Seawolves Make First-Ever Visit to Lexington, Virginia
Stony Brook, N.Y. - For a second straight week it will be another long road trip for the Stony Brook football team as it ventures south for this week’s matchup with VMI. After traveling all the way to North Dakota and back last week, the Seawolves will make the 475-mile trek to Lexington via bus starting on Thursday, making the trip the longest of the season in terms of time away from campus. For Stony Brook the game will be a resumption of Big South Conference play as the Seawolves go for a 2-0 record in the league as it begins the second half of the season.
KickoffFor a second straight week it will be another long road trip for Stony Brook as it ventures south for this week's matchup with VMI. After traveling all the way to North Dakota and back last week, the Seawolves will make the 475-mile trek to Lexington via bus starting on Thursday, making the trip the longest of the season in terms of time away from campus. Stony Brook will be trying to break into the win column on the road for the first time this season at VMI, having dropped its first four games away from home this season. Last week at North Dakota the Seawolves won the battle of the statistics, out gaining the Sioux 438-309, but three turnovers proved costly to SBU in a 31-24 setback. North Dakota turned all three turnovers into touchdowns and erased an early 7-0 SBU lead with 21 straight points. An interception that was run back for a score with less than a minute left in the first half gave the Sioux their first lead of the game and the Seawolves could never get closer than seven points the rest of the way. Quarterback Michael Coulter threw for 277 yards and a pair of scores and is now rated as the top quarterback in the Big South Conference. Running back Ed Gowins finished tied with Conte Cuttino with 73 yards on the ground and continues to lead the league in rushing with his 82.2 yards per game average. This week's game has the potential to be an offensive show, with Stony Brook averaging over 500 yards in offense over the last two games and VMI coming in with the No. 1 ranked rushing attack in the Big South.
The OpponentVMI comes into the game with a 1-4 overall record and is still in search of its first Big South win, with its conference mark standing at 0-2. At this point of the Big South season it is the only school to have played two league games in 2009. Last week the Keydets scored on their first possession at Coastal Carolina, but that turned out to be it in a 20-6 setback to the Chanticleers. Running its trademark option attack, VMI is tops in the Big South and 10th in the nation with its rushing average of 202 yards per game. Howard Abegesah leads the team from his running back position with an average of 61 yards per game. Quarterback Kyle Hughes averages 45 yards rushing and 83 yards passing and has thrown for four scores. The Big South preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Tim Maypray does it all for VMI. He has rushed for 174 yards, has 119 yards in receptions and 518 return yards and is the Big South's all-time leader in all-purpose yards with over 5,000 for his career. Defensively VMI is led by Byron Allen who has 49 tackles and Kris Ware who is among the league leaders with 3.5 sacks.
The SeriesThis will be the second meeting between Stony Brook and VMI. In the first meeting last season at SBU, the Seawolves broke open a three-point game in the third quarter with consecutive scores and went on to take a 40-26 victory in the final game of 2008. The two teams combined for 986 yards, 811 of which came on the ground. The Seawolves unleashed a rushing attack that saw Gowins and Cuttino tie their own NCAA FCS record by combining for 483 rushing yards. Abegesah had 109 for the Keydets with Maypray adding 99 more, including a 60-yard TD run.
KickoffFor a second straight week it will be another long road trip for Stony Brook as it ventures south for this week's matchup with VMI. After traveling all the way to North Dakota and back last week, the Seawolves will make the 475-mile trek to Lexington via bus starting on Thursday, making the trip the longest of the season in terms of time away from campus. Stony Brook will be trying to break into the win column on the road for the first time this season at VMI, having dropped its first four games away from home this season. Last week at North Dakota the Seawolves won the battle of the statistics, out gaining the Sioux 438-309, but three turnovers proved costly to SBU in a 31-24 setback. North Dakota turned all three turnovers into touchdowns and erased an early 7-0 SBU lead with 21 straight points. An interception that was run back for a score with less than a minute left in the first half gave the Sioux their first lead of the game and the Seawolves could never get closer than seven points the rest of the way. Quarterback Michael Coulter threw for 277 yards and a pair of scores and is now rated as the top quarterback in the Big South Conference. Running back Ed Gowins finished tied with Conte Cuttino with 73 yards on the ground and continues to lead the league in rushing with his 82.2 yards per game average. This week's game has the potential to be an offensive show, with Stony Brook averaging over 500 yards in offense over the last two games and VMI coming in with the No. 1 ranked rushing attack in the Big South.
The OpponentVMI comes into the game with a 1-4 overall record and is still in search of its first Big South win, with its conference mark standing at 0-2. At this point of the Big South season it is the only school to have played two league games in 2009. Last week the Keydets scored on their first possession at Coastal Carolina, but that turned out to be it in a 20-6 setback to the Chanticleers. Running its trademark option attack, VMI is tops in the Big South and 10th in the nation with its rushing average of 202 yards per game. Howard Abegesah leads the team from his running back position with an average of 61 yards per game. Quarterback Kyle Hughes averages 45 yards rushing and 83 yards passing and has thrown for four scores. The Big South preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Tim Maypray does it all for VMI. He has rushed for 174 yards, has 119 yards in receptions and 518 return yards and is the Big South's all-time leader in all-purpose yards with over 5,000 for his career. Defensively VMI is led by Byron Allen who has 49 tackles and Kris Ware who is among the league leaders with 3.5 sacks.
The SeriesThis will be the second meeting between Stony Brook and VMI. In the first meeting last season at SBU, the Seawolves broke open a three-point game in the third quarter with consecutive scores and went on to take a 40-26 victory in the final game of 2008. The two teams combined for 986 yards, 811 of which came on the ground. The Seawolves unleashed a rushing attack that saw Gowins and Cuttino tie their own NCAA FCS record by combining for 483 rushing yards. Abegesah had 109 for the Keydets with Maypray adding 99 more, including a 60-yard TD run.
