Stony Brook football comes up a touch short vs. Villanova after 15-month absence

Stony Brook RB Jaden Turner turns the outside for a small gain against Villanova on Saturday at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook. Credit: George A Faella
The Stony Brook football team returned to action for the first time in more than 15 months on Saturday and took the No. 5 team in the nation down to the wire.
A late rally by the Seawolves came up just short as they fell to Colonial Athletic Association opponent Villanova, 16-13, at LaValle Stadium in their season opener.
"It was interesting," Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore said. "I think you saw both teams struggle at times with the little things, some penalties, just the flow of the game, not having the crowd noise. All the little things. But it was what the kids deserve to be doing. They work hard, and part of their reward is playing on Saturdays."
After the Wildcats lost a yard on second-and-9 at the Stony Brook 14-yard line with just over a minute remaining, an unnecessary-roughness penalty by Stony Brook’s Makye Smith sealed the win for Villanova.
The personal foul gave the Wildcats a first down, and with only one timeout remaining for the Seawolves, Villanova was able to run out the clock.
"I think he was frustrated and shouldn’t have done what he did," Priore said. "If not, the official wouldn’t have called it."
After a blocked punt by Anthony Del Negro set up Jayden Cook’s 2-yard touchdown run with 2:49 left to bring Stony Brook within 16-13, Priore opted to go with an onside kick with two timeouts remaining. Villanova came up with the recovery and Stony Brook was unable to regain possession.
"We talked about it," Priore said. "If I didn’t have to use the first timeout before we scored that touchdown and had three left, I probably would’ve kicked it. But with two timeouts, if they get one first down, the game is over. So we gave ourselves a shot at that."
Stony Brook struggled to get into a rhythm offensively throughout the day, but a pair of pass-interference penalties brought the Seawolves inside the Villanova 10 and led to quarterback Tyquell Fields’ 7-yard touchdown run with six minutes to go in the third quarter. That cut Stony Brook’s deficit to 13-7.
Fields completed 14 of 25 passes for 143 yards and an interception.
Villanova quarterback Daniel Smith went 17-for-32 with 253 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to Rayjoun Pringle, who had nine receptions for 171 yards.
Priore found a number of reasons to remain encouraged.
"I think we certainly have positive things for our future," he said. "It’s hard to lose, and that’s going to be the biggest challenge . . . But I take out of it that we fought hard, we didn’t give up and we’re excited that we played a game. We have to put it all into perspective."