Box Score Game Book (pdf)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Wofford College was defeated by sixth-ranked Elon 34-6 on Saturday afternoon at Gibbs Stadium. Terrell Hudgins had three touchdown catches to lead the Phoenix as turnovers hampered the Wofford effort in the second half.
The Terriers fall to 2-6 on the season and 1-4 in the SoCon, while Elon is 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the conference. The Terriers were led by Michael Scott with 50 yards on ten carries and Brenton Bersin had two catches for 20 yards. Elon was led by Terrell Hudgins with 153 yards on eleven carries and quarterback Scott Riddle was 31-of-44 with one interception and three touchdowns.
“Elon is good, but we did not execute as well as we could have,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “Turning the football over caused some problems and we had some plays, but could not create that big play. We were not as consistent as we needed to be and I thought in the second half defensively we played well enough to have a chance to win the game if we had gotten it going offensively. There were some bright spots out there in all the doom and gloom, but Elon came in on a mission, there is no doubt about that.
“We worked hard this week to try and get things ready for them, but it didn’t work out. We did not adjust as well as we needed to offensively and you can’t be one sided. Even if you are playing great defense, if you are not putting points on the board you have problems. Kicking game we did some good things and some bad things. We had some huge plays on kickoff return, but that being said we also had a turnover. We will get back to the drawing board. We play another tough football game next week and we are going to have to let this one go as soon as the sun comes up tomorrow.”
The Phoenix took the opening drive and picked up two first downs before kicking a 36-yard field goal by Adam Shreiner to take a 3-0 lead at 10:58. Wofford was forced three-and-out and punted on their first possession.
After the teams traded punts, the Phoenix were able to put together a drive that was capped by a ten-yard touchdown pass from Scott Riddle to Terrell Hudgins. At 14:54 of the second quarter, Elon had a 10-0 lead. Wofford picked up their first first down of the game, but were again forced to punt.
The Wofford defense forced another Elon punt at 9:43 in the second quarter. On third down, the Terriers picked up a first down on an unsportsman-like penalty call on Elon. Austin Palmer added another first down to get the ball into Elon territory and another unsportsman-like call moved the ball deeper. The Terriers ended the drive with a 27-yard field goal from Christian Reed at 3:21 in the second for a 10-3 score.
Elon added a 32-yard touchdown pass from Scott Riddle to Terrell Hudgins with 1:22 left in the half to take a 17-3 lead. Wofford used a 53-yard kickoff return by Stephon Shelton to get the ball to the Elon 37-yard line. After one first down pass to Brenton Bersin, the Terriers lined-up for a 42-yard field goal that was good by Christian Reed for a 17-6 score with 42 seconds left in the half. Elon added a first down and tried two long passes to the end zone before time expired in the half.
To open the second half, rain began to fall at Gibbs Stadium. Wofford had the ball first and gained two rushing first downs by Michael Scott, but the Terriers came up short on fourth-and-three. With the ball back, the Phoenix put together a drive that ended with a 20-yard field goal by Adam Shreiner for a 20-6 lead at 4:53 in the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Terriers fumbled and the ball was recovered by Elon. The Phoenix capitalized on the turnover a few plays later with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Scott Riddle to Terrell Hudgins. Elon had a 27-6 lead at the 2:27 mark in the third quarter.
Wofford was forced three-and-out and punted on their next possession, but Elon returned the favor with a punt as well. The Terriers gained a first down rushing by Arsenio Parks, but on fourth-and-ten turned the ball over on a fumble with 11:05 left in the game.
After forcing the Phoenix to punt, the Terriers turned the ball over on a fumble again at the 14-yard line. But Wofford was able to get the ball back with an interception by Jonathon Sharpe. The Terriers picked up one first down on the drive, then attempted a fake punt on fourth down that failed, giving Elon the ball back at the Wofford 24-yard line.
Elon used three rushing plays to get the ball to the end zone, with Brandon Newsome capping the drive with a 15-yard run. The Phoenix had a 34-6 lead with just 2:12 left in the game. Wofford was unable to pick up a first down on the following drive and Elon took a knee to end the game.
The Terriers had a season-low 170 total offensive yards. Elon had 402 total yards, including 323 passing. On third downs, Elon was 11-of-19 while Wofford was two-of-14. Wofford was also 0-of-4 on fourth down attempts. Elon had a 32:32 to 27:28 advantage in time of possession.
Wofford will return to the road next weekend at The Citadel. The game will be televised on SportSouth at 3:00 pm.
Wofford vs. Elon Post-Game Notes
The field goal by Christian Reed in the second quarter was the first of his career. It also was the first field goal of the season for the Terriers. Reed added a second field goal in the second quarter.
The Wofford offensive line allowed three sacks in the game, the first since the Chattanooga game (9/26). It was also the most sacks allowed in a game this season.
Jonathon Sharpe’s interception in the fourth quarter was the first of his career.
Elon has won the last two games in the series at Wofford.
The Wofford defense had eleven tackles for loss, a season high, but only had one sack in the game.
Wofford was held scoreless in the second half for the second time this season (South Florida).
Game captains for Wofford were Mitch Allen and Tommy Irvin.
Attendance was 6,610 at Gibbs Stadium.
