Updated as of 3:32 p.m. on Oct. 1 to include video.
Elon University’s football team was defeated by the University of Richmond 27-17 in their CAA opener. With a strong Richmond rushing attack and three turnovers, Elon struggled to build any momentum.
Elon tried making a statement on their opening drive by going for it on fourth down at the 50-yard line, but senior transfer Rushawn Baker was stopped short of the first down.
The defense did hold Richmond to a field goal for the only points of the quarter.
In the second quarter, Richmond’s offense was threatening to score again, but senior transfer Khalil Baker forced a fumble on a reverse that was recovered by redshirt sophomore Marco Patierno. It was Elon’s second fumble recovery of the season and their first since the win at NC Central.
However, they proceeded to give the ball back three plays later when senior quarterback Matthew Downing threw an interception to Quantraill Morris-Walker that was returned for a touchdown. It was Downing’s third interception of the season which put him one shy of last season’s total.
Head coach Tony Trisciani then decided to make a change and subbed in redshirt junior transfer Jack Salopek, who had played sparingly against Duke and East Tennessee State.
Trisciani praised Salopek’s performance but didn’t indicate whether the switch will be permanent or who the starting quarterback will be going forward.
“We’ll look at the film and make decisions as a staff going into the bye week,” Trisciani said in the postgame press conference. “Jack made some plays and made some good decisions so we need to build off that.”
Redshirt junior Jack Salopek runs with the ball against Richmond on Sept. 28 at Rhodes Stadium. Salopek came in for starter Matthew Downing in the second quarter.
Salopek’s first drive was promising but it ended with an interception at Richmond’s 14-yard line by CJ Fraser. After Richmond hit a field goal, the Phoenix marched down the field with four straight runs that ended in Baker breaking multiple tackles en route to a 46-yard touchdown.
Trisciani said he was glad to see Baker have that kind of play after showing potential in the previous three games.
“We’ve seen some flashes from Rushawn so it was nice to see him break into the open field and get a long touchdown run,” Trisciani said.
Elon had a chance to stop Richmond, but they converted a key third and eight and would march down the field mixing up the run and pass to go up 20-7.
Despite Elon’s offense outgaining Richmond in the second quarter, the Spiders won the time of possession battle 8:25 to 6:35 while not turning the ball over. Quarterback Camden Coleman also had an efficient second quarter completing all six passes for 94 yards.
Trisciani said there were times throughout the game where Elon’s defense struggled to get key stops.
“Defensively, we’re playing hard but we had trouble getting off the field a couple times today,” Trisciani said. “They had some long drives that wore us down.”
Richmond’s offense wasted no time building off their momentum with a 56-yard, rushing touchdown from Zach Palmer-Smith four plays into the third quarter. The touchdown was part of a dominant rushing performance for the Richmond offense. Going into the game, Richmond had averaged 191.5 rushing yards and finished today’s contest with 236 yards.
Baker said Richmond’s offensive line did a good job putting their running backs in position to make big runs.
“The offensive line did a good job being able to create gaps for the running backs and they did a good job finding them,” Baker said in the postgame press conference.
Elon countered the early deficit with a field from sophomore Jack Berkowitz. They then capitalized off a missed field goal by Richmond, with a methodical 14-play drive that ended with a touchdown pass to freshman TJ Thomas Jr.
It was Salopek’s first touchdown pass as a Phoenix and it cut the deficit to 27-17.
With under five minutes left, Elon had a chance to make it a one-score game but Richmond’s Jamar Hodges forced a Salopek fumble — which was recovered by Matei Fitz.
It was Elon’s third turnover of the game, which now gives them eight on the year and their seventh in the last three games.
Trisciani said it’s an issue that he intends on addressing during Elon’s upcoming bye week.
“That’s not us,” Trisciani said. “It’s not us offensively, and it absolutely is not our program.”
The fumble was Salopek’s final pass attempt on the day. In his first start since Sept. 9, 2023, against Syracuse as a member of Western Michigan, Salopek was 14-21 for 187 yards and a touchdown. However, he also turned the ball over twice with the interception and fumble.
Salopek said he was pleased with the offense’s performance but hoped to take advantage of other opportunities where Elon’s offense came up short. He cited the interception and the field goal as two particular possessions he would like to have back.
“We kind of stalled on some drives,” Salopek said during the press conference. “Down in the red zone, we had the interception on the first drive and we kicked the field goal on the other so we got to find ways to finish with seven when we get down there.”
Elon falls to 1-4 on the season and 0-1 in conference play. They head into the bye week before hosting New Hampshire at 2 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 5.
Trisciani said the coaches plan to evaluate everything during the bye week as the Phoenix look to snap their three game losing streak.
“This is a really important two weeks for our program,” Trisciani said. “We have to look at everything we’re doing as a program and continue to develop our players. We did some good things today and there were positives that we can build off.”