Sports

Football returns home to face URI

Third-ranked Bears take 4-0 record into weekend showdown

By Ryan Waning

Posted on Sept. 26, 2002, at 12:00 a.m.

Julie Altenhoff

University of Maine sophomore kicker Mike Mellow connects on an extra point as backup quarterback Jon Meczywor holds in the Black Bears' 27-14 win over William & Mary Sept. 8. The undefeated UMaine team takes on University of Rhode Island Saturday durin

The University of Maine football team returns home this Saturday to take on Atlantic 10 Conference rival University of Rhode Island at Morse Field after two weeks on the road.

This week the Sports Network and ESPN/USA polls have the undefeated Black Bears ranked third after their 42-12 rout of Howard University last weekend.

UMaine is 4-0 and the ranking is the highest ever in the program’s history. The Rams’ record fell to 1-2 after they lost to Division 1-A Syracuse 63-17 last Saturday.

Black Bear coach Jack Cosgrove, although pleased, put the ranking into perspective.

“It’s nice, but it doesn’t mean a heck of a lot. You’ve got to wait for the one at the end of the year. That’s the one that really counts. It’s nice recognition, but we’ve still got a lot of work that we have to do. We’ve still got eight more football games to play,” Cosgrove said.

Even though they fell by a wide margin, the Rams’ offense was not really struggling when the starters were replaced to start the second half. They had gained 332 yards on offense in the first half. Freshman quarterback Jayson Davis was 7-12 for 145 yards and had completions of 47, 37 and 36 yards.

Davis is joined in the backfield by tailback Jason Ham. Ham had 103 rushing yards against a dominant Syracuse defensive front line and will be a key performer for Rams’ head coach Tim Stowers this week against UMaine.

“I was really impressed with their offense against Syracuse. The 450 yards or so of total offense tells it all,” Cosgrove said. “They also present the challenge of defending the option, which is a style we haven’t seen in recent weeks.”

Things couldn’t be better for the Black Bear offense right now. Senior quarterback Jake Eaton is having the season many predicted for him. His numbers are very good, (60-101 for 687 yards with seven touchdown passes and a completion percentage of 59.4) but the native of Rutland, Vt. is only impressed with one particular stat.

“The ‘W’. I could throw for 12,000 yards and if we didn’t get the ‘W’ it wouldn’t mean a thing,” Eaton said.

The UMaine defensive unit continues to be one of the best in the conference, particularly at pressuring quarterbacks. In his postgame press conference, Howard coach Rayford Petty said that the Black Bear front four is as good at the pass rush as any he’d ever seen.

The game against Rhode Island this Saturday kicks off at 1 p.m. at Morse field.

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