Nov. 21, 2011

STATS | AUDIO | VIDEO | CHAT
NOTES: PDF

Stony Brook, N.Y. -

Kickoff
The Stony Brook football team hosts Albany in a Division I Football Championship first-round game Saturday, November 26 at 2 p.m. Shawn Kenney and Rob Harley will have the call on ESPN3.com. Mike Solano, Curt Hylton and Jeff Bernstein will broadcast the game on WUSB 90.1 and GoSeawolves.org

The Seawolves advanced to the Division I playoffs for the first time in school history after a 41-31 win over Liberty, claiming the Big South title and the automatic bid. Junior Kyle Essington (Chino Hills, Calif.) passed for 250 yards and three touchdowns, and junior Miguel Maysonet (Riverhead, N.Y.) and senior Brock Jackolski (Shirley, N.Y.) each rushed for more than 100 yards and a touchdown.

Opponent
UAlbany (8-3) won its fifth Northeast Conference championship The Great Danes shared the conference crown with Duquesne, but were awarded the league's automatic berth after winning the head-to-head matchup in October. Senior quarterback Dan Di Lella has thrown for 2,325 and 24 touchdowns. Andrew Smith has rushed for 1,052 yards and nine TDs.

Series
Albany leads the all-time series, 9-4, and 6-3 since Stony Brook joined the Division I ranks in 1999. The Great Danes took the last meeting, 24-23 in 2007, on a field goal with nine seconds left.

Liberty Post-Game Notes
After three of Liberty’s five scoring drives, Stony Brook answered with a score of its own. Wesley Skiffington attempted a field goal for the first time since missing a 48-yarder against Presbyterian on October 8. The 537 yards of total offense was just the fifth time an opponent has tallied more than 500 yards against Liberty under the current regime. Stony Brook dominated time of possession in the second half, keeping the ball for 22:17. In the fourth quarter, the Seawolves had the ball for 13:08. Stony Brook recorded a season-high 30 first downs.