Elon University head coach Jason Swepson said earlier this week that he hoped his team would not allow Wofford College senior fullback Eric Breitenstein from becoming an "All-American" against the Phoenix on Saturday.

Not quite.

The No. 5 Terriers got an historic day from Breitenstein on the way to demolishing an “out-coached,” “out-played” and “out-everything” Phoenix team 49-24 in a Southern Conference matchup.

“We got man-handled, let’s be honest,” Swepson said. “It was a good old-fashioned butt-kicking.”

Breitenstein had 27 carries for 321 yards and two touchdowns, including a 90-yard scamper for a score in the first quarter. He set the SoCon record for rushing yards, breaking former Appalachian State University quarterback Armanti Edwards’ record of 313 rushing yards Dec. 7, 2007 against the University of Richmond in the Football Championship Subdivison playoffs, an NCAA record for quarterbacks.

“He’s a great player and has a great group of guys who help him,” said Wofford head coach Mike Ayers. “He’s a guy who doesn’t want to take any credit or anything like that. But he’s an All-American in every way.”

The Phoenix was unable to counter Wofford’s misdirection triple-option running game. It was the second week in a row Elon faced a triple-option offense, but the Georgia Southern University option it saw last week relied more on speed.

“It was really just our transition from playing Georgia Southern to Wofford that was just not what it should have been,” said Elon sophomore linebacker Odell Benton. “We were used to the play of Georgia Southern and the speed and we were just overrunning things, so (Breitenstein) could cut it up backside and take it off for days.”

The Terriers’ first two offensive plays went for touchdowns. Wofford junior halfback Donovan Johnson took the first handoff 32 yards to put the Terriers up 7-0 just 1:51 into the game. After Elon senior kicker Adam Shreiner hit a 35-yard field goal to put the Phoenix within four, Breitenstein broke free for 90 yards and a 14-3 lead just 3:03 after the Terriers’ first score.

Wofford led the rest of the way, picking up 500 rushing yards on the day. Junior quarterback Brian Kass had nine carries for 57 yards and three touchdowns to support Breitenstein.

“I owe so much to the offensive line and everybody else blocking,” Breitenstein said. “They did a phenomenal job. Elon has a good defense. Sometimes they guessed wrong and we were able to gash them.”

That was the case most of the time, as Elon’s defense was often left tackling the wrong guy because of the misdirection Wofford applied.

“Obviously, they’re ranked No. 5 for a reason,” said Elon junior defensive lineman Tony Thompson. “Their coaching staff over there has them doing all kinds of things. We had to be prepared for it this week, but obviously it just wasn’t good enough.”

The Terriers had their biggest lead of the game when Kass punched in a run from one yard out to make the score 35-10 with 9:33 left in the third quarter. But Elon got two scores in a row, including a touchdown pass from senior quarterback Thomas Wilson that bounced off the hands of Elon senior wide receiver Jeremy Peterson and Wofford senior cornerback C.J. Turner before Elon senior wideout Aaron Mellette dove at the goal line to make the catch.

Despite the offensive success at points, Mellette was not satisfied with the outcome.

“I definitely wanted to win this game,” he said. “Last year we went down there and lost. I wanted to come up here at home, Family Weekend, great crowd, even though it was raining, just trying to get a win.”

Wilson was 31-47 for 322 yards and two touchdowns, both to Mellette, who had 13 catches for 177 yards.  Shreiner was three-for-three on the day, hitting field goals from 35, 43 and 42 yards.

“(Twenty-four points) should keep you in the game if you play solid on defense and solid on special teams,” Swepson said. “We just didn’t play solid enough on defense to give us a chance to get the game in the fourth quarter.”

The only bright spots on Elon’s defense came from the two turnovers they created. Thompson recovered a fumble by Wofford junior fullback Caleb Lucas four seconds into the second quarter, and Benton intercepted a Kass pass in the end zone with 7:48 left in the first half, but that was about it.

“It’s tough, honestly, losing at home by that margin is tough,” Thompson said. “This is really adversity, see how we can face adversity as a team, come together, bring us closer together and see how we start preparing this week for App State.”

Benton said this loss will be used as motivation for the rest of the season.

“When you give up that many yards, it’s always disappointing,” he said. “When you go back and reflect on how we play, we didn’t play as physical as we normally do. I think a lot of guys were just thinking too much.

“It’s disappointing. We’re going to use this as a chip on our shoulder for this week coming up. We’re not going to just let it go. We’re going to put it in the back of our minds and remember this day.”

 

Game Notes

  • Wofford’s 500 rushing yards was the most Elon has ever allowed in a game. The previous record was the 465 running yards the Terriers had against the Phoenix last year in Elon’s 48-28 loss Oct. 29. Breitenstein rushed for 217 yards and four scores that game.
  • The Phoenix was hurt by two turnovers Wofford converted into touchdowns. Elon sophomore running back Karl Bostick’s fumble on the Phoenix’s first offensive drive led to Johnson’s touchdown run. Mellette fumbled after a catch, a turnover that led to Kass’ 16-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Michael Harpe.
  • Family Weekend festivities brought out a crowd of 10,302 on a rainy day at Rhodes Stadium.
  • Mellette was impressed by Breitenstein, last year’s SoCon Offensive Player of the Year. “Their offensive line was giving them lanes of running room, and he took full advantage of it,” he said. “It sucks because it’s against us, but my hat’s off to him for what he did today.”