LAST TIME OUT: BULLDOGS TOP STONY BROOK
Dalton Easton connected with Chad Ward on a 37-yard touchdown pass halfway through the third quarter to give the Bulldogs the lead and the defense did the rest in a 13-7 victory over Stony Brook last Thursday night. Tom Alberti knocked down a pair of field goals in the first quarter to make it 6-0 but Adrian Coxson's 61-yard touchdown catch gave the Seawolves a 7-6 lead at the half. Ward's first TD catch of the year gave Bryant the lead back and Sebastian Amedee's interception with just four minutes remaining helped seal the victory.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Merrimack put together one of the country's best offenses on the way to a 7-4 record a year ago. Playing in the Division II NE-10, the Warriors opened the season by shocking NEC member Wagner before finishing in a tie for fifth in the league standings.

The Warriors will have to replace some key weapons on an offense that produced nearly 40 points per game and nearly 500 yards of total offense. Of that, 375 came through the air but Merrimack will turn to a new quarterback after Joe Clancy graduated in the spring after one of the most decorated careers in NE-10 history. Clancy threw for 4,116 yards and 48 touchdowns a year ago, while this year's starting QB, Luke Bakanowsky, attempted just two passes last season. First team All-NE-10 receiver Jere Brown does return after catching 86 passes for 1,186 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Defensively, the Warriors were nearly just as pourous. They allowed 30 points per game and just over 400 yards of total offense last season. Most of that defense is gone this season, however, as senior Ben Polci will look to build on a season in which he registered 63 tackles, eight tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Bryant and Merrimack opened their series in 1999, Bryant's first year of football. They met every single season until 2009. They met again in 2010 but have not played since. Merrimack holds a 6-5 lead in the all-time series but the Bulldogs have won each of the last four meetings. In 2010, Bryant jumped out to a 27-6 lead in the first half on its way to a 46-29 victory over the Warriors. The Bulldogs put up 469 yards of total offense, including 291 yards on the ground. At the DII level, the Warriors won five-straight in the series, including an epic 41-40 overtime affair in 2005. It was the last win in the series, however, for Merrimack.

RED ZONE DOMINANCE
For the first time since the 2009 season and just the seventh time in program history, Bryant held its opponent out of the red zone. The Bulldogs didn't allow Stony Brook a snap inside the 20-yard line, the first time they've done that since facing Wagner at home during the '09 season.