns.

As I mentioned above, Elon is struggling so far with controlling punt coverage. If the Eagles can control the punt game by getting fantastic returns and setting up good field position, the game might tip in NC Central's favor.

3. Hassle Thomas Wilson all game: It's something that NC Central coach Henry Frazier III mentioned in an interview with the NCCU Sports Network that I had not thought about. I guess last week I saw so much Carolina blue around Thomas Wilson that I never considered it to be a factor. But Wilson had 416 passing yards against the Eagles last year, a secondary that returns three starters and adds a redshirt-freshman.

If NC Central's front seven can get pressure on Wilson and force him to make bad throws, which North Carolina defensive lineman Sylvester Williams and other Tar Heels did last Saturday, the Eagles have some sort of offensive talent to take advantage of it.

THE PREDICTION

Last week, I chose Elon to beat North Carolina 28-27. I am now 0-1 on the season and my point differential spread (amount of points I predict winning team to win/lose by minus amount of points winning team wins/loses by, I know it's complicated) is -61. Eek.

Also, a Twitter follower of mine named Jon Pincince tweeted at me and said this: "Do you think you could pick NCCU to beat Elon by 1 Saturday? That might be helpful. Thanks!"

Besides being the first sarcastic criticism I've ever received, it made me laugh.

PREDICTION: ELON wins 30-27. It will be another close game because of the turnovers Elon is sure to commit, but I predict Aaron Mellette will bounce back from a rough week and have a huge game. Side note: Unless something crazy happens, I won't predict Elon to win every game this season. I promise you that.