The Stony Brook football team went up to East Hartford, Conn. looking to perform better, particularly on the offensive side, than they did in the opening game 10 days ago against the Bryant Bulldogs.
The defense again played very well, creating two turnovers that led to 10 Seawolves points, but it was not enough as the Connecticut Huskies defeated the Seawolves 19-16 in an NCAA Football inter-division matchup Saturday afternoon at Rentschler Field.
The quarterback questions continued, as John Kinder once again struggled, throwing for just four-of-10 for only 68 yards. Conor Bednarski and Kinder seemed to trade plays for a couple drives in the third quarter, with Bednarski eventually taking over the position and stating his case to be a starter next week, completing eight passes on 19 attempts for 128 yards and a late touchdown to Will Tye.
Marcus Coker also made his debut in a Stony Brook uniform in this match, but he too struggled, carrying the ball 12 times for 21 yards.
Take away an eight-yard carry, his longest of the day, and he averaged just above one yard per carry, a poor showing.
Stacey Bedell made his case to remain the number one back, carrying the ball 15 times for 53 yards on the day.
Tye, along with catching the lone offensive touchdown for the Seawolves on the day, caught four passes for 76 yards.
Adrian Coxson and Jahrie Level each had 50 yards receiving. Coxson caught two passes, while Level hauled in five.
On the defensive side, Christian Ricard played a crucial role again, recording six tackles with four solo efforts. He also recorded two sacks on UConn’s quarterback to increase his total to three on the year.
The Huskies got the ball on their own 35 after the opening kickoff went out of bounds. UConn then drove 40 yards on five plays to set up Bobby Puyol’s 42-yard field goal, giving the home team a 3-0 lead.
The defense for the Seawolves scored the first touchdown of the game, as Naim Cheeseboro recovered a Josh Marriner fumble in the end zone to give Stony Brook the lead.
Stony Brook defensive back Max Martinez leveled the running back, forcing the ball loose as it bounced back into the end zone and the hard hitting defensive back fell on it. The extra point by Przemyslaw Popek gave Stony Brook a 7-3 lead.
With that touchdown, the Seawolves have now lead in six of the seven matchups they have had with an FBS team.
On the previous play, it appeared that Josh Marriner had been tackled in the end zone, but the ruling on the field had him at the half-yard line.
Stony Brook then took a 10-3 lead after being set up by the defense again. Chandler Whitmer got hit in the backfield, and Aaron Thompson recovered it at the UConn 20 yard line.
But in a display of the offensive struggles in the first half, the Seawolves went three and out and Popek drilled a 33-yard field goal to make it 10-3.
The Huskies then responded with an 11-play, 55-yard drive that resulted in another field goal, this time a 27-yarder from Puyol to pull within four.
They then took the lead they would not relinquish when Whitmer hit Geremy Davis on the right side of the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown.
Thompson then blocked the extra point, and the lead was 12-10 heading into the half.
After its second straight three-and-out, the Seawolves’ Luke Allen came out to punt for one of the 11 he would kick during the game.
What happened next shocked Seawolves Nation, as Allen boomed the punt 61 yards, but Deshon Foxx ran back, took the pigskin off a hop and ran it back 72 yards for a touchdown to make it a two-possession game at 19-10.
The return resembled the Desean Jackson return in 2010 against the Giants, as it was a blown play and Foxx burst through a seam and was gone.
After two drives of switching back and forth, Bednarski took control of the QB reins late in the third quarter, and would take four drives for 141 total yards and a touchdown.
On the touchdown drive that lasted 14 plays and 88 yards, the Bednarski-led offense converted three third-downs and one fourth down.
The drive was capped by a touch pass down the middle to a wide-open Tye to cut the lead to three at 19-16.
Popek then missed the extra point, and that is how the score would stand at the end.
Before the long touchdown drive, Stony Brook was 0-for-15 on third downs.
Along with that, 12 penalties were committed by the Seawolves that generated 108 yards and three first downs for the Huskies.
Stony Brook will look to stop this losing streak on Sept.13 when they take on American International at LaValle Stadium. The game is set to kickoff at 6 p.m.