Oct. 31, 2008

Game Notes

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Stony Brook football will start the final month of the 2008 season tomorrow when it hosts Gardner-Webb in a Big South clash. Riding a two-game winning streak, the Seawolves will be looking to take a win the first meeting between the two schools. It will be a battle for second-place in the conference standings, with Stony Brook, currently No. 2, coming into the contest at 2-1 in Big South play while Gardner-Webb is currently in third-place at 1-1. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. in LaValle Stadium.

Kickoff

Stony Brook will be looking to extend its season best win streak to three as it returns home to host Gardner-Webb. The Seawolves are returning from a successful final Big South road game of the season, taking a 28-24 victory in its first visit to Coastal Carolina. The win lifted Stony Brook into sole possession of second-place in the Big South standings and the Seawolves come into the Gardner-Webb game one spot ahead of the Runnin' Bulldogs in the conference standings. A win against them would assure the Seawolves a winning Big South record in their first year in the conference. At Coastal Carolina last week Stony Brook turned three Chanticleer turnovers into touchdowns and then got a 61-yard pass play from Dayne Hoffman to Dwayne Eley early in the fourth to lift the Seawolves to a 28-24 victory. Stony Brook got a another 100-yard rushing effort from Conte Cuttino, a season-high 136 yards, and nearly 200 yards passing from Hoffman, whose three TD tosses, all to Eley, set a career-high.

The Opponent

Picked to finish third in the Big South preseason poll, Gardner-Webb comes into its first game on Long Island on a two-game winning streak of its own after picking up its first Big South win last week against VMI, a 34-27 win at home over the Keydets. Gardner-Webb comes into the game at Stony Brook with the No. 3 scoring offense and the No. 2 scoring defense in the league. Defensively the Runnin' Bulldogs are the top overall unit in the Big South, giving up only 309 yards per game. The unit, which has been without preseason defensive player of the year Mario Brown, is led by linebacker Jeffrey Williams (this week's New Balance Defensive Player of the Week) who leads the Big South with 81 tackles and is allowing a stingy 92.2 yards on the ground per game. Offensively GWU is fourth overall in total offense, averaging 380 yards per game. The passing game is No. 2 in the league, however, averaging over 230 yards. Senior Devin Campbell (this week's Choice Hotels Offensive Player of the Week) threw for 392 yards and three scores against VMI, completing nine to senior Dobson Collins who leads the Big South in receptions (53) and is second in yards (658). On the ground junior Philip Peoples leads the team with 545 yards and four scores. Gardner-Webb has not had much luck on the road in 2008 where they have dropped three of four, the last two by just three points, including a 10-7 loss at Georgia Tech.

The Series

Like all of the Big South schools that Stony Brook will meet this season, this will be the first meeting between SBU and Gardner-Webb in football. The Runnin' Bulldogs are one of seven opponents for the Seawolves this season that are first timers. This week's game also marks the third in a row against teams from the Carolinas, another first for the Stony Brook football program.