Post by captaggie on Sept 24, 2005 4:58:29 GMT -5
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Elon looking forward to playing A&T
By Rob Daniels
Staff Writer
ELON -- Over the past several years, the Elon football program has changed school names, nicknames, divisions, conferences, coaches and home fields. For a good constant, you must travel 25 minutes down something else that changes -- U.S. 70 to Burlington Road to Wendover Avenue. With an eventual left turn, you find N.C. A&T, which wasn't really in a position to find Elon until 1999.
But in those intervening years, the Aggies have become the only continuous nonconference opponent for the Fighting Christians of Elon College and the Phoenix of Elon University. The future of the series, like so many other things in the fluctuating world of Division I-AA football, is up in the air after a scheduled game at Aggie Stadium in 2006. But everybody agrees this pairing has made sense.
"I think it's certainly a positive for the Greensboro-Burlington area with the two schools as close as they are to each other," said Paul Hamilton, Elon's second-year coach. "A&T has dominated the series recently, as I understand it. And the excellence they've had is something we're striving for here."
At 2-1 entering today's 6 p.m. game in Rhodes Stadium, Elon is over the .500 mark for the first time at any point in three years. The Aggies (1-2) are trying to regroup after a frenzied and often frustrating start to 2005.
As a rapidly growing institution, Elon hasn't had much time to stop and do anything on a regular basis. Evolution from NAIA to NCAA Division II to I-AA independence to the Big South Conference to the Southern Conference has essentially made rivalries impossible to establish. (Elon has played Furman in every year starting with 1999, but the contest became
a Southern Conference game when the Phoenix joined the league in 2003).
Elon found a partner in A&T when the football programs were on the same NCAA level at the same time. In the brief but intriguing series:
• Elon handed the Aggies their only regular-season loss of 1999, in a game at Burlington Memorial Stadium.
• Elon spoiled the debut of lights at Aggie Stadium, on Sept. 23, 2000.
• A&T put a damper on the debut of on-campus Rhodes Stadium, on Sept. 22, 2001.
• The Aggies have outscored Elon 112-111, thanks to an ongoing four-game winning streak.
"Yeah, you don't like losing, period," Phoenix defensive back Anthony Harris said. "And those last few years have question marks behind them for us. Hopefully, we'll have a different turnout (tonight)."
For the Phoenix, the A&T game has been a barometer. When beating the Aggies, Elon has gone on to a winning season. A loss in this one has presaged a losing record come season's end.
"Maybe that's some kind of fluke. I don't know," said Kyle Belkoski, Elon's senior tight end. "But it sure does give Elon confidence when we can play the caliber of football team like A&T and come out with a win."
While its last two games, wins over lowly Savannah State and Division II Presbyterian College, have been rather uneventful, the Phoenix has shown signs of improvement after going 3-8 in 2004. Quarterback Kye Hamilton, the coach's son, is getting acclimated. After averaging an interception every 16 passes as a freshman, he has tossed just one in 81 passes this year, and he has found a reliable target in Michael Mayers, who is averaging 103 yards receiving per game.
As to the future, it's hard to predict what will happen. The apparently impending expansion of the MEAC might limit A&T's nonconference schedule, and both schools need to explore periodic, revenue-producing games with I-A opponents. Elon is scheduled to play at Wake Forest in 2007, and the Aggies would prefer to play an out-of-state I-A team in 2008 and perhaps beyond.
Among other Southern Conference members, Appalachian State athletics director Charlie Cobb confirmed this week that he has had preliminary talks with his A&T counterpart, Dee Todd, about a possible game.
"It's too early to tell," Aggies coach George Small said, "but at this point the game has been solidified for next year, and that's a good thing."
Elon looking forward to playing A&T
By Rob Daniels
Staff Writer
ELON -- Over the past several years, the Elon football program has changed school names, nicknames, divisions, conferences, coaches and home fields. For a good constant, you must travel 25 minutes down something else that changes -- U.S. 70 to Burlington Road to Wendover Avenue. With an eventual left turn, you find N.C. A&T, which wasn't really in a position to find Elon until 1999.
But in those intervening years, the Aggies have become the only continuous nonconference opponent for the Fighting Christians of Elon College and the Phoenix of Elon University. The future of the series, like so many other things in the fluctuating world of Division I-AA football, is up in the air after a scheduled game at Aggie Stadium in 2006. But everybody agrees this pairing has made sense.
"I think it's certainly a positive for the Greensboro-Burlington area with the two schools as close as they are to each other," said Paul Hamilton, Elon's second-year coach. "A&T has dominated the series recently, as I understand it. And the excellence they've had is something we're striving for here."
At 2-1 entering today's 6 p.m. game in Rhodes Stadium, Elon is over the .500 mark for the first time at any point in three years. The Aggies (1-2) are trying to regroup after a frenzied and often frustrating start to 2005.
As a rapidly growing institution, Elon hasn't had much time to stop and do anything on a regular basis. Evolution from NAIA to NCAA Division II to I-AA independence to the Big South Conference to the Southern Conference has essentially made rivalries impossible to establish. (Elon has played Furman in every year starting with 1999, but the contest became
a Southern Conference game when the Phoenix joined the league in 2003).
Elon found a partner in A&T when the football programs were on the same NCAA level at the same time. In the brief but intriguing series:
• Elon handed the Aggies their only regular-season loss of 1999, in a game at Burlington Memorial Stadium.
• Elon spoiled the debut of lights at Aggie Stadium, on Sept. 23, 2000.
• A&T put a damper on the debut of on-campus Rhodes Stadium, on Sept. 22, 2001.
• The Aggies have outscored Elon 112-111, thanks to an ongoing four-game winning streak.
"Yeah, you don't like losing, period," Phoenix defensive back Anthony Harris said. "And those last few years have question marks behind them for us. Hopefully, we'll have a different turnout (tonight)."
For the Phoenix, the A&T game has been a barometer. When beating the Aggies, Elon has gone on to a winning season. A loss in this one has presaged a losing record come season's end.
"Maybe that's some kind of fluke. I don't know," said Kyle Belkoski, Elon's senior tight end. "But it sure does give Elon confidence when we can play the caliber of football team like A&T and come out with a win."
While its last two games, wins over lowly Savannah State and Division II Presbyterian College, have been rather uneventful, the Phoenix has shown signs of improvement after going 3-8 in 2004. Quarterback Kye Hamilton, the coach's son, is getting acclimated. After averaging an interception every 16 passes as a freshman, he has tossed just one in 81 passes this year, and he has found a reliable target in Michael Mayers, who is averaging 103 yards receiving per game.
As to the future, it's hard to predict what will happen. The apparently impending expansion of the MEAC might limit A&T's nonconference schedule, and both schools need to explore periodic, revenue-producing games with I-A opponents. Elon is scheduled to play at Wake Forest in 2007, and the Aggies would prefer to play an out-of-state I-A team in 2008 and perhaps beyond.
Among other Southern Conference members, Appalachian State athletics director Charlie Cobb confirmed this week that he has had preliminary talks with his A&T counterpart, Dee Todd, about a possible game.
"It's too early to tell," Aggies coach George Small said, "but at this point the game has been solidified for next year, and that's a good thing."
