In his first field goal attempt in over a month, kicker Angelo Guglielmello gave the Stony Brook football team another comeback win to celebrate.
The Seawolves (2-7, 1-5 CAA) won an ugly game over the Morgan State Bears 24-22, proving to be the less sloppy of the two teams on Saturday afternoon. The Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium crowd was privy to a myriad of drops, penalties and bad throws. In the end, Stony Brook made more plays when it needed to, collecting its first nonconference victory of the season.
Leading 21-16 with just 3:37 left to play, the Seawolves just needed to make one defensive stop. However, a pass interference call on cornerback Quenton Porter turned a turnover on downs into a first down pickup for the Bears. On the next play, an illegal suplex move by defensive tackle Rushawn Lawrence lead to an unnecessary roughness penalty that spotted Morgan State another 15 yards and another new set of downs.
Two plays later, Morgan State quarterback Duce Taylor fired a 57-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andre Crawley, giving his team a 22-21 lead. The Bears promptly attempted a two-point conversion, but were stopped by defensive end Eric Black. His stop kept the deficit at just one point, meaning that Stony Brook could win with just a field goal.
“It was good because they had just scored and we’re not down crying about it,” Black said in a postgame press conference. “It felt really good to just bounce back from that touchdown. We didn’t sit there and pout. We just came back and we rallied and ended up getting the stop.”
The Seawolves got the ball back at their own 25-yard line with 1:37 remaining. Quarterback Daron Bryden made several big throws on the drive, leading the offense down to the Bears’ 19-yard line. That set the stage for Guglielmello, who promptly walked it off from 36 yards out. The field goal was his first-career game-winner as a Seawolf.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for that,” Guglielmello said. “It’s what you dream of. You work a long time for that.”
Stony Brook could have beaten Morgan State with much less struggle. Of the Bears’ 22 points, 10 came off of turnovers. The Seawolves gave the ball away three times, including another pick six thrown by quarterback Charlie McKee in the first quarter. Though Stony Brook only surrendered 71 passing yards and 231 total yards, the game went down to the wire.
McKee’s struggles from last week continued into this game, as he completed only five of 12 passes for 61 yards and the pick six. He was lucky to have not had several pick sixes — the Bears dropped several potential interceptions. Head coach Chuck Priore made another quarterback switch, benching McKee in favor of Bryden.
“First of all, he’s a freshman, and we’ve got to understand that,” Priore said. “Daron’s had two good weeks of practice … I thought he came in last week and played sharp. So I wasn’t scared to do it.”
In place of McKee, Bryden managed the game. He completed 11 of his 19 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown.
On the bright side, running back Ross Tallarico continued to shine. He carried the offense, rushing 36 times for 151 yards and two touchdowns. It was his first-career 100-yard rushing performance at Stony Brook. He also caught two passes for 17 yards. Tallarico now has 442 yards and three touchdowns on the ground this year.
“I just got a lot of help from my line,” Tallarico said. “They were getting me some big holes and I was able to break through and get some yards.”
The Seawolves’ front seven was integral to their win. The pass rush had its best game of the season, generating six sacks on Taylor. They also totaled 12 tackles for loss. Two of the six sacks came from Black, not including his stop on the two-point conversion attempt. He credits his fellow lineman for his breakout performance.
“My D-tackles got good rushes on all of those plays, which really opened it up for me,” Black said.
Outside linebacker Isaiah Givens also had a good day off the edge, recording the first two sacks of his career on a pair of blitzes. Inside linebacker Aidan Kaler also had the best day of his career, tallying nine total tackles.
Unfortunately for the Seawolves, they suffered another injury blow early in the first quarter. Linebacker and team captain Reidgee Dimanche went down with a lower-body injury, and spent the rest of the game on the sideline in a walking boot. Strong safety Jordan Jackson also went down with an injury after taking a hard fall while attempting to catch an interception.
The quarterback play from Saturday’s contest once again raises questions about Stony Brook’s quarterback situation. Priore is not committed to one particular starter to finish the season.
“I’m going to try to win us a game,” Priore said. “And I’m going to play the quarterback that I think can help us win the game at that situation. We’ll worry about that come Monday.”
Looking ahead, the Seawolves will host the Towson Tigers next Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be Stony Brook’s home finale, as the team will look to end its season with three straight home victories. Towson is 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The Tigers blew out Villanova on Saturday 27-3, effectively ending the Wildcats’ hopes of returning to the FCS national rankings.
