Inside Elon Football With Taylor Durham, Week 4
Written by Elon Phoenix on 4:12 PM
Saturday night in Statesboro, Georgia, Elon opens up Southern Conference play while looking to rebound from a 27-21 setback to Richmond last week.
There are couple of positives to pull from the Commonwealth on the trip back to Elon on Saturday night and the one that jumps off the page would be the line for Aaron Mellette, the sophomore wideout from Sanford who finished with 18 catches for almost 200 yards and two scores. The final catch in regulation would be the one that would tie the matter (courtesy of Adam Shreiner’s PAT) and force overtime. We talked with Aaron during the post-game show and he mentioned about running to the back corner and trusting Scott Riddle to find him on the route. It was some kind of throw and some kind of catch and it should be fun to watch Scott Riddle and a receiving corps that continues to take steps and develop through the season. The other number that jumps off the page would be the double digit tackle effort by red-shirt freshman Ronnie Hardison in the secondary. After losing three starters due to graduation, there were some question marks in the off-season about this group and based on the efforts of Hardison and Chandler Wrightenberry (INT), you get the sense that this group may be starting to find the form as the race for the SoCon Championship begins on Saturday night.
A completely different test awaits Elon on Saturday night. Georgia Southern revamped their coaching staff in the off-season, severing ties with Head Coach Chris Hatcher and bringing in Georgia Tech assistant Jeff Monken. The “Hatch Attack” has it was know in Statesboro for the fast-paced aerial show on offense has been replaced by the multiple option look that has seen great success for Georgia Tech the past two seasons (including an ACC Championship in 2009). Jaybo Shaw, the Georgia Tech transfer, leads the offensive attack with ranks sixth nationally in rushing offense and 12th in passing efficency. The Phoenix will also face another stern test on the defensive end with a group that is led by All-Conference pre-season choice Brent Russell (3 sacks) up front and a defensive secondary that will start two juniors and two seniors. They are expecting 20,000 at Paulson Stadium and I am sure that the Georgia Southern faithful will not need to be reminded that the Phoenix is trying to make it four straight in the win column in the series (no Southern Conference team has accomplished that feat since Marshall back in the mid 1990’s – by the way the Herd was coached by Burlington native and former Wolfpack quarterback Jim Donnan).
As always, I look forward to having you with us on the radio during the week which begins tonight at 7 p.m. with Elon Football Live at The Fat Frogg and continues on Saturday night in Statesboro when David Hibbard and I open the Cox Toyota Broadcast Booth at 5 p.m.
By the way, it should be a great time when we spend a few moments with Terrell Hudgins tonight to talk about the announcement this morning that his jersey will be retired next Saturday when Elon returns home to face Samford for Family Weekend.
| Posted in »
0 comments: Responses to “ Inside Elon Football With Taylor Durham, Week 4 ”