Elon Phoenix Football Hits the Road for Tilt at #3 Coastal Carolina

ELON, N.C. – Fresh off its first victory of the year, the Elon football team will look to build on its success from last weekend when it visits #3 Coastal Carolina for a 7 p.m. contest on Saturday night in Conway, S.C. The game will mark Elon’s second to air on the American Sports Network (ASN).

Stations carrying the game on ASN will be announced later this week. Fans can also listen to the game on WPCM 95.1 FM and 920 AM or at elonphoenix.com. The radio broadcast will start at 6 p.m. Fans can also listen to all Elon football games via the TuneIn Radio app. This app is free to download to your smartphone.

CONNECTIONS:
• Elon P David Petroni attended Buford High (Ga.) as did Coastal QB Alex Ross and RB Andre Johnson
• Elon LB John Silas and Coastal WR Omar Black both graduated from Hillgrove High (Ga.)
• Elon DL Alexander Dawson was teammates with Coastal DL Marcus Crowder at Eastern Alamance High (N.C.)
• Elon RB Tracey Coppedge attended Southern Nash High (N.C.) along with Coastal DL Aaron McFarland
• Elon’s roster sports four South Carolinians – B.J. Bennett (West Columbia), Jonathan Jackson (Moore), Michael Pearson (Laurens) and Miles Williams (Roebuck)

A NEW HOME:
After spending the past 11 seasons as a member of the Southern Conference, Elon has joined the Colonial Athletic Association and CAA Football. The Phoenix officially transitioned to CAA Football on July 1, 2014.

The CAA geographic footprint provides an attractive match with Elon’s student and alumni populations. Elon draws a large proportion of its enrollment from mid-Atlantic and New England states where many CAA teams are located. About 1,850 current students came to Elon from areas close to CAA member schools. Alumni populations in CAA cities are equally strong, with about 5,300 Elon alumni living within 50 miles of CAA member schools.

ELON VS. COASTAL CAROLINA:
Elon and Coastal Carolina are meeting for the fourth time ever on the gridiron. The Chants hold a 2-1 edge in the series following a win at Rhodes Stadium a year ago. The road team has been victorious in each of the three previous contests that began in Elon in 2005. The Phoenix picked up its win in the series in 2006, defeating #25 Coastal Carolina by a 23-20 margin.

WE’RE CLOSE
Dating back to 2013, six of Elon’s last 10 games have been decided by seven points or less.

HIGHLY RANKED
Coastal Carolina enters this weekend’s tilt ranked third in both The Sports Network and coaches poll. The Chants are the highest-rated team that Elon has faced since taking on top-ranked Georgia Southern on Oct. 1, 2011.

Elon’s last win over a top-25 foe was a 42-34 victory at #17 Furman on Nov. 12, 2011. The highest-ranked team the Phoenix has defeated at the FCS level was #7 Wofford by a 24-13 score on Oct. 20, 2007. It is the lone win over a team ranked in the top 10.

TACKLING MACHINE
Senior linebacker Jonathan Spain currently boasts 269 career tackles. That number ranks fourth in program history during Elon’s FCS tenure and ninth on the school’s all-time tackles chart.

COMPLETE THIS
Senior quarterback Mike Quinn completed 43 passes in Elon’s victory over Charlotte. That performance set a new program record for completions in a game. The previous high had been 41 set by Scott Riddle at Wofford in 2007.

PASS IT AROUND
Quarterback Mike Quinn threw for a personal-best 331 yards in the win over Charlotte. His 43 completions went to nine different receivers and no Phoenix player had more than 81 receiving yards.