STONY BROOK, NY – Points were flying off the board Saturday at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, New York, where Monmouth University outlasted No.18 Stony Brook 55-47 in an offensive shootout that broke several school records.
Saturday’s win was Monmouth’s second consecutive win against a ranked opponent for the first time in program history. The Hawks upset eighth-ranked Villanova last week at Kessler Stadium.
For the second week in a row, star quarterback Derek Robertson directed an offensive attack that rivaled the 1980s San Diego Chargers’ “Air Coryell” offense. The Hawks scored touchdowns on seven of their first eight possessions, with a dropped third-down pass that would’ve been good enough for a first down to extend the drive being the other.
Robertson was 17-of-27 for 360 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone as the Hawks built a precarious 42-30 lead. He threw for a school single-season record 536 yards and three touchdowns while completing 28-of-45 passes without an interception for the fourth game in a row. He shattered the previous record of 451 yards set by Kyle Frazier against Cornell in 2012. It was his seventh game this season throwing for over 350 yards.
Monmouth threw for 576 yards as a team to set a new school record and recorded 31 first downs. Sophomore wideout Tray Neal threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jack Neri on a fake bubble screen to push the Hawks lead to 55-44 with 3:07 remaining in the fourth quarter for the additional passing yardage.
During the game, Robertson set both the single-season records for passing touchdowns (31) and passing yards (3937), eclipsing Kenji Bahar’s previous records set in 2019. Monmouth’s offense racked up 690 yards of total offense as a team – fourth in program history.
“Offensively, we were just lights out all day long,” said Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan. “That starts with Derek, as it usually does; he had a phenomenal game throwing the ball, and all our receivers stepped up and did a really good job on the day, and you have to give them a ton of credit for that. I was just really happy with how we responded from an offensive standpoint, putting all those numbers up.”
With all of Monmouth’s offensive fireworks, you would’ve thought the Hawks had the game firmly in their control, but the outcome wasn’t even determined until the final seconds.
Although the Hawks defense gave up 559 yards of total offense and 31 first downs, it held the Seawolves to four field goals on drives that appeared Stony Brook was on its way to scoring touchdowns. They also recovered a fumble and made a critical interception deep in their own territory which was pivotal in the win.
The two teams traded fumbles in the middle of the third quarter, with Monmouth up 49-37. Monmouth’s freshman linebacker Willy Love recovered a Seawolves fumble at their 34-yard line. On first down, Robertson found Speight for 31 yards to the three-yard line. On the next play, Nelson fumbled the ball back to Stony Brook, wasting a golden opportunity to put some distance between the two teams.
Monmouth was clinging to a 49-44 lead early in the fourth quarter, with Stony Brook driving for the go-ahead touchdown. However, on first-and-10 at the Monmouth 27-yard line, sophomore cornerback Israel Clark-White stepped in front of Seawolves wideout Jasiah Williams for a critical interception at the Monmouth 14-yard line.
“On defense, we picked our spots where we held them to field goals and forced an interception or a turnover on downs in key spots,” said Callahan.
Monmouth then drove 85 yards in 12 plays to the Stony Brook one-yard line with a chance to put the game away. But on fourth-and-1, Robertson was stopped short on a run up the middle, turning the ball over on downs with 7:22 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Stony Brook picked up a first down on a 16-yard pass to Williams, but on first-and-10 at the 17, Monmouth’s defensive end Justin O’Bannon sacked quarterback Tyler Knoop for a three-yard loss, setting up a second-and-13 at the 14-yard line. Defensive end, Miles Mitchell rushed Knoop into an incompletion on second down, and on third down, a wide-open Cal Redman dropped a perfect pass from Knoop, forcing a punt deep in their own territory.
Following the punt, the Hawks took over at their own 42-yard line. On second-and-8, Robertson found Neri for 16 yards before Neal did his best quarterback impression for the touchdown and a 55-44 advantage with 3:07 remaining.
However, only fittingly, the game was far from over.
Redman then returned a short kickoff 22 yards to the 47-yard line before the Seawolves advanced to the Monmouth 14-yard line, where they had a third-and-10. Israel-Clark then made his second game-changing play of the game, stopping wideout Brandon Boria for a two-yard loss after receiving a swing pass from Knoop.
Stony Brook then elected to go for the field goal on fourth down to make it a one-possession game, 55-47, with 1:42 left in the fourth quarter.
Monmouth recovered the onside kick at the Stony Brook 45-yard line. Three Sone Ntoh runs left 1:25 on the clock, and with the Seawolves out of timeouts, Monmouth let the clock run down to 47 seconds before they punted down to the four-yard line.
On second-and-10, Knoop connected with wideout Jayce Freeman for 31 yards to the 35 with 30 seconds remaining. On third-and-10, O’Bannon picked up his second sack of the day, and on fourth down, Monmouth eventually finished off the Seawolves after several desperation laterals went nowhere to end the game.
Robertson completed passes to eight different receivers utilizing Monmouth’s young but deep receiving corps. Senior T.J. Speight continued his hot streak with seven receptions for 150 yards, while sophomore Josh Derry added seven catches for 98 yards. Neri, who I think is the best tight end in the CAA and will get a shot at playing on Sundays, caught four passes for 83 yards and a touchdown, and the sophomore Neal, who threw for a score, added three receptions for 93 yards and a 51-yard touchdown catch that put the Hawks up for good at 14-10. Sophomore tight end Marcus Middleton got the Hawks on the board first with a three-yard touchdown catch to complete a nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive on the game’s first possession that put the Hawks up 7-0. Transfer wideout Maxwell James added a second-quarter 42-yard touchdown grab that put the Hawks up 28-20 after Stony Brook had moved to within one point, and junior Gavin Nelson added three catches for 74 yards.
Derry finished the season with 60 receptions for 917 yards and five touchdowns, while Speight added 61 catches for 896 yards and six touchdowns. Nelson finished with 35 catches for 643 yards and three scores, Neal led the team with seven receiving touchdowns on 34 catches for 490 yards and James added 22 receptions for 293 yards and four touchdowns. Neri had 32 catches for 329 yards and five touchdowns for the season.
The Hawks rushed for 114 yards on 28 attempts Saturday, with sophomore Rodney Nelson picking up 42 yards on eight carries, including a 13-yard touchdown that pushed the Hawks lead to 35-20 late in the second quarter. Ntoh scored his school-record 24th and 25th touchdowns of the season to maintain his FCS lead in rushing touchdowns. He extended his streak of games with a touchdown to 12 in a row. Junior Makhi Green added 26 yards on five attempts.
Nelson finished the season with 809 yards rushing on 133 attempts with six touchdowns, while Ntoh added 487 yards rushing on 109 carries with 25 scores. Green had 278 yards rushing on 55 attempts.
With Saturday’s victory, Monmouth moves to .500 at 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the conference – both highs since joining the CAA. But more importantly, they finished the season beating two ranked teams and opened some eyes in the process. It’s a young team that now goes into the offseason with a ton of confidence that should carry them through the winter months with a lot of enthusiasm.
There’s a lot to look forward to with this team, starting with Robertson, who has one more year of eligibility left. The depth chart is deep and gets deeper each year as the Hawks continue to add quality recruits. On both sides of the ball, there was a youth movement this season that will pay dividends next season, as many of the Hawks young players had to grow up fast this season when they were put into starting roles. That all bodes well for the future.
After a demoralizing three-game losing streak, during which they were in each game until the very end, that cost them a possible shot at the CAA title or an FCS playoff berth, Monmouth should be proud of how they closed out the season. It says a lot about this team, their respect for one another, and how they went about their business. The future is bright for the Hawks.
