“Defense wins championships” is a saying that has always echoed throughout sports.
But sometimes a little offense wins games.
The Elon University football team has struggled to put points on the board in its inaugural season as members in the Colonial Athletic Association.
The Phoenix offense has found it difficult to execute drives that produce touchdowns and hasn’t been able to reinforce the valiant efforts put forth by the defense.
After a 20-3 loss against Stony Brook University Oct. 18, the Elon offense ranked No. 11 out of 12 teams in the CAA in scoring offense, having only produced eight touchdowns in seven games.
“That’s where we are. We’re inconsistent right now,” said Elon head coach Rich Skrosky. “Our room for error isn’t very big, and we had too many miscues.”
Inconsistency has been the Achilles’ heel for the Phoenix. Against Stony Brook, Elon moved the ball into Seawolves territory on multiple occasions only to turn the ball over or come up empty-handed on missed field goals. In fact, three different drives for the offense stalled at the Seawolves’ 15-, 13- and 6-yard lines.
Senior quarterback Mike Quinn voiced his frustration at the conclusion of the game.
“It’s frustrating and disappointing. I feel bad for the defense. They’ve been getting good field position for us,” he said. “I’m just upset for my teammates not being able to put any points on the board.”
The offense has shown signs of life at times, most notably in its Oct. 11 matchup against the University of Delaware. Although it lost 34-24, the Phoenix scored the most points this season with Quinn leading the charge in a second half rally when Elon put up 367 total yards of offense — more than Delaware had.
The spread, no-huddle system that Skrosky and offensive coordinator Damian Wroblewski have in place for the Phoenix has conveyed its potential.
It produced positive showings against the University of Charlotte 49ers, when Elon scored 20 points in a win, and a complete 24-point outing against Delaware.
On the other hand, the losses the Phoenix has built up have exposed the inconsistencies with the offense in games against the University of New Hampshire, when Elon scored 14 points, all late in the game, and Coastal Carolina University, when Elon scored 3 points.
Junior running back Tracey Coppedge said he believes the offense must connect more in order to operate at a more effective pace.
“We all have to look at ourselves in the mirror and realize what we have to do,” he said. “We need to have the will to be focused and look at each other as brothers, not just teammates. And we have to execute one play at a time.”
Quinn, along with Coppedge, affirms the value in getting into a groove early in games. This seems to be a possible solution to the inconsistency that has followed the offense for the first seven games of the season.
“When we get into a groove, we play really well.” Quinn said. “Get more third-down conversions and come out with more pep in our step. The offense needs to pick it up on that side of it.”