HARRISONBURG – Good teams put the past behind them and Stony Brook is trying to do that this week.
The past two Saturdays have involved a nail-biting victory and a gut-wrenching loss, beating Rhode Island on a 50-yard touchdown run by quarterback Tyquell Fields with 11 seconds remaining in regulation in Week 5 and falling in overtime to James Madison this past weekend.
“The thing that impressed me most was our ability to fight back throughout the game,” Seawolves coach Chuck Priore said Monday during the Colonial Athletic Association coaches teleconference, “which is going to be a CAA thing that you’re going to have to be able to do. We’ve been able to do that two weeks in a row and the second thing is how we handled both the win and the loss.
“I thought we handled the win with class from the shoulders up, being able to prepare last week without worrying about what we did against Rhode Island and then when the game was over against [JMU] we got together in the huddle and our senior leadership basically said, ‘It’s a game, it’s over and we’ve got to move on to our next opponent.’”
Stony Brook hosts New Hampshire on Saturday at 6 p.m.
About the loss to the Dukes, Priore said the overtime clash was simply a great game between two determined teams.
“We didn’t get a chance to finish it, which is disappointing certainly,” Priore said. “But felt we fought each time we got back down and we were able to make some plays.”
Defense The Strength For UNH
Don’t be surprised, but New Hampshire is has bounced back from its 0-2 start.
The Wildcats won their third straight game behind a smothering effort from their defense in a 26-10 win over Elon.
UNH intercepted Elon quarterback Davis Cheek four times in the win. Before Saturday, Cheek had only thrown one interception this season.
“He is really good quarterback with a quick release,” New Hampshire interim coach Ricky Santos said. “He understands where the ball needs to go and he has some dynamic guys on the perimeter, so we felt like first and foremost we had to set a new line of scrimmage and play in the backfield. We did a good job of that. The defensive line did a really good job of getting pressure all day and it allowed our secondary to be aggressive and take some chances to be in the right place at the right time.”
Half of the interceptions the Wildcats recorded were returned for touchdowns – a 55-yard score for Oleh Manzyk and a 50-yard touchdown for Evan Horn.
Jackson Lifts UR To Needed Win
Richmond defensive end Maurice Jackson boosted Richmond to its first win since August and its second win this season with six tackles, four tackles for loss, three sacks, a forced fumble and an interception in the Spiders’ home victory over Albany this past Saturday.
The interception came with less than two minutes to play in the first half and setup a Richmond touchdown on the next possession.
“It was a big play by Mo no question about that,” Richmond coach Russ Huesman said.
Jackson was the CAA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year entering this season, but had registered only two sacks entering Saturday's win.