Stony Brook's injury toll high after Bulls' stampede

As if it weren't bad enough to get run over by South Florida, 59-14, Saturday night in Tampa, Stony Brook lost two defensive starters for the season and a third was knocked out of commission by the Bulls for up to four weeks.

Senior starting right cornerback Donald Porter blew out a knee and will require reconstructive surgery, and redshirt freshman middle linebacker Reginald Francklin suffered a broken leg. Both players are out for the season. Starting left cornerback Al-Majid Hutchins, a junior, separated a shoulder and chipped a bone. He's likely out at least until the Seawolves play Big South opponent VMI on Oct. 9 at home.

A fourth defensive starter, junior nose tackle Michael Marino, also suffered a shoulder injury and will miss Saturday's home opener against American International College. But his injury is less severe, making him a game-by-game situation, and senior Frank Conti is available to step into the starting role.

Head coach Chuck Priore feared the worst for Porter after the game, and the official diagnosis confirmed it. Now, he has to adjust to losing both starting corners plus the middle of his defense at nose tackle and middle linebacker. The backup corners are both freshmen, redshirt Taj Johnson and true freshman Davonte Anderson. True freshman Andres Trujillo is listed as Francklin's backup at middle linebacker.

So, a young defense just got even younger.