Post-game Press Conference
ELON, N.C. -- The Elon Phoenix became just the second Southern Conference program to earn three consecutive league victories over the Georgia Southern Eagles by claiming a 28-14 decision from a rainy Rhodes Stadium in front of 10,189 fans on Family Weekend. In the victory, Elon quarterback
Scott Riddle set new SoCon records for career completions and career passing yards.
Riddle established the new mark for completions with a four-yard completion to
Terrell Hudgins in the second quarter which was the 15th of the game and the 695th of his career for the Phoenix quarterback and moved him past East Tennessee State's Greg Ryan's total of 694. Riddle would finish with 705 career completions. Ryan's mark of 694 had stood as the league standard since 1996.
Riddle was intercepted for the first time this season when GSU snagged one in the fourth quarter. Riddle had thrown 218 straight passes without a pick to set a new SoCon mark in that category as well. Furman's Braniff Bonaventure went 215 attempts without an INT between 1995-96.
Later in the second quarter, Riddle completed a two-yard pass to A.J. Harris which pushed his career passing total to 7,826 yards, two ahead of Ryan's former SoCon record. Riddle finished the day with 7,893 career passing yards.
The Phoenix, which had defeated the Eagles by scores of 36-33 and 22-20 the last two years, earned its third straight win in the series. The only other SoCon team to have accomplished that feat was Appalachian State from 1995-1997.
"Hopefully this is a continued step forward as we try to be a contender in this league," said Elon head coach
Pete Lembo. "This was an incredibly physical game – this game might have been more physical than last week's game (at Wake Forest). I thought we competed really well up front, particularly on the defensive side of the ball."
The Phoenix finished the day with eight sacks and three interceptions on defense. Elon also forced four consecutive three-and-outs to after taking a 7-0 lead.
Elon (3-1, 1-0 SoCon) took the opening kickoff and marched 79 yards downfield to grab a 7-0 lead when Riddle ran the ball in from the 19-yard line to cap a five-play drive in just over a minute. The Riddle TD run was set up by a 46-yard reception to Hudgins.
Thanks to a 53-yard completion from Riddle to
Lance Camp, the Phoenix moved the ball down to the GSU 12 in the second quarter before Harris was stripped of the ball by Tavaris Williams. The fumble was recovered at the 15-yard line and returned 85 yards for the tying score by Georgia Southern's (2-2, 1-1) Darrell Pasco.
Elon would move back on top by a 10-7 score after
Adam Shreiner drilled a 41-yard field goal with 11:33 to play in the second period. The field goal capped a five-play, 22-yard drive which used just 1:47.
With 8:25 left to play in the first half, Elon took over at its own seven yard line. After picking up a first down at the Elon 17, Riddle connected deep for 52 yards to
Sean Jeffcoat and then hit Hudgins for another 26 yards to the Georgia Southern five. After two rushes moved the ball to the three, Riddle found
Taylor Berry for a TD strike that finished off a drive that lasted only 2:52 and took just seven plays.
With just under 3:30 left in the first half, Riddle's record-setting four-yard pass to Hudgins moved the ball to the 50 yard line. The drive continued and the Phoenix moved to the GSU 28 following a 22-yard reception by
Brandon Newsome and a Harris five-yard rush. On the next play, Harris broke through the end of the Eagle line for a 28-yard score that gave Elon a 23-7 lead. The drive went 71 yards in only six plays and took 2:14 off the clock.
Elon's defense turned in another dominating first half performance, limiting Georgia Southern's offense to just 22 yards on 22 plays, including -1 yard rushing on 11 carries. The Phoenix defenders swarmed GSU's Lee Chapple, putting the Eagle signal-caller on the ground for five first period sacks.
Riddle threw for 273 yards, including a two-yard reception to Harris on Elon's last possession of the half which propelled the Phoenix quarterback past Ryan for the SoCon's all-time lead in passing yardage.
Georgia Southern received the second half kickoff, but Elon kicked off from its 40-yard line thanks to two delay of game penalties on the Eagles for returning late to the field. GSU ended up going three-and-out on the drive and the Phoenix took its first possession at its own 42.
Elon drove the ball down the field to the Eagle nine and added three points to its lead when Shreiner sent a 26-yard field goal through the uprights.
On their next drive, the Georgia Southern offense got going, driving 73 yards on nine plays for its first offensive score of the game. Adam Urbano carried three times for 33 yards on the drive and the TD came when Chapple found Patrick Barker for an eight-yard strike.
The Phoenix punted the ball away on the first play of the fourth quarter and pinned the Eagles inside their own one yard line. On the first play Urbano took the handoff and was met in the backfield by Elon's
Jordan Daniel who brought the back down for a safety.
Elon sealed its victory thanks to an interception by
Joshua Jones with 3:55 remaining in game. Jones' pick was returned 48 yards and halted a GSU drive which had moved to the Phoenix 26 yard line.
Riddle finished the game with 338 passing yards, the 14th career game in which he has thrown for at least 300 yards, on 25 completions and one TD. Riddle now boasts 7,893 passing yards and 705 completions for his career.
Hudgins finished with 12 receptions for 138 yards and is now just three receptions shy of setting a new NCAA Division I record with 318 catches.
On the ground, Harris rushed nine times for 50 yards and a score while
Brandon Newsome recorded his first carries of the season, rushing for 36 yards.
Elon's defense concluded the game with eight sacks, including 2.5 from
Eric Ludwig and another 2.0 from
Andre Campbell. The Phoenix also picked off three passes, doubling its season total to six. Jones led all players with 11 tackles and had one interception.
GSU's Urbano picked up 73 yards on 14 carries while Chapple completed 18 passes for 122 yards and a score. Barker caught five balls for 46 yards and a score.The Eagle defense was led by a 10-tackle performance from K.R. Snipes. Georgia Southern sacked Riddle four times, one of which came from Brent Russell who also picked off Riddle. The INT was the first of the year for Riddle who had not been picked off in four games dating back to last season.
The Phoenix ended up with a 423-153 edge in total offense and has now out-gained its opponents by a total of 1,875 yards to 774 yards.
Elon will head to Greenville, S.C., to take on Furman in a league contest at 3 p.m. next weekend which will air live on SportSouth next Saturday. Georgia Southern pays a visit to Wofford for a 1:30 p.m. kick that same day.
-- ELON --