Expectations are everything. And for the most part, the Elon University football team played better than expected against Appalachian State University Sept. 21.
Although they lost 31-21, the Phoenix defended against the Mountaineers’ sophomore star wide receiver Sean Price better than anticipated. He was held to eight catches for 99 yards and one touchdown. But the Phoenix had to contend with another factor they didn’t exactly see coming.
Elon did not expect Appalachian State’s freshman running back Marcus Cox to finish with 315 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. He did most of his damage on third downs, where his speed made him a great receiving option out of the backfield.
“Our defense couldn’t get off the field on third and long,” said Elon head coach Jason Swepson. “In football, it always comes down to five or six plays, and we didn’t make them.”
Three of those five or six plays were thanks in large part to Cox. After turning two short receptions into 50- and 73-yard touchdowns in the first half, he gained every single yard in Appalachian State’s final scoring drive, including the touchdown that knocked the wind out of a Phoenix comeback.
“We missed some tackles out there,” said senior defensive back David Wood. “If you make those kinds of errors, they’ll score.”
And that they did.
Elon was playing at its absolute best when Cox wasn’t carrying the Mountaineer offense. If Elon wants to make an impact in its last season as a member of the Southern Conference, it needs to figure out how to harness the defensive magic that nearly shut out the Mountaineers in the second half.
Leading up to the touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, the Phoenix held the Mountaineers to 148 yards of offense and no points in the second half. Appalachian State only mustered 90 yards of offense in the third quarter alone.
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But on the fateful drive for the Mountaineers, Cox ran for 75 yards to all but end the game near the end of the fourth quarter.
“They got playmakers on offense,” Swepson said. “We had to play a perfect game against them to get the win. We didn’t in the first half, but we did in the second.”
Without the Mountaineers’ final scoring drive, Swepson just might be right. On Elon’s three scoring drives, the offense imposed its will through the running game, grinding out the clock to give the defense some much needed rest against speedy Appalachian State.
“The defense played great,” said junior quarterback Mike Quinn. “We just got to make sure to keep them off the field. When we don’t sustain drives, it makes it harder to get anything good going.”
Appalachian State was shuffled between two quarterbacks — senior Jamal Londry-Jackson and sophomore Kameron Bryant — throughout the game and might have fallen asleep at the wheel while nursing a 24-7 lead. But neither quarterback proved to be a pushover. A new signal caller on the opposing team can throw a wrench in a defense’s game plan, forcing them to play basic schemes until they figure out what works best. That’s not what happened to Elon against the Mountaineers.
Despite a loss characterized by missed opportunities and big plays allowed, Elon looked the shape of a formidable foe for SoCon opponents this season.
If that second half magic the Phoenix displayed appears Sept. 28 against Coastal Carolina University, a much better team than the Mountaineers that ranks No. 11 in the country in the Sept. 23 national poll, Elon could take a few games down the road this season that originally looked like losses on paper.