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The University of Maine football team took their upset loss to Richmond a bit personally, and understandably so.
After the 26-21 defeat, the team encountered its bye week just in time, allowing the Black Bears to tweak what needed tweaking.
“This past week was the best week of football since I arrived at UMaine,” said junior receiver Arel Gordon. “The coaches challenged us and everyone stepped up in a big way.”
Gaining consistency on offense was a main focus for head coach Jack Cosgrove’s squad during its week off.
“There is no question that start to finish, we haven’t come close to playing the kind of game I think we’re capable of playing,” said Cosgrove, noting that playing as a team and functioning as a unit are key components to achieving that consistency.
“We must be intense for 60 minutes. If we get a lead, we need to be able to put our foot on their throats and finish them off,” said Gordon.
Although practices have been deemed successful, the real test comes this weekend when the 1-2 Black Bears travel to Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland to face the Great Danes of Albany.
Although UMaine will be wearing its blue home-jerseys, Cosgrove said the team will handle the game as if they were on the road.
“I found that we haven’t performed as well when we’re trying to drive two-and-a-half hours and play a game,” he said. “That has not been productive for us. We need to treat it as an away game because of the travel.”
Regardless of the venue, the 0-3 Great Danes will be hungry to get their first win against an Atlantic-10 team this season. Albany fell to Massachusetts and Hofstra, two top-25 teams, in their first two games.
The Northeast Conference team plays under the direction of head coach Bob Ford, who is into his 33rd season as head coach at Albany.
The Great Danes are a diverse team, running multiple formations and personnel grouping; however, it’s the talent behind the ball that the Black Bears must be aware of.
Albany uses two explosive backs, Marcus Allen and Kenny Williams, while quarterback Daniel Bocanegra reveals promise as a redshirt freshman.
Cosgrove said the coaching staff is well aware of the players on the Albany roster, mainly due to the fact that UMaine recruited a lot of them.
Defensively for the Great Danes, sophomore linebacker Colin Disch leads the way with 41 tackles and three sacks. Being smart with the ball is something the UMaine offense knows will be crucial against Albany.
“Turnovers killed us last week,” Gordon said. “We can’t turn the ball over this weekend, or any weekend from here on out if we want to be successful.”
The Black Bears turned it over five times against Richmond, in addition to a muffed squib-kick. The Spiders scored many of their points off those turnovers, so the Black Bears will look to improve in that area.
Senior receiver Kevin McMahan continues to be the quarterbacks’ primary choice, heading into week four with 18 receptions for 297 yards and three touchdowns,
Junior quarterback Ron Whitcomb leads the Black Bears offense and has thrown for 526 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions in three games this season. Whitcomb carries a passer efficiency rating of 110.9.
Co-captain Jermaine Walker guides the Black Hole defense with 30 tackles. Daren Stone currently holds a three-way tie for most interceptions among all Division I players, including I-A, with five.
“We intend to spread the ball out with a mix of run and pass to keep the Albany defense off balance,” senior tailback Montell Owens said. “I’m not really too concerned with what Albany is going to bring to the table defensively because if we all do our jobs we can execute.”
Owens leads the Black Bears in rushing with 188 yards on 40 rushes this season, boasting an impressive 4.7 yards per carry. Owens has rushed for two touchdowns.
The Black Bears will head south on Friday to begin preparations for the 6 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.
“We are anxious to get back on the field and play,” said Cosgrove.
Coach’s corner
Every Thursday UMaine head football coach Jack Cosgrove will share three keys to the Black Bears’ upcoming game.
-Playing tough, hard-nosed Black Bear football right out of the gate
“We haven’t played in a couple of weeks, we’ve practiced well, but we’ve got to play the game now.”
-Playing with confidence and playing with an edge
“We’ve got to play with great focus on what we’re going to do and great confidence in how we’re going to do it.”
-Playing mistake-free football
“You’ve got to play a game that you feel mentally prepared for and physically ready for. We’ve had time to prepare for these guys, now it’s a matter of
performing on Saturday.”
