Lindenwood coach Jed Stugart compared it to touching a hot stove or an electrical outlet.
Against a Stony Brook team known for furious, fourth quarter comebacks, including against Lindenwood last season, the Lions fell victim to a trademark Seawolves’ second half rally in a 36-32 loss last Thursday on Long Island.
“We couldn’t have preached ‘finish’ any harder,” Stugart said. “Stony Brook is a team that has shown its ability to come roaring back, and we just couldn’t seal them off in the second half.”
Lindenwood (1-1, 1-0 OVC) hopes to respond with a complete, four-quarter performance when it travels to in-state, FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) foe Missouri State (0-1, 0-0 CUSA) at 6 p.m. Saturday in Springfield.
Missouri State, which lost 50-0 to No. 10 Texas A&M in its season opener last Saturday, defeated Lindenwood 28-14 in their only other matchup on Sep. 14, 2024.
“I don’t think they’re going to be overlooking us at all. They’re coming from a game they weren’t happy about and they want to have a good showing for their home opener, and we better match that,” Stugart said.
Lindenwood did more than match the intensity of Stony Brook during a nearly flawless first half. Two 24-yard touchdown runs by quarterback Pops Battle and two field goals by Will Graham, including a career long 50-yarder, put the Lions ahead 20-7 midway through the second quarter.
Battle began the game 9-of-11 passing, with his only two incompletions coming on deep, go routes along the sideline. The Lions outgained Stony Brook 186-to-94 in the first half and possessed the ball for nearly 18 of the 30 minutes.
“It’s the ability to sustain drives. You’re not going to score on every drive, but we’ve been good at being efficient,” Stugart said. “As Pops is growing into this role as quarterback, he’s been making great decisions, and we’ve been running the ball well.”
Efficiency and discipline were not the hallmarks of Stony Brook in the first half, as three personal foul penalties assisted Lindenwood scoring drives. Near the end of the first half, a frantic substitution for the Seawolves’ punt team hurried the process, and the snap sailed through the back of the end zone for a safety to give the Lions a 22-7 halftime lead.
In the locker room, Stugart reminded the Lions that they were facing a Stony Brook team that erased an 18-point second half deficit against Delaware State a week earlier and rallied from a 27-3 halftime deficit at Lindenwood last season before falling short, 30-27.
“For going in with a lead, I was probably the grumpiest I’ve ever been during a halftime speech trying to address the need to lock in, focus and finish,” Stugart said.
Midway through the third quarter, a series of unfortunate events helped Stony Brook grab the momentum. A monster hit by Lindenwood linebacker Elijah Thomas on a Seawolves’ screen pass recipient fired up the Lions’ sideline, only to have the play reviewed at length for a targeting foul that met none of the criteria.
On third-and-9 of the same drive, Lindenwood stopped Stony Brook to force a punt, but a Seawolves’ player shoved Lindenwood defensive end Mason Burke after the whistle. Burke fell into a Stony Brook player and was flagged for a 15-yard penalty.
“It was a mistake call. One of our guys got shoved in the back and runs into one of their players. (The official) just happens to see the last part of it and converts it into a first down,” Stugart said. “What’s the moral of the story? Is it the ref’s fault? No, those things are going to happen in a football game. You have to move on to the next play, and we didn’t handle the adversity well.”
On the very next play, Stony Brook quarterback Quinn Boyd found Seth Sweitzer for a 29-yard touchdown pass and the Seawolves’ offense had found its mojo.
Big plays highlight explosive fourth quarter
Quick completions outside the numbers helped Stony Brook soften the Lindenwood zone defense and then the big plays came. Three monster kick returns by DaMario Crawford covered 46, 34 and 53 yards and set up the Seawolves with great field position.
“We gave up three long runs on kickoffs, and on all three of those, we missed tackles and he got out,” Stugart said.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, CJ Hester broke loose for a 52-yard touchdown run to slice the deficit to 25-23. It was the first Seawolves’ handoff that went for more than seven yards.
“Once the momentum changed, (Stony Brook) felt empowered, and we started playing on our heels,” Stugart said. “It just comes down to making plays. We had guys in the right positions, but we just didn’t tackle well in the second half.”
Battle continued to play well, hitting Drew Krobath for 35 yards and Jalen Smith for 19 before a 1-yard touchdown run by Jared Rhodes gave Lindenwood a 32-23 lead with 12:47 remaining.
But the wave of Seawolves’ offensive momentum was too powerful. After a long kick return by Crawford, Sweitzer caught a slant pass over the middle, broke several tackles and raced 55 yards to the 5-yard-line, where Hester punched it in on the next play.
A Lindenwood three-and-out took only 1:04 off the clock, and Stony Brook embarked on its third touchdown drive of the quarter. The 8-play, 71-yard journey produced positive gain after positive gain. It ended with a Boyd 8-yard quarterback keeper for the first lead of the game for Stony Brook, 36-32.
“I want to give credit to Stony Brook. They did a great job of staying persistent and staying on the wheel,” Stugart said. “We got punched in the second half and we didn’t know how to respond right. It felt like guys were looking around asking, ‘Who’s going to make a play?’”
Lindenwood has been stellar during the first three quarters of games in building leads against Charleston Southern and Stony Brook. The defense yielded just two first half touchdowns while scoring one of its own. The fourth quarter has been a different story, as opponents have racked up 33 points in the final frame, with Stony Brook amassing 209 yards of offense.
“We’ve addressed it. It’s two weeks in a row where, I don’t know if kids are playing guarded trying to not make a mistake because they have a lead. Our job as coaches is to teach them to play free, without thinking about making a mistake,” Stugart said.
He added, “I’d rather learn that lesson early. Sometimes, it takes (a loss) like that for kids to experience it for themselves. It’s early in the season and there’s a lot of things to learn from that game. I’m looking forward to seeing how they respond to this adversity.”
On Missouri State:
- Defeated Lindenwood 28-14 on Sept. 14, 2024, in the only prior meeting between the teams while Missouri State was still in FCS (Football Championship Subdivision).
- In their first year in FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) in 2025, the Bears finished 7-6 and played in the Xbox Bowl, where they lost to Arkansas State, 34-28.
- According to open records documents acquired by the Springfield News-Leader, Missouri State will pay Lindenwood $350,000 to play in the game.
Feature photo by Reagan Wallace