Stony Brook's defense must contain USF QB B.J. Daniels

We're less than four hours away from Stony Brook's first foray against a Football Bowl Series (formerly Division I-A) team against South Florida tonight at Raymond James Stadium. It's kind of cool to see SBU on ESPN's major-college football scoreboard along with all the other small schools offering themselves up as sacrificial lambs on the opening week of college football season.

Naturally, the Seawolves are a huge underdog, ranging from 34 to 37 points according to the odds I found. But that's a measure of public sentiment, not necessarily football ability. Sometimes, the little guys give the big guys fits as Miami of Ohio has done today at Florida while losing by a very respectable margin.

The key for Stony Brook to hang tough, as it is for any small school, is defense. Yes, I can't wait to see how running backs Ed Gowins, Brock Jackolski and Miguel Maysonet do along with the passing of quarterack Michael Coulter, but the way to keep it close is for the Seawolves' defense to contain Bulls quarterback B.J. Daniels.

In some respects, this is an advantageous situation for SBU. First, no one is expecting anything of them. Second, South Florida is playing its first game under head coach Skip Holtz, who arrived from East Carolina after the controversial firing of Jim Leavitt, the only coach the young USF program ever had. Leavitt hit a player and had a long history of physically manhandling his players, but he was very successful in getting them to five straight bowl games.

Now, Holtz has had to calm the waters, and he's installing a new offense in which he's asking Daniels to become more of a pocket passer instead of a player who relies on his feet to make plays. Daniels actually led the Bulls in rushing last year. So, it's going to be up to a Stony Brook defense that will be undersized by comparison to contain a terrific athlete in Daniels.

It's currently 81 degrees in Tampa with a mix of sun and closed and the possibility of isolated evening thunderstorms. A good setting for football.

This is the start of an ambitious era in Stony Brook football. Next year, they face sister SUNY school Buffalo, which previously made the jump to the FBS level, and future schedules include games against Boston College and Army. Athletic director Jim Fiore says he wants to schedule two FBS opponents per year, starting next season. Coach Chuck Priore has recruited nationally and has a roster dotted with players from California, Texas, Pennsylvania and Ohio in addition to those from the tri-state area. Of the 48 players listed on the expanded two-deep depth chart, 13 are freshmen, so, it's also a young team.

The game will be televised tonight on SNY in the New York area, and I will offer updates here on the blog every quarter while also writing a running game story. Come back later for locker-room quotes.