A preseason preview of the Catamount's fifth opponent of the 2011 football season, the Elon Phoenix.
Just one month after the start of football season, the Phoenix will travel to Cullowhee and E.J. Whitmire Stadium for the Cat's fifth game overall, third conference game and third home game out of the season's first five games. This game will mark the 41st time the Cats and Phoenix/Fighting Christians have met in football, with the first game being played in 1933. The Catamounts lead 13-8-1 in all games played in Cullowhee, however, the Phoenix bring a 5 game winning streak to Cullowhee.
Jason Swepson (Boston College - '92) became Elon's head coach in January, coming from NC State where he was the running backs coach for the last four seasons. Like Coach Wagner, Coach Swepson will act as the Phoenix offensive coordinator, with the additional responsibility of quarterbacks coach. This will be Swepson's first head coaching position.
The Phoenix lost a total of 17 seniors to graduation, which includes 6 senior starters on offense and 6 senior starters on defense, along with 5 seniors on special teams. Hardest to replace will be all everything starting quarterback Scott Riddle.
Junior quarterback Thomas Wilson, last season's #2 QB, is expected to get the starting job for the 2011 season. He appeared in five games, completed 11 of 18 pass attempts for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Wilson's favorite target is expected to be pre-season All American, junior wide receiver Aaron Mellette. Last season Mellette finish second in the SoCon with 1,100 receiving yards, caught a league-high 86 passes and led the conference with 12 receiving touchdowns.
While the Phoenix certainly have the nucleus for a decent team, with their losses to graduation, an entirely new and untested coaching staff, they will not challenge for the upper levels of the conference this season.
Prediction: WCU 31 Elon 17
WCU Record: 3 - 2
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