San Diego State will kick off the 2025 season on Thursday, Aug. 28, at Snapdragon Stadium against Stony Brook of the FCS Coastal Athletic Association, formerly the Colonial Athletic Conference. 

The Seawolves finished 8-4 overall and 5-3 in conference. They lost their last two games and missed the FCS playoffs.

The Seawolves will be making the long trip from Long Island for their first-ever matchup against San Diego State and their only game against an FBS team this season. Stony Brook will be trying for just its second win against an FBS team. Their only victory against an FBS team was against Army in 2012. 

Stony Brook at San Diego State

 Thursday, Aug. 28

TBA

 San Diego

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The focus of the Seawolves' offense will be graduate running back Roland Dempster, a 6-foot, 225-pound graduate who was just named to the 2025 FCS Preseason All-America First Team.

Dempster rushed 268 times for 1,332 yards (5.0 average) and 18 touchdowns last season. He was named First Team All-CAA and was a finalist for the 2024 Walter Payton Award, becoming just the second player in Stony Brook history to receive the honor. He was also accorded Second Team All-America honors. 

It appears that the QB  job will go to graduate transfer Chris Zellous, who started all 12 games at Hampton last year, throwing for 1,030 yards and six touchdowns before transferring to Stony Brook. 

Aztecs edge rusher Trey White, whose 12 ½ sacks during his breakout 2024 season placed him fifth nationally, will try to get on the ledger for 2025 against the Seawolves.

Quarterback Tyler Knoop threw for 2,021 yards and 17 touchdowns for Stony Brook in 2024, his final year of eligibility.

Another top producer on the offense is wide receiver Jayce Freeman, who caught 23 passes for 506 yards and six touchdowns while appearing in 11 of 12 games. He ranked third in the FCS and first in program history with 22 yards per catch. He caught a touchdown pass in five straight games.

The Seawolves’ line is anchored by Niko Papic, one of two players in that unit who started every game. He helped the Seawolves increase their overall yards by 90 per game, mostly on the ground, and was named Third Team-All-CAA.

Stony Brook’s defense will face an Aztecs offense that will be breaking in several new players at the skill positions. That includes quarterback, where transfers Bert Emanuel Jr., the son of the former college and pro quarterback/wideout, and Jayden Denegal.

The leader of the Seawolves' defense is linebacker AJ Roberts, who earned Second Team All-CAA honors after a strong performance. The former Pitt transfer led the Seawolves with 86 total tackles, including 32 solo and 4 ½ for loss. One of the most productive linebackers in FCS, he also had one sack, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. 

The Seawolves’ second-leading tackler from last year is a familiar name on the San Diego prep scene: linebacker Anthony Ferrelli, who played at Carlsbad High. Ferrelli was named Fourth Team All-CAA by Phil Steele after a career-best 84 tackles, including 38 and 5 ½ for loss, as well as 1 ½ sacks, three pass breakups and a fumble recovery.