After suffering a 31-3 loss at the hands of No. 3 Coastal Carolina University Sept. 27 in South Carolina, the Elon University football team returns home Oct. 4 to host No. 4 University of New Hampshire in its first ever Colonial Athletic Association game. The Phoenix (1-3) is amid a tough portion of its schedule — its first four opponents have a combined record of 16-4 while the remaining eight are a combined 19-17, although they are all CAA teams.

Elon’s matchup against New Hampshire (3-1) will be the first ever tilt between the two schools on the gridiron. The game will also mark the first time since Elon joined Division I that the Phoenix has faced top-five ranked opponents in back-to-back weeks.

The Elon offense converted for points on four of five red zone trips on Sept. 20 against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, but took a step back against Coastal Carolina. The Phoenix scored just three points on six possessions in Chanticleers territory and failed to score a touchdown for the second time in four games this season.

“[Execution] is still what it is,” senior quarterback Mike Quinn said. “There’s just a few key plays that I could look back [against Coastal Carolina] that could solve a lot of problems.”

One of the plays Quinn referred to was an overthrown deep pass to senior wide receiver Kierre Brown that could have resulted in a touchdown and would have tied the game at 10.

“The margin of error for our team is really minimal,” Quinn said. “We’re not a squad that can afford to make mistakes so we need to work on watching film and getting better every week.”

The Elon offense will be further challenged with the loss of sophomore running back B.J. Bennett. Bennett suffered a broken arm against Coastal Carolina and had to be carted off the field. It is expected that Bennett will miss the rest of the season.

MORE: Elon measures progress entering CAA play

The injury to Bennett means junior Tracey Coppedge will shoulder the majority of workload at the running back position. Backing up Coppedge are redshirt freshman Kelly Brooks-Muse and junior Thuc Phan — neither of whom are scholarship players.

“Injuries are part of the game,” Elon head coach Rich Skrosky said. “[Coppedge] obviously has to step up and then we’ve got [Brooks-Muse] and [Phan]. It’s like any other injury: next guy’s up.”

On the other side of the ball, the Phoenix defense has been a timely unit, posting a +6 turnover margin in its last three games. Elon forced three fumbles against Coastal Carolina and recovered all three. Redshirt freshman safety Chris Blair was responsible for one of those forced fumbles.

“We’re having fun with the game,” Blair said.  “We’re brothers, man. We click and when we click, we’re on. Hopefully we get more turnovers, though. Six is not good enough.”

MORE: Jonathan Spain climbing Elon all-time tackles list

Skrosky said he is proud of the way the defense has played and wants to see the same on the offensive side of the ball.

“Defensively we’re playing with a lot of good energy, great effort,” he said. “But that energy has to transpire through to everyone else.”

Notes:  DB Miles Williams (missed game at Coastal Carolina) is listed as doubtful for Saturday’s game … Depth chart changes: Freshman Tre Lennon is listed as a co-starter at wide receiver along with senior Andre Davis … Gordon Acha is listed as a starter at LG over Jacob Ingle

About New Hampshire....

—New Hampshire is 3-1 on the season and ranked No. 4 in the FCS media poll and No. 6 in the FCS coaches poll.

—The Wildcats are 1-0 in the CAA with a 29-26 victory on the road against Richmond Sept. 20. They routed Dartmouth 52-19 last week.

—In its season opener, New Hampshire fell 54-20 to FBS Toledo. The Wildcats earned their first victory Sept. 13 against Lehigh, a 45-27 final.

—Sean McDonnell is in his 16th season as the head coach of his alma mater. He’s guided the Wildcats to 10 straight FCS playoff appearances, the longest streak in the nation.

—The Wildcats have been ranked in the Top 25 for 146 consecutive weeks, the longest in the nation by 83 weeks. The streak dates back to Sept. 13, 2004.

—Last year, the Wildcats went 10-5 and advanced to the NCAA Semifinals.

—The Wildcats are averaging 36.5 points and 503.2 yards per game while only attempting three field goals (and making just one) all year.

—Quarterback Andy Vailas was named CAA Player of the Week after tallying 331 all-purpose yards and four total touchdowns in filling in for injured Sean Goldrich.

—Jimmy Owens is the team’s leading rusher with 209 yards on 45 rushes with three touchdowns.

—Akil Anderson and Nick Cefalo each lead the Wildcats with 27 total tackles.

—New Hampshire is one of five teams Elon is playing for the first time ever this season.