Essington's seamless transition keys SBU

The turning point for Stony Brook University's football team occurred nearly three months before its first game. Starting quarterback Michael Coulter sustained a knee injury during drills in June. Coach Chuck Priore essentially employed the quarterback sneak.

"Michael tore his ACL on June 4, which nobody knew about except a select few,'' Priore said. It made perfect sense for the program not to signal to the opposition that there was trouble brewing at such an important position, so while backup Kyle Essington was being readied, taking nearly all of the reps in camp, playing in all the scrimmages, Coulter was still penciled in as the starter.

Coulter started the season opener at UTEP, but Essington had to relieve him. Coulter actually started the first four games, but his knee did not hold up and the senior underwent surgery on Oct. 11.

Coulter's backup became a star in his seven starts for the Seawolves, who host Albany Saturday in the FCS playoffs. On a team built for the running game, Essington plays a major role. The 6-2 185-pound junior has completed 90 of 150 passes for 1,435 yards. He has thrown 16 touchdowns and rushed for five.

"He's an awesome athlete, awesome kid,'' running back Brock Jackolski said. "He opens the run game up for me and Miguel [Maysonet] and we kind of open the pass game for him. He's a great asset to our team.''

Maysonet added, "He's a heck of a quarterback. After Coulter [went down], he didn't miss a beat. It was like he had played every single game with us from the start.''

Essington, from Chino Hills, Calif., knew there was a possibility he would have to step in for Coulter. "I took a lot of reps, put in a lot of work,'' he said. "I'm glad I stayed prepared from Week 1 because you never know what is going to happen. It's been a great opportunity for me and I couldn't be more thankful. Mike Coulter's been a great mentor to me, he's really contributed to my performance on the field, helping me with my reads. Learning the offense and reading the defenses to this day, week in and week out, Michael Coulter's been a huge impact on me and my performance on the field.''

Coulter said his understudy was a quick study. "He's been doing so well. I've given him little tips of advice, mostly encouragement. I try to keep him loose and positive. It's nice seeing him slip into that leadership role. I knew the probabilities were low that I'd make it the whole season. I obviously knew Kyle had a lot of talent and he was on the rise. He can only get better with all the physical talents he has right now.''