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

## Preseason
### CAA Poll

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

### Award watch lists

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Buck Buchanan Award | 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 StadiumTampa, FL | ESPN3 | L 14–34 | 31,217 |
| September 8 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 25 Furman* | No. 15 | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC | CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive | W 45–7 | 8,058 |
| September 15 | 6:00 p.m. | at William & Mary | No. 14 | Zable StadiumWilliamsburg, VA | | Canceled | |
| September 22 | 6:00 p.m. | at Charleston Southern* | No. 12 | Buccaneer FieldNorth Charleston, SC | ESPN+ | W 31–22 | 2,465 |
| September 29 | 1:30 p.m. | New Hampshire | No. 11 | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC | PAA | W 30–9 | 10,856 |
| October 6 | 1:30 p.m. | at No. 2 James Madison | No. 10 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | MASN/SNY | W 27–24 | 25,484 |
| October 13 | 3:30 p.m. | at Delaware | No. 5 | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE | NBCS PHIL | L 16–28 | 19,209 |
| October 20 | 1:30 p.m. | Richmond | No. 11 | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC | FCS/FSGO | W 38–28 | 5,982 |
| November 3 | 1:30 p.m. | Rhode Island | No. 8 | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC | PAA | W 24–21 | 10,513 |
| November 10 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 20 Towson | No. 7 | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC | PAA | L 10–41 | 5,927 |
| November 17 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 16 Maine | No. 14 | Alfond StadiumOrono, ME | FCS | L 26–27 | 6,584 |
| November 24 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 13 Wofford* | No. 17 | Gibbs StadiumSpartanburg, SC (FCS Playoffs First Round) | ESPN3 | L 7–19 | 2,157 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||
* ↑ The William & Mary game was postponed due to Hurricane Florence; it was intended to be rescheduled, but was canceled on September 19, 2018.
Source:

## 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 :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | 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 |