Elon Football Phoenix, Spiders to Tangle at Rhodes Stadium on Saturday

ELON, N.C. – On Saturday, Oct. 25, the Elon Phoenix football team will play host to the 16th-ranked Richmond Spiders in the first of its final two home games of the 2014 season. Game time is slated for 3 p.m. as Elon celebrates its Live Pink game.

Representatives from Little Pink Houses of Hope will be on hand to present information about their organization that provides much-needed family bonding time for individuals battling breast cancer.

Fans unable to attend the game can listen to the game on WPCM 95.1 FM and 920 AM or at elonphoenix.com. The radio broadcast will start at 2 p.m. Fans can also listen to all Elon football games via the TuneIn Radio app. This app is free to download to your smartphone. The WSOE tailgate show can be heard on 89.3 FM beginning at 1 p.m.

Phoenix All-Access, Elon’s video portal, will also show the game for free.

CONNECTIONS:
• Both Elon LS Matt Arnholt and UR QB Michael Strauss graduated from GulliverPrep (Fla.).
• Elon’s roster sports seven Virginians – DB Bo Hartman (Centreville), DB Julius Moore (Chesterfield), WR Demetrius Oliver (Portsmouth), RB Matt McClary (Smithfield), TE Zach Duprey (Stanardsville), RB Kelly Brooks-Muse (Vienna) and LB JustinSnavely (Wytheville).
• Richmond’s roster has 13 North Carolinians, including six players from Charlotte, two from Raleigh and one from Greensboro.

A NEW HOME:
After spending the past 11 seasons as a member of the Southern Conference, Elon has joined the Colonial Athletic Association and CAA Football. The Phoenix officially transitioned to CAA Football on July 1, 2014.

The CAA geographic footprint provides an attractive match with Elon’s student and alumni populations. Elon draws a large proportion of its enrollment from mid-Atlantic and New England states where many CAA teams are located. About1,850 current students came to Elon from areas close to CAA member schools.Alumni populations in CAA cities are equally strong, with about 5,300 Elon alumni living within 50 miles of CAA member schools.

ELON VS. RICHMOND:
• Elon and Richmond have met four times, three of which have come since 2008. The Spiders have won all four meetings.
• The last two games have been decided by a combined nine points and were played in Richmond.
• The two sides first met on Oct. 20, 1928 in Elon.

FLAGS ARE FEW
When it comes to penalties, Elon has done an outstanding job of avoiding flags. The Phoenix leads the CAA in fewest penalties (30), fewest penalties per game (4.29), fewest penalty yards (237) and fewest penalty yards per game (33.86).

In fact, the maroon and gold’s 33.86 penalty yards per game are the fewest in the nation. Second is CAA mate William & Mary. The Tribe averages 35.14 penalty yards per game.

FIRST FUMBLE
Elon fumbled the ball for the first time on the year against Stony Brook. The Seawolves recovered that fumble. The Phoenix had been one of the final three teams in FCS football to not have lost a fumble on the year.

HIGHLY RANKED
Elon played back-to-back games against top-five opponents for the first time in its NCAA Division I history. The Phoenix dropped games to #3 Coastal Carolina and #4 New Hampshire.

With Richmond in the top 25, Elon will be playing its third game against a top-25 opponent. The Phoenix has now faced three or more top-25 teams in five consecutive seasons.