Citadel falls in OT

ELON, N.C. -- In a game stuffed full of mistakes, The Citadel made the final one and lost.

Ryan Sellers missed a 37-yard field goal in overtime, his second miss of the game, and Elon escaped with an 18-15 victory over the Bulldogs before 10,883 fans on a humid Saturday at Rhodes Stadium.

Elon turned the ball over twice and missed two field goals, as did The Citadel. In the final minutes, each team botched a chance to win in regulation, the Bulldogs fumbling a pitch and Elon fouling up a snap and then missing a 44-yard field goal as time expired.

But Elon kicker Adam Shreiner did make four of six kicks, including a 33-yarder in OT that was the difference.

"A real tough loss," said Citadel coach Kevin Higgins, whose team is 1-2 overall and 0-2 in the Southern Conference, despite allowing just two touchdowns in league play. "Our guys knew that it would come down to the wire, and we gave ourselves a chance.

"We had two or three chances to make plays at critical times, and we didn't do it. And we didn't win the football game," added Higgins, whose squad has lost 12 of its last 13 conference games.

Sellers' wide-right miss in overtime was the final blown chance, but there was plenty of blame to go around.

Against an Elon defense that stacked the box and dared the Bulldogs to pass, The Citadel hit just 1 of 6 throws. And that one completion was by slotback Rickey Anderson, whose 10-yard TD toss to Kevin Hardy helped give the Bulldogs a 15-12 lead with 13:52 to play.

Quarterbacks Ben Dupree and Matt Thompson combined to go 0 for 4 with one interception, by Thompson. The Bulldogs did rush for 257 yards, including a 67-yard TD by fullback Darien Robinson for a 7-6 lead late in the first half. Robinson finished with 103 yards on 13 carries.

"Each other," Dupree said when asked what was holding the offense back. "In this offense, we can't have negative plays and we had too many. I believe we are going to figure it out."

Dupree, a sophomore, is 13 of 26 for 135 yards and no touchdowns with one interception through three games, and has rushed for 302 yards with two scores.

Higgins said he's not ready to contemplate a QB change to Thompson or freshman Aaron Miller.

"We'll look at the film and see what Ben's reads were like," Higgins said. "Ben's our guy, but we've got to figure out how we can throw the ball with him in the game. We have to solve that one for us to be good."

Elon QB Thomas Wilson completed 26 of 39 passes for 283 yards and one TD, a 41-yarder to Aaron Mellette that gave the Phoenix a 12-7 lead early in the second half.

The Bulldogs were credited with just one sack, by Derek Douglas, but got good pressure on Wilson without having to blitz. Safety Davis Boyle picked off one pass, linebacker Rod Harland picked up a Wilson fumble, and linebacker DeAndre Smith almost picked off a second pass.

"Teams that have blitzed him have not had a lot of success," Higgins said. "We played a little more coverage and got pressure with our up-front guys, but they were able to hit a couple of big plays that really hurt us."

Elon coach Jason Swepson is off to a 3-1 start in his first year after winning his SoCon debut.

"You've got to give Citadel tremendous credit," he said. "Their defense played outstanding. They did what they wanted to do on offense, controlling the clock."

And now, The Citadel faces a run of three straight ranked teams in Chattanooga, Wofford and Appalachian State.