In their first game out of the bye week, the Elon University football team couldn’t snap their losing streak as they lost 34-20 to Rhode Island University. The defeat marks Elon’s fourth straight loss after starting the season 4-2. It is the second straight season in which they failed to finish with a winning record.
Rhode Island scored on its first four possessions of the game and remained in control for the rest of the game. They outgained Elon 442-225 in total yards while Rhode Island redshirt junior quarterback Devin Farrell threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns. It was Rhode Island’s fourth straight win to move to 8-2 on the year.
Head coach Tony Trisciani said Elon could not afford to have a poor start against a tough opponent like Rhode Island.
“We played better in the second half, but when you play a really good football team, you can’t have the start that we had and dig a hole like we did,” Trisciani said.
Elon started the game promisingly. After starting with the football, they drove to Rhode Island territory thanks to a 39-yard completion from redshirt freshmen quarterback Landen Clark to redshirt junior receiver Landyn Backey. They got on the board with a 50-yard field goal from sophomore Luke Barnes.
The defense appeared set to stop Rhode Island when they misplayed the kickoff, causing their offense to start at its own three yard line. However, Farrell led the team on a 15 play, 90-yard drive in which Rhode Island took up 7:38 minutes. He finished off the drive with a 10-yard run.
Trisciani said that Rhode Island did a good job executing against Elon’s defense. He said Rhode Island would move their receivers in different positions before the snap and were able to counter any pressure the Phoenix sent.
“They did a good job from a personnel standpoint,” Trisciani said. “They would put a receiver in the backfield on third downs, and had great gap schemes against our blitzes.”
Elon’s offense struggled to follow up their early score, mustering only a combined 28 yards on its next four possessions. Rhode Island forced Clark to hold on to the football for a while, and Elon didn’t find much success running their read option plays.
Meanwhile, Rhode Island continued their momentum after the long opening drive. They were able to generate big plays from their receivers with the help of poor Elon tackling.
On Rhode Island’s third scoring drive, Rhode Island redshirt senior running back Antwain Littleton Jr. broke multiple tackles on his way to a 42-yard sprint down the sidelines. The catch-and-run set up a touchdown pass to Rhode Island redshirt junior receiver Greg Gaines III. After a defensive stop, Rhode Island broke the game open when Littleton Jr. once again evaded tackles for a 70-yard score.
Sophomore defensive lineman Kahmari Brown said tackling was a big problem throughout the game. He said the team will work to address those issues during the week.
“We’re going to be in the meeting room talking about wrapping up and just doing drills on the practice field,” Brown said. “It’s very basic and we have to apply that going forward.”
Elon did manage to generate some momentum right before halftime as a sack by Brown forced a short punt from Rhode Island. The Phoenix capitalized off the field position, scoring on the final play of the half when sophomore receiver Isaiah Fuhrmann made an amazing catch against two defenders. That made the score 24-10 heading into the half.
However, that pass was Clark’s last of the game, as he injured his shoulder during the possession and didn’t return. Trisciani said in the press conference he didn’t feel like Clark could perform at 100% in the second half, so he chose to insert redshirt sophomore Marco Lainez for the second half.
During the second half, Elon showed life on defense and special teams. Brown recorded his second sack of the game to give him eight on the year. That forced Rhode Island to settle for a field goal to make the score 27-10.
Brown said everyone did a good job sticking to their assignments on the play and it allowed him to be in a position to make a play.
“Everybody was in the right spot, and I knew I had to do my job so I could be in the right spot at the right time,” Brown said.
Then after Elon forced a punt on their following defensive possession, junior defensive back DJ James-Hamilton maneuvered his way 70 yards down the sideline for a punt return. It was the team’s first punt return since 2013, and cut Rhode Island’s lead to 27-17.
Rhode Island would respond immediately after, marching down the field in 10 plays before backup quarterback Alex McClelland finished off the drive with a run to the end zone.
Down 34-17 early in the fourth quarter, Elon couldn’t generate any points outside of a field goal from Barnes. Rhode Island finished with a 34-20 victory.
Trisciani admitted that the team has struggled to play up to their full potential. He said he took responsibility for these issues and cited the need to continue playing together for the final two weeks of the season.
“I don’t know that I’ve seen our best football yet, and that’s on me,” Trisciani said. “We're going to do everything we can to come out next week and play the best football that we can play. I know what these guys are capable of playing, and we need to finish what we started.”
The Phoenix will travel to Buies Creek, North Carolina next week to play their next game against Campbell University at 2 p.m. Nov. 15.