Stony Brook football dropped its first ever Big South conference game on Saturday when they traveled to Lynchburg, Va. to play the undefeated Liberty Flames. The Flames showed just why they are ranked in the top 15 in the country.
The Liberty offense rolled along all day en route to a dominating 33-0 victory. The Flames piled up 466 total yards, including 299 on the ground. Liberty controlled the ball for over 37 total minutes throughout. The Flames first drive set the tone of the game, as they controlled the ball for 9:03 and ran 17 plays before kicking a field goal.
Liberty Head Coach Danny Rocco attributed much of his teams ability to control the game on that drive and the subsequent defensive stop. On a key third down wide receiver Lynell Suggs went over the middle for a pass but was disconnected from the ball after a big hit by Liberty’s Ryan Greiser.
“That was a big play early in the game, to get them off the field,” Rocco said after the game. “We challenged our defense, if we can go three and out, put (their defense) back out there, it could be a long day for the Stony Brook defense.”
It ended up being a long day for the Seawolves on both sides of the ball.
The Stony Brook offense, which racked up 266 yards, was led by red shirt freshman quarterback Dayne Hoffman, who went 13-23 with 142 yards and one interception.
Freshman Edwin Gowins was again the most effective Stony Brook running back, gaining 55 yards on seven carries, an average of 7.9 yards per attempt. Conte Cuttino ran the ball 11 times for a net of 38 yards, and caught two passes for seven yards.
Suggs and Donald Lee led the team with three receptions each. Suggs had 33 yards, and Lee had 30. Both caught long passes of 20 yards.
Trailing 17-0 at the half, the Seawolves received the kickoff to begin the third quarter. After a holding penalty on the return forced Stony Brook to start the drive from its own 12 yard line, Gowins turned in the Seawolves longest play of the day with a 30 yard rush over the left tackle.
But on the next play Gowins was stopped for no gain and fumbled the ball. It was recovered by Liberty in Stony Brook territory.
The fumble stuffed all the momentum the Seawolves had gained, and Liberty’s Rashad Jennings, aided by a 15 yard face mask penalty on Stony Brook’s Mike McCoy, covered all 43 yards on five carries and put the dagger in the Seawolve’s heart. Jenning finished the day with 101 yards on 24 carries. He also had four receptions for 26 yards.
The closest the Seawolves came to scoring was in the middle of the second quarter. Stony Brook put together a 13 play, 62 yard drive and brought the ball down to the Liberty 23.
The Seawolves had a first and ten from the 26 and were able to gain six yards on first down. But on second down Cuttino was stuffed behind the line and lost three yards. On third and seven Hoffman threw an incomplete screen pass to Donald Lee, which forced the Seawolves field goal unit onto the field. Senior Luke Gaddis lined up for a 41-yard field goal but missed it wide left. Stony Brook was only able to get into Liberty territory one time after that drive, and only to the 48.
“What we were looking for today was a decisive victory,” Rocco said. “A decisive victory just means a game where you made a statement, a game where you took control of the game from beginning to end, never really allowed any legitimate life to the opponent. That’s kind of how I felt today.”
Notes: The Seawolves return home on Saturday to face Charleston Southern. The homecoming game is scheduled to begin at 3:00pm. Charleston Southern is the first home game against a Big South opponent. .. The Seawolves offense has not scored a touchdown in over three games, a span of 225 minutes and 26 seconds.
