SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- In their first overtime test of the season, Stony Brook prevailed with a stop on Bryant's two-point conversion in the extra frame to secure the 31-30 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Seawolves improved to 7-2 on the year and 4-1 in Coastal Athletic Association play, while the Bulldogs fell to 2-7 and 0-5.
Tyler Knoop led Stony Brook's passing attack with 285 yards through the air, tossing one touchdown without throwing an interception. Roland Dempster paced all Seawolves rushers with 107 yards and two touchdowns in the contest, picking up 4.3 yards per carry. Knoop also added 23 yards on the ground.
Jasiah Williams pulled in 10 catches for 96 yards. Dez Williams made his presence felt in the passing game, recording four receptions for 75 yards. The Seawolves also added 52 yards receiving and one touchdown from Jayce Freeman in the game.
Jalen Hoyle showed out for the Stony Brook defense, collecting one interception. Dyshier Clary added three tackles, 1.0 TFL, and one sack and Rushawn Lawrence had five tackles, 3.0 TFL, and 1.5 sacks in the win.
Defensively, Stony Brook held up against the Bryant rushing attack, holding the Bulldogs to 105 yards on the ground and led the time of possession, 31:57 to 28:03.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- In their first drive, Stony Brook set the tone by going on a nine-play 75 yard drive to give themselves an early 7-0 lead. The drive included J. Williams catching four passes for 53 yards and was finished off by a five yard rushing touchdown by Roland Dempster
- Hoyle gave Stony Brook the ball right back with 7:55 after his first interception of the season.
- The Seawolves turned the turnover into three points following the 36-yard kick from Enda Kirby to allow Stony Brook to take a 10-0 lead.
- Sack by Chayce Chalmbers and Anthony Ferrelli forced a Bulldog punt in their ensuing possession with 2:52 left in the first.
- In the opening minutes of the second quarter, Clayton Taylor provided a punt to the one yard line with 12:51 remaining in the half.
- Bryant scored their first touchdown of the afternoon at 6:01 in the second quarter after Brennan and Ruggieri connected for 15 yards, cutting their deficit to 10-7.
- Stony Brook went on a nine-play 69 yard drive in their next possession to go up 17-7 following the one yard rushing touchdown by Johnny Martin.
- Neither team would score in their final possessions of the half. The Seawolves came up with a stop on their 25 yard line following the penalty from Bryant that concluded the half.
- The Bulldogs connected on a 30-yard field goal in their first possession of the second half.
- Stony Brook answered right back with a 40 yard touchdown from Knoop to Freeman, giving the Seawolves a 24-10 advantage.
- Cockrell rushed for a 75 yard touchdown on the first play of the next possession for the Bulldogs with 8:55 left in the third quarter.
- Both teams would force a punt in their following possessions.
- Bryant made the most of a Stony Brook fumble with 13:32 left in the game as Brennen and Riley connected for a 19 yard touchdown, tying the battle at 24-24.
- Following the final 13:00 scoreless minutes of the game, Stony Brook received the ball first in overtime and set the tone by scoring on their opening opportunity. Dempster rushed in for a two yard touchdown.
- Bryant scored in their opening drive but Stony Brook held the Bulldogs short on their fourth down conversion to secure the road victory.
STATS AND NOTES
- The Seawolves scored first with 11:11 left in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game on their way to victory.
- Stony Brook had their highest scoring quarter in the first period, when they put up 10 points.
- Stony Brook won the time of possession battle 31:57 to 28:03.
- Knoop completed 76.7% of his passes on the day, going 23-for-30 while averaging 9.5 yards per attempt and tossed a passing touchdown. He leads the CAA and ranks sixth in FCS with a 72.2 completion percentage.
- Dempster had his fifth multi-rushing touchdown game in his last six after finishing with two touchdowns on the ground. He also now has at-least 100 rushing yards in his last six games, tallying 107 on 25 carries this afternoon. He is now second in the FCS and CAA in touchdowns this season.
- J. Williams had a team and season-high 10 receptions with a team-best 96 yards in the victory.
- D. Williams tallied a career-high 75 yards on four receptions.
- Freeman has a touchdown in his last three games after his 40 yard touchdown reception.
- Martin tallied his third touchdown of the season and second in his last three games.
- Duncan-Niusulu led the way for the defense by tallying a team-best seven tackles.
- Three Seawolves recorded at-least 0.5 of a sack (Rushawn Lawrence, Dyshier Clary, and Chayce Chalmbers.
- This is the best start to a season for the Seawolves since 2017 (8-2).
- Stony Brook moves to 4-1 all-time against Bryant.
- This is the first Stony Brook victory in overtime since they defeated UAlbany (28-21) on Nov. 4, 2017.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"Ugly win, but a win is a win," said head coach Billy Cosh after the victory. "Credit to Bryant, they played exceptional. We got to play better defensively and offensively we had a lot of missed opportunities as well that we needed to capitalize on. In November, you got to win and we found a way to win. We got a lot of things to correct moving forward, we'll watch the tape tomorrow and move on to Albany."
UP NEXT
Stony Brook returns to Long Island next weekend as they host UAlbany for the Golden Apple. Kick-off is set for 1:00 p.m. and can be streamed on FloFootball.
To purchase season, single game, mini plans or group tickets, click here or call
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