Riding the wave of emotion built up by the 7,400-plus fans in attendance at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium for homecoming, the Stony Brook football team took apart Virginia Military Institute, 27-9, in its first Big South conference game of the season.

The Seawolves (2-3, 1-0) used a much-needed bye week to help end a two-game skid that included the team’s first loss at LaValle Stadium since 2008.

There was an air of confidence as the team flooded out onto the field in all-red uniforms to show their support for Wolfstock 2010 having never lost a homecoming game under head coach Chuck Priore. The Seawolves are now 6-1 in Big South home games.

“Our home record is very good,” Priore said. “The kids are very comfortable in this environment.”

Junior quarterback Michael Coulter (Yorba Linda, Calif.) had his best game of the season, completing 14 of 19 passes for 194 yards. Coulter’s only touchdown came with the score tied 3-3 midway through the second quarter.

After a quick VMI three-and-out, Coulter hit junior wide receiver Matt Brevi (Tampa, Fla.) in stride over the middle for 48 yards, setting up a first and goal at the VMI six-yard line. One play later, Coulter would find sophomore wideout Jordan Gush (Richardson, Texas) open by the right pylon for the team’s first touchdown of the day, and the 20th of Coulter’s career.

The quick three-play, 54-yard scoring drive came amidst an SBU run of 20 unanswered points.

“Our offense is really starting to gel,” Coulter said. “We still have a lot of stuff to work on, but this is a good building block for us as we get started for the conference.”

The game started off in VMI’s favor as the Keydets (2-3, 1-1) marched down the field on the opening drive. VMI quarterback Cameron Jones completed nine of his first 10 passes, converting five first downs and holding the ball for nearly seven minutes.

“We didn’t want to let up a big play,” said sophomore linebacker Rich Vitale (Higganum, Conn.). “We were just trying to keep everything in front of us, and make the team drive on us, which they did.”

The Seawolves defense stiffened in the red zone. forcing VMI to settle for a field goal and an early 3-0 lead.

That lead would be short lived as Stony Brook put together its own long scoring drive aided by a backbreaking VMI penalty on fourth down, which moved the chains and allowed sophomore kicker Wesley Skiffington to tie up the score on a 24-yard field goal.

Skiffington’s field goal, coupled with Coulter’s touchdown pass, gave Stony Brook a 10-3 lead heading into halftime.

Firmly in the driver’s seat, the Seawolves offense came out looking to add on to their seven-point lead. Coulter once again found Jordan Gush on a quick slant for a 28-yard gain, and then hit Brevi for a 9-yard pass. But a costly holding penalty would stall the drive, sending out Skiffington to hit a career long 44-yard field goal, settling for 3 points.

“You can’t overcome first and 20 and second and 20,” Coach Priore said of the holding penalties. “You don’t want to be put in that situation.”

VMI’s next offensive series would lead to another 3-and-out, but Keydet punter Marc Ray fumbled the snap in the end zone. Rich Vitale recovered the fumble, giving Stony Brook its second touchdown of the day and a comfortable 20-3 lead.

The Keydets answered back early in the fourth quarter. After pulling starting quarterback Cameron Jones, backup Eric Kordenbrock found Mario Scott wide open down the sideline for an 80-yard touchdown play, the longest of the game for either team. But that would be all from Kordenbrock as he was knocked out of the game on the touchdown throw.

Up 20-9, Stony Brook would turn to its former Hofstra standouts to put the game away. Junior running back Brock Jackolski (Shirley, N.Y.) and sophomore running back Miguel Maysonet (Riverhead, N.Y.) would pair up for 65 yards on 6 carries on the final Stony Brook scoring drive, capping the day on a 25-yard TD run from Jackolski, his fifth of the year.

Jackolski finished the game with 93 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, Maysonet added 99 yards on 21 carries.

But the focus after the game was on the stellar play of the defense.

“At the end of the day, the biggest stat we had was 22 rushes for 8 yards,” Coach Priore said. “If you’re gonna do that then teams are going to be able to throw the ball around for a little bit, but they aren’t going to be able to sustain drives.”

The defense, which had its fair share of trouble against non-conference opponents early on in the year, held VMI to 192 total offensive yards, forcing two interceptions and two fumbles.

Senior defensive lineman Jonas Rousseau (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 5 tackles and 2.5 sacks in the win, a main reason as to why the Keydets could never get anything going on the ground.

“We know what type of team we are,” Rousseau said. “We knew we should have won those games. We didn’t come here timid. We knew we were one or two plays from being 3-1. We came here and put a complete game together.”

Stony Brook will look to build on its most recent victory when they travel to Easton, Pa., to play Lafayette next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.