WEEK 7 STATS: 11 tackles (2 solo), 1.0 TFL
Only days after appearing on the season’s first edition of the Jerry Rice Award Watch List, Stone made 11 stops in a 28-20 conference road win over Central Connecticut. The 5-foot-11 freshman linebacker also recorded 1.0 hit for a loss. Showing why he is an official candidate for an honor that goes to the top rookie in the FCS, Stone made a number of key stops. Seven of his tackles in run defense limited the ball carrier to a 3-yard gain or less. He stopped option quarterback Quinn Fleeting for no gain on two separate occasions. Stone helped hold CCSU to a field goal late in the first half, dropping Brenden Lytton, who scored on a 39-yard TD run earlier in the game, after a 3-yard gain on a 2nd-and-goal play. With CCSU looking for the potential game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter, Stone was in on tackling Walter Payton Award candidate Rob Hollomon at the Duquesne 7.