Elon Football Earns Statement Victory with 42-7 Defeat of No. 15 Delaware

ELON, N.C. – Elon University football scored 35 second-half points on the way to a convincing 42-7 CAA Football victory Saturday afternoon, Oct. 12, against No. 15 Delaware at Rhodes Stadium.

Box Score | Highlights

“This was a great team win,” said Elon head coach Tony Trisciani. “In the locker room before the game, we talked about having to put everything together today, and I feel like we did – offensively, defensively, special teams, we won the game in all three phases. We’re really proud of our guys how everybody bounced back, and we’re real proud of our guys for this win.”

THE RUNDOWN
Leading 7-0 at halftime, Elon punted on its first possession of the second half before scoring on each of its last five possessions of the afternoon. Pinning Delaware (3-3, 1-1 CAA) deep on its 10 after opening the half with the ball, the Phoenix defense pushed UD backwards and forced a punt that set Elon up at the Delaware 49. After a jet sweep to Kortez Weeks that went for two yards, De’Sean McNair picked up a blind-side blitz and Davis Cheek connected with Matt Foster from 47 yards out to go up two scores.

The long ball opened the gates for the Elon offense with the Phoenix going on to add 28 more points in the game’s final 18:42. Bryson Daughtry scored his second collegiate touchdown with a three-yard sweep to the left pylon and Greg Liggs, Jr. picked off Pat Kehoe two plays later and returned it 42 yards for Elon’s second pick-six in as many seasons. Elon continued to put Delaware away in the fourth quarter with McNair finding the end zone twice to cap the 42-7 victory.

Elon also made multiple max-effort plays on defense to keep the Blue Hens off the scoreboard in both halves. In the first half nearing halftime, Kehoe connected on a 33-yard pass to Thyrick Pitts with Liggs stopping the gain at the two-yard line. After the Elon defense held UD out of the end zone on the ensuing rush, the Phoenix forced a takeaway with Zack Monson falling on a fumble at the two to give Elon the ball with 1:15 to go before the break to keep the game 7-0. In the final two minutes with a 35-point lead, Cole Coleman kept Delaware off the board by poking a fumble free on the one-yard line to stop a 31-yard touchdown pass. The effort kept Delaware from adding to its total with the ball going out the back of the end zone for a touchback. Elon then took over and ran out the clock with Mark McGuire making his collegiate debut in the final 99 seconds.

STATISTICS
Passing
Elon: Davis Cheek – 22/25, 259 yards, 1 touchdown
Delaware: Pat Kehoe – 14/24, 175 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception

Rushing
Elon: Jaylan Thomas – 7 carries, 55 yards
Delaware: Will Knight – 11 carries, 69 yards

Receiving
Elon: Bryson Daughtry – 6 receptions, 93 yards
Delaware: Thyrick Pitts – 4 receptions, 69 yards

Defense
Elon: Cole Coleman – 16 tackles, 12 solo, 1 forced fumble
Delaware: Kedrick Whitehead – 7 tackles, 3 solo

NOTES
-Elon’s 42 points match the most in a CAA Football game to date for the Phoenix. It ties the 42 Elon put up in its road win at Richmond last month.
-In beating Delaware, Elon has now defeated every CAA Football team in the league. Delaware was the only remaining program Elon had not defeated in three attempts.
-Davis Cheek’s 22-for-25 day marked his best performance to date under center, completing 88 percent of his passes for 259 yards to mark the most passing yards Cheek has thrown for this season. He completed a perfect 13-of-13 in the second half after going 9-for-12 in the opening frame.
-Elon’s pocket protection did not allow a sack on the afternoon and only allowed one tackle for loss all day.
-De’Sean McNair now has four two-touchdown games in his career with two of those outings coming in 2019. The other this season came in the opener at No. 19 North Carolina A&T.
-Cole Coleman’s 16 tackles are the most in a game thus far for the sophomore. Coleman has now recorded double-digit tackles in two of Elon’s last three games, also making 12 stops against No. 2 James Madison. He has 35 tackles over the course of Elon’s last three games to lead the team with 57 this season.
-Bryson Daughtry had a career high in both receptions and receiving yards, catching six balls for a team-best 93 yards.
-Matt Foster’s 47-yard touchdown marks a career-long for the tight end. He caught 69 yards on the day with the 47-yard touchdown falling one short of his previous career high for total receiving yards.
-Joey Baughman scored the only touchown of the first half with an 11-yard rush. It marks the first touchdown of his career.

UP NEXT
Elon will have its first of two open dates on the schedule next weekend before going on the road to close the month of October with a visit to Rhode Island on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 1 p.m. Elon will then return home for two in a row to host William & Mary and Maine on Nov. 2 and Nov. 9, respectively, at Rhodes Stadium.