2018 Elon Phoenix football team

The 2018 Elon Phoenix football team represented Elon University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Curt Cignetti and played their home games at Rhodes Stadium. They were members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). They finished the season 6–5, 4–3 in CAA play to finish in sixth place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they were lost to Wofford in the first round.

2018 Elon Phoenix football
FCS Playoffs First Round, L 7–19 vs. Wofford
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
STATS	No. 19
FCS Coaches	No. 19
2018 record	6–5 (4–3 CAA)
Head coach	Curt Cignetti (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Drew Folmar (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Tony Trisciani (2nd season)
Home stadium	Rhodes Stadium (Capacity: 11,250)

2018 CAA football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Maine $^		7	–	1					10	–	4
No. 9 James Madison ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 16 Stony Brook ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
No. 20 Towson ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
No. 24 Delaware ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
No. 19 Elon ^		4	–	3					6	–	5
Rhode Island		4	–	4					6	–	5
William & Mary		3	–	4					4	–	6
New Hampshire		3	–	5					4	–	7
Villanova		2	–	6					5	–	6
Richmond		2	–	6					4	–	7
Albany		1	–	7					3	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

On December 14, head coach Curt Cignetti resigned to become the head coach at James Madison.[1] He finished at Elon with a two-year record of 14–9.

Previous season

The Phoenix finished the 2017 season 8–4, 6–2 in CAA play to finish in third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost to Furman in the first round.

Preseason

CAA Poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 24, 2018, the Phoenix were predicted to finish in fifth place.[2]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	James Madison	241 (21)
2	New Hampshire	206 (2)
3	Delaware	182
4	Stony Brook	169
5	Elon	168 (1)
6	Villanova	164
7	Richmond	127
8	Maine	81
9	Albany	78
10	Towson	74
11	William & Mary	55
12	Rhode Island	39

Preseason All-CAA Team

The Phoenix had two players selected to the preseason all-CAA team.

Offense CJ Toogood – OL Defense Warren Messer – LB

Award watch lists

Award	Player	Position	Year
Buck Buchanan Award[3]	Warren Messer	LB	SR

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 p.m.	at South Florida*	No. 12	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPN3	L 14–34	31,217
September 8	6:00 p.m.	No. 25 Furman*	No. 15	Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC	CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive	W 45–7	8,058
September 15	6:00 p.m.	at William & Mary	No. 14	Zable Stadium Williamsburg, VA		Canceled[lower-alpha 1]
September 22	6:00 p.m.	at Charleston Southern*	No. 12	Buccaneer Field North Charleston, SC	ESPN+	W 31–22	2,465
September 29	1:30 p.m.	New Hampshire	No. 11	Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC	PAA	W 30–9	10,856
October 6	1:30 p.m.	at No. 2 James Madison	No. 10	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA	MASN/SNY	W 27–24	25,484
October 13	3:30 p.m.	at Delaware	No. 5	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	NBCS PHIL	L 16–28	19,209
October 20	1:30 p.m.	Richmond	No. 11	Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC	FCS/FSGO	W 38–28	5,982
November 3	1:30 p.m.	Rhode Island	No. 8	Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC	PAA	W 24–21	10,513
November 10	12:00 p.m.	No. 20 Towson	No. 7	Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC	PAA	L 10–41	5,927
November 17	12:00 p.m.	at No. 16 Maine	No. 14	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME	FCS	L 26–27	6,584
November 24	2:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Wofford*	No. 17	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC (FCS Playoffs First Round)	ESPN3	L 7–19	2,157
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

1. The William & Mary game was postponed due to Hurricane Florence; it was intended to be rescheduled, but was canceled on September 19, 2018.[4]

Source:[5]

Game summaries

at South Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Phoenix	0	0	7	7	14
Bulls	7	17	7	3	34

Furman

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 25 Paladins	0	0	0	7	7
No. 15 Phoenix	14	14	10	7	45

at Charleston Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Phoenix	3	7	21	0	31
Buccaneers	13	6	3	0	22

New Hampshire

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	3	6	0	0	9
No. 11 Phoenix	7	17	3	3	30

at James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Phoenix	0	7	3	17	27
No. 2 Dukes	3	6	3	12	24

at Delaware

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Phoenix	7	3	6	0	16
Fightin' Blue Hens	0	7	7	14	28

Richmond

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spiders	7	7	7	7	28
No. 11 Phoenix	14	7	14	3	38

Rhode Island

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	7	0	0	14	21
No. 8 Phoenix	0	21	0	3	24

Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Tigers	7	7	10	17	41
No. 7 Phoenix	0	3	7	0	10

at Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Phoenix	0	10	10	6	26
No. 16 Black Bears	0	13	14	0	27

FCS Playoffs

at Wofford–First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Phoenix	0	7	0	0	7
No. 13 Terriers	3	3	10	3	19

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	12	15	14	12	11	10	5	11	8	8	7	14	17	19
Coaches	13	15	14	12	9	9	6	11	6	6	5	12	17	19

Players drafted into the NFL

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
6	193	Olisaemeka Udoh	OT	Minnesota Vikings

References

1. https://jmusports.com/news/2018/12/14/curt-cignetti-takes-helm-of-james-madison-football.aspx
2. Washburn, Rob (July 24, 2018). "James Madison Favored To Win Fourth Straight CAA Football Title in 2018". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
3. "FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced". August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
4. "Elon/William & Mary Football Game Will Not Be Rescheduled". Elon University Department of Athletics. September 19, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
5. "2018 Football Schedule". Elon University Department of Athletics. Retrieved May 5, 2018.