Key problems doomed Stony Brook v. Hofstra
From just looking at the stats, these two teams played a pretty good game. Hofstra led 18-16 in first downs, led in total yards by 100, and had 3 more penalties than the Seawolves. But critical mistakes and questionable calls put Stony Brook on the short end of this lopsided match up.
Possessions – Stony Brook only punted twice all game, and that looks like a good thing. In reality, they only punted twice because they couldn’t convert on 4th downs and they turned the ball over. Four turnovers, two interceptions and two fumbles, along with four turnovers on downs put the Seawolves in a hole they could not get themselves out of.
Play calling – I liked the idea to go for it early in the first quarter on 4th down, but it was 4th and 13. That’s a long way to go, and to have the receiver on a come back route that was 3 yards short if the marker doesn’t make sense. If you’re going to run a play, make sure the receiver can get to the marker and sit there. I really despised the play calling late in the second half. Stony Brook was down 31-0 at this point, and with first and goal from the eight (the closest they were to the end zone all day), they ran three questionable plays. On first down they ran a screen which fell incomplete. Second down, a run, which lost two yards, and on third and goal from the 10, they ran a swing pass. Why not try for the end zone? The offense is already in a spread formation, toss one up and see what happens. A swing pass, down near the goal line is tough, especially if the defense is in a man defense compared to a zone. Screen and swing passes are not going to get you into the end zone. And then, they kick the field goal. I realize you don’t want to get shut out, but you went for it four other times, a fifth wouldn’t have hurt. A 7 feels better than a 3. The play action for Stony Brook did work well, and they were able to get most of their big plays off of it.
The men in the trenches – It seemed like Stony Brook was getting beat off the ball for most of the game. The defensive line, specifically, was almost always losing yardage on the snap of the ball. If an offensive line can push a defensive line for two yards, and the back doesn’t get touched until the third yard, that’s pretty good. The Seawolves were able to get pressure from the outside, but not much from the middle.
Extending the play – The Hofstra receivers did a great job of getting yards after the catch, or YAC. The quarterback was able to get them the ball for short gains, and they were able to make big plays.
Mistakes – “A good team can overcome mistakes,” Coach Priore said in the post game press conference. I agree that a good team can, but not when the other team makes so few mistakes, and when your team makes so many. Hofstra scored on every possession in the first half and finished with no turnovers. Stony Brook scored on only one possession in the game, and had four turnovers; one of those turnovers included a muffed punt which would have given the Seawolves excellent field position. Two bad snaps also occurred. One was on a punt, which the kicker Luke Gaddis tried to first pick up the ball, then tried to kick it out of the end zone for a safety. The referee called him down at the four, and the defense was able to hold Hofstra to a field goal.
Hofstra head coach Dave Cohen said “5 or 6 plays can make a game.” In this game, that’s all it took. After a bye week, the Seawolves will hope to snap their losing streak In Virginia in it’s first Big South Conference game against Liberty.
