With Davis Cheek back at quarterback, Elon football has the makeup of a playoff team

Elon’s football program won’t just ignore what happened in the spring, when the Phoenix was finally able to play.

There’s no running from a 1-5 record; there’s a desire to prove that’s not who Elon will be in the fall.

“I think we have a better team than what we put on the field,” senior quarterback Davis Cheek said, before adjusting one word. “I know that we have a better team than what we put on the field last year, but … that’s what we are.

“Right now we’re a 1-5 team.”

Proving that’s not the team on the field this fall starts with the healthy return of Cheek, who missed the truncated spring season with a Lisfranc tear suffered in February that required immediate surgery.

The disappointment of last season and the injuries hit hard.

“Mainly just because all of the COVID stuff is happening so you’re already facing adversity, you get stopped and started again, you’re put on pause and all of these things happen,” Cheek said, “and we started to hit a good stride where everybody is feeling good, everybody is playing well, looking really good for the spring.

“And then the injury bug started hitting. I mean, that just killed us.”

Elon won its spring opener with a last-minute touchdown before losing its last five games – four of them by multiple touchdowns.

Despite the record, there were positives to be gained from the spring. Elon played the third-most games of any Colonial Athletic Association team, breaking in young players while the majority of other league members played four games or fewer.

And the Phoenix isn’t that far removed from back-to-back FCS playoff appearances in 2017-18, when it notched a combined six wins against ranked teams.

Cheek points to the Phoenix’s depth at the skill positions and experience in the front-seven as reasons Elon could be back in the playoff picture this season.

“This receiving corps, we have a lot of playmakers. I think more so than we’ve had in the past, just depth-wise,” Cheek said. “We’ve got some young guys who are ready to make an impact … and then we also have some of the older guys who, maybe they haven’t gotten an opportunity as much as I think they will this fall.”

Can’t-miss game

▪ William & Mary, Sept. 25

The CAA opener will serve as the tone-setter for the Phoenix. Elon will be coming off of a trip up the mountain to play former Southern Conference rival Appalachian State and kicks off the eight-game CAA schedule with a William & Mary team that beat the Phoenix 31-10 in the spring. And there’s the added note that in 2019, the Tribe beat Elon in a five-overtime game.

Three of the following four games will be on the road, so getting off to a positive start in the CAA will go a long way for the Phoenix.

A successful season is ...

Getting back into the mid-to-upper echelon of the CAA and being at least .500 in the league should be the goal. The Phoenix was a combined 14-9, 10-5 CAA in 2017-18 when former coach Curt Cignetti — now at rival James Madison — was at the helm.

In basically one and a half seasons under Tony Trisciani, the Phoenix is 6-11 overall and 4-8 in the CAA. Righting the ship doesn’t require knocking off JMU or climbing into the top 10, necessarily, but Elon needs to reestablish itself as a dangerous CAA program.

Elon top players to watch

Elon football schedule

This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 8:00 AM.