Stony Brook Seawolves Football - History - 2011-2012: National Prominence, Playoffs, and Big South Champions

2011-2012: National Prominence, Playoffs, and Big South Champions

The Seawolves began their 2011 campaign with a heartbreaking overtime loss at UTEP. Travelled to Buffalo for their second consecutive defeat and opened their home stretch with a one point loss against Brown. However, the Seawolves turned things around and began what would be their longest winning streak in the history of the program. Stony Brook went on to beat Lafayette and every conference rival in the Big South scoring 40 or more points in every game and a record 76 points against Gardner-Webb. The regular season came to an end in big fashion as the Seawolves battled for a historic win for the program against their top rival Liberty in what was deemed the Big South Championship Game. Stony Brook came out on top beating Liberty 41-31 to earn the Big South automatic bid for the NCAA Division I Football Championship. The Seawolves had a record eight win straight and were the first team in the Big South with an undefeated record. They capped their season with a third consecutive conference championship and ended the season ranked in the Sports Network poll, a first for the program. The Seawolves were matched against Albany, SUNY rivals, for a NCAA first round match up at home in front of a record-setting 8,286 crowd that witnessed a comeback 31-28 victory after trailing by 18 points. The Seawolves advanced to the second round to face the top seeded Sam Houston State and led for most of the game falling in the end 27-34 to close the season 9-4 overall, 6-0 in the Big South.

The 2012 season featured the addition of transfer recruits Marcus Coker who previously played for FBS Big Ten Iowa rushing for more than 2,000 yards and 18 touchdown in two seasons, Adrian Coxson who previously played for FBS Maryland., and Leston Simpson from Big Ten Minnesota which added immediate strength to the team. The $4.3 million athletic performance was formally inaugurated in early summer ensuring the growth of the football program. Stony Brook opened the season at home against the against Northeast Conference Central Connecticut routing the Blue Devils in a 49-17 victory. Stony Brook hosted Pace at home, a Division II team, defeating the settlers in lopsided 77-7 victory to start the season 2-0. The following week the Seawolves traveled to Syracuse to battle against the FBS Syracuse Orange. Stony Brook led for most of the game but fell 17-28 in the second half. Stony Brook returned home for homecoming to face the Patriot League Colgate Raiders in front of the largest crowd in LaValle Stadium history, a reported 10,278 fans, in a comeback 32-31 late game victory. Stony Brook once again showed their dominance as they traveled to West Point, NY to face off against the Army Black Knights for an eventual 23-3 victory, a milestone for the program, the first against a team from the Football Bowl Subdivision and went on to climb the Sports Network poll in the 13th position, the highest ever. Stony Brook opened Big South play on a high note beating Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb, and Presbyterian, and VMI to position the program as the sixth best in the Sports Network poll, riding a seven-game winning streak, and winning at least a share of the Big South Championship for the fourth year. However, the Seawolves fell to the Liberty Flames and struggled to create offense falling 28-14. The ensuing three-way tiebreaker handed the conference's automatic bid to Coastal Carolina. The Seawolves earned their first ever at-large berth to the playoffs, a first-round home matchup against the Villanova Wildcats. Stony Brook defeated Villanova 20-10 and advanced to the second round against Montana State. The Seawolves traveled to Bozeman to face off against the Bobcats falling 16-10 to end their season.