Stony Brook fights hard, falls 28-17 to Syracuse

Then the Orange defense arose, the offense awoke and the Seawolves caved, losing 28-17 on Saturday in the Carrier Dome.

"We're a good football team," said Maysonet, who had 137 yards rushing in the first half and scored in the second quarter to send the Seawolves into halftime leading 17-14. "We can compete with anyone out there."

At halftime Saturday, the Seawolves (2-1) had done just that. They had run six more plays than the Orange (1-2) and had outgained them 261-220. And Maysonet, who led the Big South in rushing last year with 1,633 yards, scored on a 71-yard run on a third-and-3 play for the go-ahead touchdown late in the second quarter.

"I was just trying to make something happen, tried to make a big play to get up on them," Maysonet said. "We came out flat in the second half on offense. At the end of the day, we didn't come to play in the second half."

Ryan Nassib threw for three touchdowns, two in the decisive second half, as Syracuse rallied to snap a seven-game losing streak that started nearly a year ago.

"It's sad to say that it's kind of an unfamiliar feeling, but we're glad that we got it," Nassib said of the team's first victory since a stunning upset of No. 11 West Virginia last October. "Hopefully, this will continue us on for the rest of the season."

Stony Brook, which competes in the Football Championship Subdivision, entered the game 0-3 against college football's top tier, the Football Bowl Subdivision, but the Seawolves were in this one until the fourth quarter.

"I think our kids did a great job of executing our game plan," Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore said. "Certainly, they should be a better team, and they were at the end of the game. But I'm proud of the way our kids played. We made some mistakes in the second half that beat us."

Syracuse outgained Stony Brook 329-50 in the second half to wear down the pesky Seawolves. The Orange defense limited the Seawolves to just two first downs and 17 offensive plays in the final two quarters while the Syracuse offense registered 13 first downs and ran 47 plays.

"They said we were the best 0-2 team in the country," said freshman Ashton Broyld, whose nifty 22-yard scoring run up the middle in the second quarter was his first career touchdown and gave Syracuse a 14-10 lead. "Now, we're the best 1-2 team in the country. We needed this win. It's very big for us, for our confidence. We know what we have. We've just got to keep putting it together each week."