With a little over 4,000 in attendance, Elon University football got beaten and battered by East Tennessee State University’s run game, falling 34-14.
ETSU looked ready from the jump, beginning the game with an efficient three-minute drive that resulted in Bryson Irby rushing touchdown to go up 7-0.
Immediately following the touchdown, Elon got off to a disastrous start with freshman TJ Thomas Jr. fumbling the ball on the first play of Elon’s opening drive. ETSU took advantage of the turnover, scoring their second touchdown within the first five minutes of the game.
Later in the first quarter, the dual threat nature of ETSU quarterback Jaylen King was revealed with a 57-yard rush. Despite Elon having the third best run defense in the CAA and holding Duke to 59 rushing yards earlier in the season, they floundered against ETSU. A common theme throughout the game was the Phoenix’s inability to contain the seventh best running attack in FCS football — ETSU averaged 235.7 rushing yards per game going into their matchup with Elon. ETSU finished with 256 rushing yards, and King had 93 rushing yards to go along with two rushing touchdowns and 233 passing yards. Irby led the Buccaneers with 96 rushing yards.
Redshirt junior Jamarien Dalton runs after the catch in Elon's home game against ETSU on Sept. 21. Dalton ended up with 71 receiving yards.
Elon head coach Tony Trisciani said in the postgame press conference that along with poor tackling by Elon, ETSU did a great job of blocking around the perimeter of the offensive line.
“They did a good job on the perimeter, cracking our support players and cracking our edge,” Trisciani said. “So it got to the second and then the third level to make some tackles.”
Trisciani also noted that some players were having trouble defending the run because their quarterback could keep the ball and run at any time.
After the lengthy rush by King, ETSU scored a field goal to go up to 17-0 — Elon’s worst start to a game this season.
Trisciani said it was an extremely tough start to the game.
“I don't know who we were to start that football game,” Trisciani said. “I know who we are, I know who's in our locker room, but the way we started the football game wasn't us. It was a slow start on both sides of the ball, turned the ball over, dug ourselves a big hole.”
On the next drive, Elon got their first sign of life with a 17-yard catch by senior Chandler Brayboy. A few plays later, Thomas continued his impressive freshman campaign, scoring off a direct snap, touchdown run. The Phoenix had a chance to close the lead to three, but a deep shot into the endzone from senior Matthew Downing went right through Brayboy’s hands.
Elon’s offense struggled to be explosive throughout the night. Thomas had a meager average of 2.6 yards per carry, and Downing only finished with 129 passing yards.
Despite the lack of offensive output, the Phoenix had only five minutes less possession time — continuing a trend that Elon has shown all season. Elon leads the CAA for time of possession, but has rarely capitalized on it.
Elon football fell into a 17-0 hole early, falling to ETSU 34-14 on Sept. 21 at Rhodes Stadium.
Trisciani cited their offensive performance to the fact that the team was 3-10 on third downs and 0-1 on fourth downs.
The second half began where the first left off with a quick Elon 3-and-out. Then, the Buccaneers continued their rushing attack, dominating the Phoenix in all aspects on the ground. King’s elusive play got his second rushing touchdown, extending the lead to 24-7. ETSU then found another hole in Elon’s defense, scoring their fourth rushing touchdown of the game.
The Phoenix tried to mount a comeback with a Brayboy touchdown and an ETSU fumble at the goal line, but it didn’t amount to much.
Elon was 1-2 going into the game, needing a bounce-back win to right the ship; however, the Phoenix slid to a 1-3 record going into the start of conference play.
Trisciani said he believes that Elon is capable of bouncing back.
“We pride ourselves in attitude, effort, discipline, an attitude of loving the game of football and attitude of resiliency and being able to bounce back,” Trisciani said. “So, that's testing, but I know it's in the locker room, so I know we can bounce back.”
Elon will look to get a win next week in their first CAA matchup of the season against the University of Richmond.
Trisciani said they will need to be ready to work and learn from their mistakes so they can be ready for Richmond.
“We've got to be ready to work, put together a good plan aligned to their adjustments, put
together a good plan on both sides of the ball, have a good week of practice,” Trisciani said. “From an execution standpoint, we’ll get ready to come out and play and make sure our minds and our bodies are in the right place, and we're ready to go next Saturday, right from kickoff.”