An Elon University offense shaped by inconsistency and lack of touchdowns will have its hands full this Saturday.

The Phoenix will be tasked with going against the nation’s top defense in the Stony Brook Seawolves in Colonial Athletic Association competition at 1:30 p.m. in Rhodes Stadium.

Stony Brook is ranked first nationally in total defense and tackles for loss, second in pass defense, fourth in scoring defense and fifth in rush defense. The Seawolves lead the CAA in all of those categories.

Last week, Stony Brook beat the University of Maine 19-7 while holding the Black Bears to 135 yards of total offense — 70 coming on one play, Maine’s lone touchdown. That’s the third time this season the Seawolves (3-4 overall, 2-1 CAA) have limited their opponent to less than 200 yards of offense.

“I haven’t seen as dominating of a performance as what they did against Maine,” Elon head coach Rich Skrosky said. “That’s electric.”

SCOUTING THE STONY BROOK OFFENSE

The Seawolves play what Skrosky describes as an old-school or throwback type of offense. Instead of running and gunning in the no-huddle (like Elon), Stony Brook slows the pace down and doesn’t have a problem being patient.

They run a lot of two tight-end sets, using misdirection on plays where one tight end will sneak out to the opposite side for a wide-open completion. It’s a style not seen much in the collegiate game today, one unique to ninth-year head coach Chuck Priore.

Against Maine, the Seawolves possessed the ball for 40:59.

“What they’re doing great of is complementing their team,” Skrosky said. “They’re not in any hurry. What it’s doing is keeping the defense off the field.”

Junior Conor Bednarski orchestrates the passing game. He’s completed 52.1 percent of his passes for 597 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. His main targets include Adrian Coxson (22 catches, 341 yards, two touchdowns), Jahrie Level (20 catches, 204 yards) and tight end Will Tye (19 catches, 288 yards, two touchdowns).

Stony Brook generally runs the ball more on offense. Stacey Bedell has handled the majority of the carries, but has battled injury recently. He’s rushed for 620 yards and five touchdowns on 107 attempts. James Kenner has gained 284 yards and two touchdowns on 50 attempts, while Marcus Coker has carried the ball 72 times for 205 yards and one touchdown.

Elon’s struggled in recent weeks with containing quick, physical receivers along the outside. Neither Coxson nor Level are particularly huge, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have speed. Tye, on the hand, has a big tight-end body at 6-foot-3, 260-pounds. He could present a problem for the Elon secondary.

“We have to tackle well to get them off the field,” Elon linebacker John Silas said. “We’ve got to get better in our pass coverage and be consistent with it.”

COLUMN: Stony Brook game falls at worst possible time for Elon

SCOUTING THE STONY BROOK DEFENSE

The stats say a lot, but there’s also a lot they don’t say.

For one, Stony Brook’s defensive line is big, fast and scary. They flustered Maine play after play by pressuring the pocket and sending in blitzes from multiple areas. That D-line is anchored by Ousmane Camara, Victor Ochi, Dante Allen and Aaron Thompson.

That in itself presents a huge imbalance against Elon, which has been building up a young offensive line all season. Elon also likes to pass the ball a lot, so look to see how senior quarterback Mike Quinn responds to the pressure.

Defensive back Christian Ricard is fourth in the CAA with six sacks and leads the team with 51 tackles. Skrosky pointed out how Ricard shuffles between playing an outside linebacker in Stony Brook’s base scheme while playing more of a hybrid D-lineman linebacker in their subpackages.

Elon was crippled with some injuries to its receiving corps last week, with Demitri Allison and Ricky Brown missing plays against Delaware because of them. The Phoenix relied on freshman Tre Lennon, who pulled in the first two touchdowns of his career.

“They play a lot of man coverage, so we’re going to try and attack that,” Elon senior receiver Kierre Brown said.

Elon’s offense posted its highest point total of the season (24) a week ago in a loss to the University of Delaware. The Phoenix has failed to score a touchdown in two games this year.

Going up against Stony Brook, a unique breed of defense, represents yet another high order for Elon.

“(Priore) sees the game different from the rest of the world, in a good way,” Skrosky said. “Everybody else is going really fast, everybody else is trying to outscore everybody. Nobody’s playing this style with emphasis on defense.”

PREDICTION

Stony Brook 28, Elon 3

The Seawolves like playing low-scoring games, so don’t expect a shootout of any kind from them. But they’ll control the overall flow of the game in all three aspects and send the Phoenix to its third straight CAA loss.