The Elon University football locked down the University at Albany on Saturday to earn a 27-3 win and finish 5-0 at home for the season. Head coach Tony Trisciani said between Homecoming Weekend and Senior Day, this game was huge for the team.
“I was just really proud of our guys for how they locked in and focused on their job one snap at a time. Just really tight vision and focus,” Trisciani said.
The team celebrated 17 seniors today, one of which was senior linebacker Marcus Hillman, who said Elon’s defense strategy after the loss to New Hampshire two weeks ago is to look at every game as a win or go home.
“Every game is a playoff game now. This is playoffs from here on out — we lose one, we're done,” Hillman said. “We took that mentality to practice, and everyday just play hard,”
This was also the first game back for senior wide receiver Jackson Parham, who missed the last two games because of a concussion. Parham said it felt great to be out there with his teammates on the field again.
“It felt good,” Parham said. “I feel like I got into a rhythm a little bit. So I'm just happy to be back.”
The team has adopted this win-or-go mentality, and Hillman said it’s stressful to know any game could be his last.
“It just makes you lock in that much more, just knowing we don't know when your college career can be done,” Hillman said. “You don't know when it's over. I put so much work into this. Our team has put so much work into this.”
The team will look to take its mentality on the road as it travels to Hampton University for its last regular season game Nov. 12.