STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Stony Brook football begins its 2023 season with a home contest against No. 22 Delaware on Thursday night at LaValle Stadium, as the Seawolves look to start strong after a 2-9 campaign a season ago.
 
Stony Brook (2022 record: 2-9) vs. Delaware (2022 record: 8-5)
 
WHERE: LaValle Stadium
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 31, 7 p.m
HOW TO WATCH: FloFootball
LIVE STATS: Statbroadcast
BUY TICKETS
 
SERIES HISTORY
… OVERALL – 3-3
… AT STONY BROOK – 2-1
… AT DELAWARE – 1-2
… FIRST MATCHUP – Oct. 22, 2016 (W, 28-3)
… LAST MATCHUP – Oct. 16, 2021 (W, 34-17)
… LAST FIVE – Delaware, 3-2
… LAST 10 – Tied, 3-3
 
OPENING KICK
 

• Stony Brook football is set for its home opener on Thursday, taking on No. 22 Delaware at LaValle Stadium.
• The Seawolves finished the 2022 season 2-9 and in 13th place in the CAA with a 1-7 record.
• Stony Brook will face three straight preseason ranked opponents to open its FCS schedule – Delaware was ranked No. 22, Rhode Island took No. 21 and Richmond was No. 18 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25.
• The Seawolves will also get No. 11 New Hampshire along with Fordham and Villanova, who both received votes in the preseason rankings.

 
A NEW OFFENSIVE LOOK

• Stony Brook named Buffalo transfer Casey Case as its starting quarterback at CAA football media day on July 25.
• Case spent three years as a backup at Buffalo and will make his first collegiate start on Thursday.
• The offense is under the direction of new offensive coordinator Andrew Dresner. Dresner spent the last five seasons at Maine, with offensive coordinator duties for the previous four. With Dresner guiding the offense, the Black Bears ranked in the top five of the league in the 2019, 2020-21 and 2021 seasons.
• Maine ranked tops in the CAA in red zone offense (29-for-30 scoring, 26 touchdowns) and fewest turnovers (9) along with third in rushing offense (175.4 yards/game) in 2022.

 
STONY BROOK AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS

• Stony Brook is 11-33 all-time against FCS-ranked opponents.
• The Seawolves' last ranked win came in 2021 against then-No. 14 Delaware on Oct. 16, 2021.
• Stony Brook won two ranked games each in 2017 and 2018, when it last went to the playoffs. The Seawolves defeated No. 13 Villanova (Week 5) and No. 11 Delaware (Week 10) in 2018 and No. 12 New Hampshire (Week 7) and No. 17 Richmond (Week 9) the year prior.
• Stony Brook knocked off No. 2 Richmond at LaValle Stadium in Week 3 of 2016, marking its highest-ever ranked-opponent victory.

 
KALER AND BOLESTA RETURN ON DEFENSE; PICK UP PRESEASON RECOGNITION

• Stony Brook will return graduate student Aidan Kaler to the linebacking unit and redshirt junior Taylor Bolesta to the defensive line in 2023. Both were voted by their teammates as team captains this season.
• Kaler is SBU's leading returning tackler, with 60.0 a season ago. Kaler had 23.0 tackles across the team's final two games including 3.5 TFLs, 1.0 sack and a fumble recovery.
• Both Kaler and Bolesta received Phil Steele Fourth Team Preseason All-CAA nods while Kaler also picked up an Honorable Mention Preseason All-Conference pick from the league.
• Bolesta earned the Joe Feminella award for his competitive nature on the field, as announced by Coach Priore during training camp.

 
NEW LEADERS ON THE FIELD

• On Aug. 15, coach Priore announced DL Taylor Bolesta, LB Aidan Kaler, WR R.J. Lamarre and TE Cal Redman as the captains of the 2023 team.
• The captains were selected by a vote among their teammates.
• Of the four captains, Kaler, Lamarre and Redman are each in their fifth season at Stony Brook. Bolesta is in his fourth collegiate season and second at Stony Brook, having transferred from LIU.