Elon Football Falls in League Game at Albany

ALBANY, N.Y. – Playing on the road for the first time since Sept. 24, the Elon University football team went back on the road and dropped a 27-3 contest against the Albany Great Danes on Saturday afternoon.

Elon moved to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in CAA Football play. The Great Danes, which were ranked for six consecutive weeks earlier this season, saw their record go to 5-3, 2-3.

Quotable: “Their formula today was their formula for winning. Two defensive touchdowns and their running back certainly grinded it out. We knew those were the things we had to prevent. Offensively, the penalties hurt today. Several were pre-snap penalties. You can’t shoot yourself in the foot.” – Elon head coach Rich Skrosky

How it happened: Elon fell behind 10-0 after Albany got a 23-yard field goal from Ethan Stark in the first quarter and a three-yard touchdown run by Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks midway through the second quarter.

The Phoenix put together a scoring drive late in the first half. Facing a third-and-18 from its own 11, Daniel Thompson was able to move the chains with a 26-yard pass to Corey Joyner. Elon would drive to the Albany 14 after a 14-yard pass to Josh Ramseur before moving to the five on a nine-yard completion to Brandon Gentry. The Phoenix was unable to move any closer and saw John Gallagher cap the drive with a 24-yard field goal with just over 30 seconds to play in the period.

Albany was able to push its lead to 17-3 late in the third quarter when, on third-and-inches, Thompson lost the handle on the ball on a quarterback sneak and Julian Cox recovered the fumble, returning it 11 yards for the touchdown.

The Great Danes added another field goal and returned an interception for a score in the fourth quarter.

Stat Leaders:
Rushing
Elon – Malcolm Summers (8 carries, 60 yards)
UA – Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks (35 carries, 210 yards, 1 TD)

Passing
Elon – Daniel Thompson (14-23, 116 yards)
UA – Neven Sussman (5-9, 34 yards)

Receiving
Elon – Corey Joyner (6 receptions, 54 yards)
UA – Dione Alston (2 receptions, 12 yards)

Defense
Elon – Warren Messer (14 total tackles, 1.0 sack, 1.5 TFL)
UA – Josh Wynn (9 total tackles, 0.5 TFL)

Noteworthy: Warren Messer made a career-best 14 total tackles, his third consecutive outing with 10 or more stops… Corey Joyner set a new personal best with six receptions and matched a career high with 54 receiving yards… Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks toted the ball on 35 of Albany’s 65 plays and set new bests in both attempts and yards.

Up Next: Elon remains on the road next weekend as the Phoenix visits Towson for a 2 p.m. CAA Football game on Saturday, Nov. 5.