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2024 William & Mary vs Stony Brook

Stony Brook Football Gets Statement Win: CAA Football Week 9 Takeaways

Stony Brook Football Gets Statement Win: CAA Football Week 9 Takeaways

Stony Brook's biggest win in a remarkable season sent a message that the Seawolves have playoff chops in 2024.

Oct 28, 2024 by Kyle Kensing
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With Week 9 of Coastal Athletic Association football in the books, the 2024 season officially enters Playoffs Month. 

Yes, somehow, the next time CAA teams take the field it will be November. Opportunities to make a case for the FCS Playoffs are fading for some teams, but others are stepping up to solidify their postseason resumes. 

The three big winners in the CAA's Week 9 each offered compelling arguments for the postseason, ending October with wins that signaled they are playoff-ready. 

Stony Brook Makes Its Biggest Statement Yet

It's reached a point in Stony Brook's breakout 2024 season when the Seawolves should no longer be deemed a surprise. Stony Brook is no Cinderella, but rather a bona fide contender, demonstrated in its 35-13 romp against William & Mary. 

The Tribe came into LaVelle Stadium boasting the CAA's best rushing offense, with multiple ball-carriers breaking 100 yards in the same game multiple times. Against the Seawolves defense, however, William & Mary mustered only 120 total rushing yards. 

In forcing William & Mary to center its offense more on the pass, Stony Brook was able to come away with three interceptions — one of which came via A.J. Roberts on a play that changed the complete tenor of the game heading into halftime. 

Roberts' pick-six off of a carom gave the Seawolves a two-score cushion, allowing them to dictate the tempo for the next two quarters. The touchdown was also the highlight of an all-around sensational performance for Roberts, who broke up two other pass attempts and made a team-high 11 tackles. 

Stony Brook's defense has been front-and-center throughout its terrific first season under coach Billy Cosh and his staff, with running back Roland Dempster's consistent output buoying the offense. Dempster was once again excellent against William & Mary, too, carrying for 144 yards and two touchdowns. 

But the game-changer for Stony Brook in its two outings since the bye week has been the emergence of quarterback Tyler Knoop. 

Picking up where he left off from a program record-setting six-touchdown performance against Towson, Knoop opened Saturday's scoring with a 70-yard touchdown pass to Jayce Freeman. 

Another touchdown pass to Cal Redman in the second half gave Stony Brook separation that lasted the rest of the way. Knoop has looked great in his two starts, both coming against solid defenses . The Towson defense that he carved for six touchdowns a week earlier slowed the nation's highest-scoring offense at Monmouth in a Week 9 Tigers win. 

In a spoiler of the upcoming week's FCS Playoffs forecast, Stony Brook moves from the bubble to firmly in the field. Expect the Seawolves to continue climbing, too. 

Rhode Island Continues Its Second-Half Excellence 

One of two teams still setting the pace for the CAA championship through Week 9 is Rhode Island, which held off a Maine team that came into Meade Stadium off of a top 10 win over Villanova. 

The Black Bears showed their ranked win in Week 8 was no fluke, giving Rhode Island a competitive showing in Week 9. Maine went 90 yards on the game's first scoring drive, culminating in Carter Peevy's touchdown pass to Cooper Heisey. 

And, after conceding a pair of second-quarter Devin Farrell touchdown rushes, Maine recovered to force a 14-14 tie in the fourth quarter with Brian Santana-Fis' touchdown run. 

But if there's anything most evident about Rhode Island in the 2024 season, it's that the Rams are at their most dangerous late in close games. 

Malik Grant answered Maine's game-tying scoring drive in a little more than two minutes and Ty Groff hit a 35-yard field-goal attempt set up by one of the most spectacular plays made at any level of football this season. 

Meanwhile, a Rhode Island defense that has been stout for much of the season shut the Black Bears down the rest of the way. Rhody held Maine for the Black Bears' final three possessions, with four of the Rams' six sacks on the day coming in those critical drives. 

The Rhode Island defense ranks No. 22 nationally in sacks after Week 9 with 21, and the distribution among different playmakers has been impressive. All-America caliber linebacker A.J. Pena's eight leads the way, part of the Buck Buchanan Award resume Pena's been putting together all season. And after Saturday, Cameron Primrose is now second on the team with four sacks. 

Devin Hightower made his second sack of the season on a fourth down to effectively turn the lights out on the Black Bears. In the process, he put an exclamation point on what has been the hallmark of Rhode Island's success: Rising to the occasion in clutch situations. 

The Rams are outscoring opponents in second halves this season, 121-92. They have been especially good coming out of intermissions with a 48-28 advantage in third quarters. 

Richmond is Rolling, Hampton is Looming  

Since opening the season 0-2, Richmond has run off six straight wins in increasingly impressive fashion. Week 9's demonstration of dominance was scoring 41 unanswered points at Bryant, all before halftime. 

Camden Coleman absolutely exploded with four touchdown passes of 15 yards to Zach Palmer-Smith; 16 yards and 36 yards to Jerry Garcia Jr.; and 60 yards to Nick DeGennaro. Coleman also rushed for as many touchdowns as he threw incompletions: one. 

Coleman's flea-flicker fling to Garcia highlighted a performance likely to garner the Spiders quarterback national Player of the Week recognition. 

The Spiders' pursuit of at least a share of a second straight CAA championship is bookended with home games against longtime rivals Towson and William & Mary, leading into and following road games against CAA newcomers Campbell and Hampton. 

Richmond's visit to Hampton in the Spiders' penultimate CAA game before they head to the Patriot League could be especially intriguing. The Pirates have emerged from an 0-2 start to CAA play to win their last two, both in dominant fashion. 

In Week 9, Hampton handled Elon, 41-21. It marked the third straight week in which the Pirates broke the 40-point mark, including posting 44 points on another otherwise stingy Rhode Island defense. 

Hampton's rout of Elon included Ja'Quan Snipes rushing for 106 yards, Tymere Robinson going for 66 yards and three touchdowns, and the Pirates went for at least 227 rushing yards for the fourth time this season. 

At 5-3, Hampton has quietly put together a solid foundation heading into a pivotal November. The Pirates' final-month schedule is a gauntlet, starting in Week 10 with Villanova before a visit to Towson. If the Pirates can win those two, the Week 12 game against Richmond could well be for a playoff berth. 

AFCA NCAA FCS Football Rankings In Week 9

  1. North Dakota St. (24) 7-1
  2. Montana St. (2) 8-0
  3. South Dakota St. 5-2
  4. South Dakota 6-1
  5. UC Davis 7-1
  6. Southeast Missouri St. 7-1
  7. North Dakota 5-2
  8. Tarleton St. 6-1
  9. Montana 5-2
  10. Central Arkansas 5-2
  11. UIW 5-2
  12. Idaho 5-3
  13. Richmond 5-2
  14. Villanova 5-2
  15. William & Mary 5-2
  16. Rhode Island 6-1
  17. Mercer 6-1
  18. Missouri St. 5-2
  19. ACU 5-3
  20. Illinois St. 5-3
  21. North Carolina Central 5-2
  22. Dartmouth 5-0
  23. Jackson St. 5-2
  24. Stony Brook 5-2
  25. Chattanooga 4-3

Dropped Out: Florida A&M (18), New Hampshire (19)

Others Receiving Votes: Duquesne, 37; New Hampshire, 22; East Tennessee St., 18; UT Martin, 18; Western Carolina, 18; Florida A&M, 15; Monmouth (N.J.), 15; Tennessee St., 13; Sacramento St., 10; Harvard, 8; Drake, 7; Columbia, 5; Lafayette, 4; Robert Morris, 4; Lamar, 3; Butler, 2; Northern Arizona, 2; Samford, 2; Southeastern Louisiana, 1.

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The 2024 Division I FCS College Football Championship game will be played on January 6, 2025, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

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