Elon at New Hampshire
DURHAM, N.H. (Interstat) — Elon will visit New Hampshire Saturday in an NCAA Football Championship Division game at Wildcat Stadium (NH), with the Phoenix looking to build on a 4-1 start and the Wildcats seeking a turnaround.
Elon enters at 4-1 and has won two straight. The Phoenix opened the season with wins over Glenville State, Davidson and Sacred Heart before falling at Rhode Island 31-10. They bounced back Saturday with a 43-17 win over Maine. Kamerin McDowell-Moore ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns in that victory, while Elijah Guttman passed for 179 yards and a touchdown and TJ Crews IV threw a 39-yard scoring pass.
Guttman is the player to watch for Elon. The quarterback also passed for 142 yards and ran for 10 yards in a 24-21 win over Sacred Heart earlier this season. Against Maine, he threw for 179 yards and a touchdown. The Phoenix have scored at least 24 points in three of their four wins.
New Hampshire enters at 1-4 and has lost two straight. The Wildcats opened with a loss at Albany, fell at Syracuse, beat Stonehill 42-35 and then dropped games to Harvard and Sacred Heart. In the most recent loss, New Hampshire fell 20-13 at Sacred Heart Saturday. Joquez Smith ran for 107 yards, and Myles Thomason added 74 rushing yards and a touchdown. New Hampshire has allowed at least 20 points in four of its five games.
Brooks Bentley is the player to watch for New Hampshire. The quarterback passed for 186 yards and a touchdown against Harvard and threw for 81 yards in the Sacred Heart game. He also recorded a tackle at Syracuse. Bentley has thrown for at least 75 yards in each of his past three games. Thomason also caught one pass for 2 yards in the Sacred Heart game, while Smith added a 10-yard reception.
The weather forecast for game time calls for 83 degrees at Wildcat Stadium. Durham, N.H., is expected to be warm at kickoff, and both teams will play in the listed conditions.
Elon’s upcoming schedule includes a home game against Wofford and a trip to Stanford. New Hampshire is set to travel to North Carolina A&T before returning home to face Monmouth. Elon later has games against Hampton, Campbell and Towson, while New Hampshire also faces Merrimack, Rhode Island, Stony Brook and Maine. The Phoenix and Wildcats will meet in Durham on Saturday before those upcoming games.
Interstat’s game simulator projects a final score of Elon 40, New Hampshire 26.