By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
A quarterback who once threw for the Georgia Bulldogs has joined Elon’s football team for the 2023 season.
Matthew Downing, who began his collegiate career for Georgia, will compete for the starting role at Elon. He also has played for Texas Christian and Louisiana Tech.
Receiver Onuma Dieke from Massachusetts and punter Kyle Romenick from Akron are other transfers into Elon, the school announced this week.
Downing, who has one season of eligibility, figures to contend with redshirt freshman Will Lankford for the first-string spot.
Downing, who’s from Alpharetta, Georgia, played in four 2018 games for Georgia behind future NFL quarterbacks Jake Fromm and Justin Fields. Downing completed 8 of 10 passes for 88 yards. He redshirted in 2019.
That came before transferring to Texas Christian, where he appeared in seven games in the 2020 and 2021 seasons combined. His first college start came in 2020 vs. Iowa State. Last year, he suited up for Louisiana Tech, throwing for three touchdowns and four interceptions in four games (with the Bulldogs going 1-3 in those).
Dieke played a total of 23 games across three seasons (2020-22) for Massachusetts. After averaging 40.3 yards as a punter in 2020, Romenick was mostly limited to holding on place kicks the past couple of years at Akron.
And those who’ve departed …
Elon has lost several players to the transfer portal since the end of last season. That includes a couple players who’ve made multiple moves.
Defensive back Tre’Von Jones left Elon by committing to James Madison as a graduate transfer. In April, he jumped again, this time going to Minnesota.
Center Mike Purcell transferred to Duke, where he went through spring practice. Since then, he re-entered the transfer portal and went to Maryland.
Among others moving on are safety Omar Rogers (to East Carolina), defensive lineman Marvion Field (to Samford) and punter Jeff Yurk (to Pittsburgh).
Other Elon University sports news: an interview with outgoing Athletics Director Dave Blank: https://alamancenews.com/retiring-elon-a-d-dave-blank-reflects-on-universitys-achievements-challenges-in-athletics/
