This Saturday, Stony Brook football (2-4, 1-1 CAA) will host defending Colonial Athletic Association champ Maine (2-3, 1-1 CAA). Last year, the Seawolves were unable to pull off an upset as Maine won 19-14 in Orono, Maine.
Stony Brook is coming off its first win in conference play, defeating Towson last week 14-3 on the road. The Seawolves were led by their exhaustingly physical running game and top-ranked defense. Running backs Stacey Bedell and James Kenner each had a touchdown. Davonte Anderson had his 14th career interception on Towson’s first possession.
Maine lost last Saturday, 41-20, to Villanova thanks in large part to the CAA offensive player of the week, Villanova quarterback John Robertson, who had four touchdowns.
Maine looks to be very evenly matched with the Seawolves based on games versus common opponents. The Black Bears and Seawolves both suffered losses to Bryant while garnering wins over Towson.
Against Maine, Stony Brook’s primary concern will be sophomore quarterback Daniel Collins. Collins had three passing touchdowns against Villanova and six in the past three games. The Seawolves had 12 tackles for losses against Towson last week and will look to keep similar pressure on Collins. The Seawolves have had players in the secondary shining all season long, but for the first time, the defensive line started to show why they should be highlighted as well, causing havoc at that line of scrimmage.
On offense, the Seawolves will once again deploy a three running back attack. The health of Stacey Bedell has been a problem all year. Bedell has now missed a part or all of three separate games this season due to an injury. Kenner has taken the advantage of the extra opportunity so far in Bedell’s absence. Senior Marcus Coker has yet to make a significant impact on the ground this season and may fall to third on the depth chart behind Bedell and Kenner.
Junior Conor Bednarski threw two interceptions against Towson, but was 10-13 for 129 yards otherwise. Saturday, Bednarski will have his third consecutive start since being named starter over John Kinder before conference play began.
Saturday’s game will begin at 7 p.m. at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. It will air on American Sports Network.
