Stony Brook @ Connecticut preview

Although the result on the scoreboard certainly wasn't desired, first-year Connecticut coach Bob Diaco considered it a victory to get a closer look at a vast number of players during his team's season-opening loss. Diaco doesn't intend to deviate from that plan when the Huskies host FCS representative Stony Brook on Saturday. "(We) need to get better as a team each week. To get better as (a) team, everybody needs to play," Diaco told reporters on Monday after Connecticut used 50 players in the first half alone in its 35-10 setback to Brigham Young.

Diaco admitted that the first three games of the season will serve as the "preparation phase" of the team's rebuilding process. Despite being an FCS playoff team in 2011 and 2012, Stony Brook sputtered on offense in its 13-7 season-opening setback against Bryant last week. The Seawolves mustered just 186 total yards, with Massachusetts transfer Stacey Bedell accounting for the majority with 116 on 27 carries.

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ABOUT STONY BROOK (0-1): The ground game is expected to be the bread and butter for coach Chuck Priore's club, but Marcus Coker is still working his way back from a broken left fibula sustained in an April motorcycle accident. Syracuse transfer John Kinder took his lumps while adjusting to a new system and completed just 7-of-18 passes for 101 yards and two interceptions last week. Kinder did connect on a 61-yard scoring strike to Adrian Coxson, who was the only player to reel in more than one catch for the Seawolves.

ABOUT CONNECTICUT (0-1): While Stony Brook's quarterback situation is anything but fluid, Huskies sophomore Casey Cochran (17-for-31, 171 yards) and senior Chandler Whitmer (8-for-17, 113) failed to get into a rhythm last week as the former played 47 snaps while the latter had 36. Geremy Davis proved to be a boon for both quarterbacks after hauling in seven catches for 96 yards. The senior wideout is coming off a 71-catch, 1,085-yard season in 2013.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Both teams won the time of possession last week, but shot themselves in the foot with a pair of turnovers.

2. Priore, who lives in nearby Wethersfield (Conn.), will enjoy a homecoming after guiding Hartford-based Trinity from 2000-05.

3. The Huskies didn't fare well against their last FCS opponent, dropping a 33-18 decision to Towson in the 2013 season opener.

PREDICTION: Connecticut 24, Stony Brook 21