By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Landyn Backey’s versatility has been a plus for Elon’s football team on offense. His production has been at a high level as well.
Backey, a redshirt junior, caught two touchdown passes in Saturday night’s 55-7 victory against visiting Davidson.
“We’ve moved guys around,” Elon coach Tony Trisciani said. “Landyn has been able to play multiple positions which is really challenging for him. I can imagine he has got a lot more comfortable.”
Elon has had four scholarship receivers out with injuries, so Backey’s role has risen. He was groomed as a slot receiver, but his opportunities have expanded.
“We keep building more and more chemistry,” Backey said.
Backey turned in TD receptions of 22 and 44 yards. He finished with five catches for 118 yards – both career highs.
He could be a key part of the plan for Saturday when Elon visits Western Carolina, seeking to avenge a 2024 home loss. Backey rushed for a touchdown in the opener at Duke.
“We’ve had to move him around,” Trisciani said. “We’ve put a lot on him to be able to do that with the injuries we’ve had.”
Backey’s potential for a major impact had been building.
“I wasn’t surprised because he has been practicing that way,” Trisciani said. “It didn’t just start the last few weeks. He had a great spring.”
Seeing the offense excel with various personnel groupings has been rewarding.
“We have shuffled around our receiving corps quite a bit here in the last two weeks.” Trisciani said. “That’s challenging on the quarterback, also, for Landen (Clark) when you’re moving guys around.”
Trisciani said injuries created shuffling of assignments on the offensive line vs. Davidson. Leighton Lee V at left guard and Evan Safreed at right tackle made their first career starts.
Elon (1-1) is set for this week’s trip to Cullowhee to face Western Carolina (0-2), a 42-10 loser at Wake Forest on Saturday. The Catamounts won 24-17 last year at Elon in the first meeting since 2013.
Worth the wait for Phoenix
The most difficult part for Elon came leading up to Saturday night’s game. Once kick-off finally arrived, it was smooth going in the home-opening victory against Davidson at Rhodes Stadium.
Following a two-hour lightning-related delay, Clark threw three touchdown passes and rushed for a touchdown. Isaiah Fuhrmann caught a touchdown pass and three others ran for touchdowns.
“They were loose and they handled it, and when it was go-time, they were ready to go,” Trisciani said. “The game finally got here, so it was be in the moment and win the moment.”
The result was the most points for Elon against a Division I opponent since defeating Davidson 56-0 in 2009.
“The whole mindset was really to just stay loose and keep your eyes on the prize and not get out of that game mentality,” defensive tackle Jake Louro said. “No matter what, we’ve still got the mentality that we’ve got a game to play.”
Elon’s defense held the Wildcats (0-2) to 158 yards of total offense. The Phoenix forced eight three-and-outs.
After leading 10-0 eight minutes into the game, the Phoenix poured it one with 31 more points before halftime.
“We were on fire in that second quarter,” Trisciani said.
Clark, who only played in the first half, was named the Coastal Athletic Association’s Rookie of the Week.
Running back Jimmyll Williams racked up 79 rushing yards, including a 4-yard scoring run. T.J. Thomas, Jr. and Dan Frederick also ran for touchdowns.
“The emphasis around here has been growth,” Trisciani said. “I saw that during the week. I saw the sense of urgency and purpose in practice. And then I saw it within the game.”
