KINGSTON, R.I. – Stony Brook football was unable to overcome 21 second quarter points and fell, 35-14, to No. 22 Rhode Island at Meade Stadium on Friday night.
The Rams improved to 1-1 on the year and 1-0 in Coastal Athletic Association play, while the Seawolves fell to 0-2 overall and in CAA matchups. Rhode Island outgained Stony Brook, 414-248, including 299-139 in the pass game.
Redshirt freshman
Johnny Martin III led all Seawolves' rushers with 42 yards and one touchdown in the contest while redshirt junior
Ross Tallarico also added 40 yards on the ground, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
Through the air, redshirt freshman
Anthony Johnson hauled in five catches for 54 yards while redshirt junior
Jayden Cook added five catches for 25 yards including a 16-yard receiving touchdown. Graduate student
Casey Case put up 137 passing yards and 17-of-30 passing with a touchdown and an interception.
The Stony Brook defense totaled nine tackles for loss and four sacks. Graduate student
Andy Nwaoko finished with 2.0 of the four sacks on the night, while redshirt junior
Taylor Bolesta added 2.0 TFLs and one sack. Graduate student
Aidan Kaler paced the defense with seven total tackles (five solo), with Nwaoko adding six in total.
For Rhode Island, Kasim Hill threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, throwing touchdown passes to Marquis Buchanan and Darius Savedge, who combined for 160 receiving yards on the day. URI also got 50 rushing yards and a touchdown from Jaden Griffin and Ja'Den McKenzie added a rushing score on 30 yards. Jordan Colbert had a scoop-and-score along with an interception to lead URI's defense.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After falling behind 7-0 on an 82-yard drive, Stony Brook fought back to tie things with a touchdown from Martin with 1:21 left in the first quarter to make it 7-7.
- Rhode Island reeled off 21 straight points to close the half, first from the offense on a four-yard run and a 70-yard touchdown pass. Then, Rhode Island closed the half's scoring on a 49-yard fumble recovery and return from Colbert.
- Rhode Island then scored to take a 35-7 lead in the fourth quarter before the Seawolves broke the scoring run with a 16-yard pass from Case to Cook to close the scoring.
GAME NOTES
- The nine tackles for loss were tied for fourth-most in a game since 2020.
- Combined with four sacks against Delaware, Stony Brook's defense has consecutive games of at least four sacks for the first time since recording five sacks in back-to-back games on Sept. 21 and 28, 2019.
- Martin rushed for the first touchdown of his Stony Brook career and second of his collegiate career, with one in 2022 with Charlotte.
- Case threw for his first touchdown in his collegiate career while Cook hauled in his first receiving touchdown of his career.
- A total of 2.5 sacks marked career-firsts, with Nwaoko getting the first two of his career and redshirt sophomore Anthony Williams netting 0.5.
- The third quarter marked Stony Brook's first shutout quarter of the season.
- The Seawolves played their first game on a Friday since September 26, 2008, against Hofstra.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"I think we played hard, but we let up a few big plays. One was a fumble recovery for a touchdown in the first half where they didn't have a replay angle to overturn it. We gave up two long passes that broke our back in a 7-7 tie. We came out, challenged the players at halftime, and I think they stood up to the challenge and played hard in the second half," said Stony Brook head coach
Chuck Priore.
UP NEXT
Stony Brook will head to Jonesboro, Arkansas and play its only FBS opponent this season in Arkansas State on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT. Next week's matchup with the Redwolves will be streamed on ESPN+.
For an inside look at the Seawolves football program, be sure to follow them on
Facebook,
Twitter, and
Instagram.
