The Elon University football team received a rough welcome into the Colonial Athletic Association from the University of New Hampshire Oct. 4 at Rhodes Stadium. The Wildcats got off to a quick start and didn’t look back en route to a 48-14 shellacking of the Phoenix.
The game marked the first-ever matchup between Elon and New Hampshire and was the first CAA game in Elon history.
The festive pregame atmosphere that featured CAA commissioner Tom Yeager presenting Elon president Leo Lambert with a commemorative game ball on the field quickly turned sour as the Wildcats took a 34-0 lead into halftime.
“Things started to snowball a little bit in the first half and we’re not at that point maturity wise where we can stop the snowball,” Elon head coach Rich Skrosky said. “We have to get somebody to step up and make a play.”
It was a struggle all afternoon for the Phoenix. Six of Elon’s first eight drives ended in 3-and-outs, while senior quarterback Mike Quinn started the game 0-for-7 passing, completing his first pass with 2:23 remaining in the first quarter on the team’s fifth drive of the game.
By the time Quinn completed his first pass, New Hampshire had a 17-0 lead.
Senior running back Jimmy Owens’ 1-yard touchdown run gave the Wildcats a 7-0 early in the first quarter. After junior kicker Christian Breda hit a 22-yard field goal to make it 10-0, senior quarterback Andy Vailas found senior wide receiver R.J. Harris for a 15-yard touchdown.
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Vailas, who has previous starting experience, started in place of junior Sean Goldrich and finished the game 17-for-24 for 193 yards and two touchdowns in just one half of play. Harris hauled in five passes for 77 yards and one score.
“We learned a big lesson,” Quinn said. “I don’t know if our head was right in the beginning. I don’t think our energy level was where it needed to be. We need to realize that we’re in a new conference and these boys are big, fast, strong, athletic. They’re good players and we’ve got to notice that and keep grinding.”
New Hampshire turned to its third-string quarterback to start the second half, sophomore Chris McCormick. New Hampshire continued to roll under McCormick, as the Wildcats scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the second half — a 5-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Kyon Taylor and a 4-yard run by redshirt freshman running back Donald Goodrich.
Quinn completed 27-of-48 passes for 205 yards and two interceptions, both badly thrown balls. But Elon’s receivers didn’t help Quinn, as drops were once again a common issue.
Quinn’s first interception of the game, thrown on the first play of the second quarter, was returned 55 yards for a touchdown by senior defensive back Steven Thames, giving the Wildcats a 24-0 advantage.
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Elon got on the board with two scores in the fourth quarter. Junior running back Tracey Coppedge found the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run at the 9:05 mark, the first Phoenix touchdown since Sept. 20 against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Junior running back Thuc Phan tacked on another touchdown for Elon late in the fourth with a 6-yard run, the first touchdown of his career.
“It’s a tough way to get things started,” Coppedge said. “We’ve got to take this as a learning experience and look inward to each other to understand what we have to do as a team to not let that happen again. This was our signature entrance into the CAA and it’s up to us from this point on to change that.”
Elon falls to 1-4 and 0-1 in the CAA with the loss, while New Hampshire improves to 4-1 and 2-0. The Phoenix will head north for a matchup against No. 24 University of Delaware Oct. 11. Kickoff from Newark is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.