The Stony Brook Seawolves Football season is over and to say their season was historic as they would take on rival UAlbany as they looked to win their first game and bring the Golden Apple back to Long Island.
Unfortunately for the Seawolves, there will be no Golden Apple bragging rights this season or even a Victory Monday as they finished their season like the 2017 Cleveland Browns as they finished an imperfect 0-10.
Despite losing by a score of 38-20, the Seawolves gave their home fans some hope as Clarens Legagneur recorded his first career interception and ran it back 49-yards back to the house to give Stony Brook a 7-0 lead early in the game.
UAlbany took advantage of a short field following a kickoff return that put the Great Danes inside Seawolves territory and they would tie things at seven on a Griffin Woodell 4-yard touchdown.
Albany then tacked on a field goal for a 10-7 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
The Seawolves would once again show promise as they went on a 15-play, 69-yard drive before settling for an Enda Kirby field goal to tie things up at 10.
Another possession starting in Stony Brook territory allowed Albany to take a 17-10 lead as an 18-yard touchdown reception by Brevin Reese to finish off a 38-yard drive.
Stony Brook again responded with a field goal, capping off a 10-play, 55-yard drive, but UAlbany scored in the final minute to grab a 24-13 lead at halftime as Julian Hicks scored on a pass from Reese Poffenbarger.
The Great Danes extended the lead to 31-13 in the third quarter and 38-13 in the fourth, both on touchdown passes from Poffenbarger.
Anthony Johnson closed the scoring by hauling in a spectacular one-handed catch that the commentators referred to as “Odell Beckham Jr.-Like” to mark a 22-yard touchdown reception, but still contributing to a losing effort.
Despite being awful for a long period of time, the Seawolves had never posted a winless season until this season and it just seems comical the circumstances around this season as they posted their worst season in program history last fall and instead of letting Head Coach Chuck Priore – who has grown stale and hasn’t been able to deliver on any of the team's expectations in his tenure – was surprisingly (and secretly) given a three year extension by the University and Athletic Director Shawn Heilbron.
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| Former Head Coach Chuck Priore SBU ATHLETICS |
"Our vision for Stony Brook Football is to win at the highest level, which includes competing for a national championship," Heilbron said following the extension last fall. "Under Chuck's guidance, Stony Brook has become one of the top FCS programs in the country and it is imperative that we continue to build on that success. The plan that we have in place is working so I look forward to maintaining our upward trajectory with Chuck as our head coach."
The delusional and now regrettable decision by Heilbron led to many top talents and up and coming underclassmen on the roster to transfer out before the end of the 2022-23 school year. The veteran Athletic Director claimed last year was rock bottom and that it couldn’t get any worse. Little did he know at the time, but an 0-10 season with tons of games where Priore’s “Stout and Stifling” defenses crumbled and were blown out by tons of top talents.
The “Stout” defense allowed 430 yards of total offense at home this weekend to UAlbany and teams topping the 400 total yard mark was more the norm and not a blip on the radar.
At the end of the day, the only man who should feel regret about this season is Mr. Heilbron. While he has been a great guy who cares about his athletes, his somewhat shady and now regretful move has set the Football program that he is eagerly willing to dump funds into back a few years and there appears to be no end to this lull anytime soon.
According to reports by the SBU Statesman, Heilbron currently has not signed or has been offered an extension as his contract is expiring, thus giving him an out and making his mess someone else's problem. His extension is apparently becoming a somewhat debated topic as he has seen some programs get neglected yet still succeed on their own while he shows he cares about others and they have spiraled out of control.
At the time of this publishing, the University has announced the release of Chuck Priore following the 0-10 season. This could be a step in the right direction, but will Heilbron be around to see what happens next?