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With Saturday’s win over the University of Massachusetts, it’s hard to overlook the fact that the University of Maine football team controls its own destiny toward capturing the division title. With a division crown, a playoff berth would possibly be on the horizon.
Sitting at 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference, the Black Bears aren’t getting ahead of themselves and know they have big steps to take before they can even think about the postseason.
“I think that was our problem at the beginning of the year. We were focusing on the playoffs too much,” said junior wide receiver Ty Jones. “Now we’re just taking it one game at a time.”
UMaine will take that mentality into another crucial Colonial Athletic Association showdown when they travel to take on James Madison University Saturday afternoon at Bridgeforth Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on Comcast New England.
Coach Jack Cosgrove’s squad had held the lead or been tied at halftime in every contest this season but failed to hold the advantage in the second half, dropping contests to powerful opponents including No. 1 Richmond and Syracuse from the Big East.
Saturday the Black Bears held a 10-7 lead at the half following a leaping touchdown grab by Jones to end the second quarter. In the second half, they held onto the lead, and the defense held UMass’ top-ranked pass offense to no points. The only points for the Minutemen came on a rushing touchdown in the first quarter and an interception return for a two-point conversion.
“Our guys played hard, but we’ve been saying that for an awful lot of weeks and you need to see a result,” Cosgrove said during Monday’s CAA teleconference. “That was what was most gratifying from Saturday is we finished the football game off the way we started it: playing hard.”
“We’ve always been trying to play a whole game, and I think we have, but things haven’t really been going our way,” said senior defensive end Jordan Stevens. “We had a little more focus toward finishing the game and got the win.”
JMU on the rebound
Last season, the Dukes were the No. 1 team for a majority of the season, went undefeated in the CAA on their way to the conference title and went into the FCS playoffs as one of the clear favorites.
Behind senior quarterback Rodney Landers, the 2008 CAA Offensive Player of the Year, JMU advanced to the semifinals before being ousted by national runner-up Montana.
Gone from last year is Landers and several key offensive weapons. Despite a high preseason ranking of No. 6 in the nation, the Dukes auditioned quarterbacks Justin Thorpe and Drew Dudzik before redshirt freshman Thorpe took over the starting job in recent weeks.
With a new quarterback and one of the toughest schedules — playing four ranked opponents in a row — JMU (3-5, 1-4 CAA) struggled losing four games in a row at one point before picking up their first conference win this weekend at Delaware.
Thorpe’s development behind center was one of the major reasons JMU won at Delaware for the first time since 1994. The dual-threat quarterback threw for 262 yards and a touchdown and also ran one in during the 20-8 victory.
“I go back and look at how much more confident and settled he looks from the Hofstra game to the Delaware game, so there’s progress being made,” Cosgrove said of Thorpe.
Dukes bring the heat on defense
While the offensive unit has struggled due to a lot of turnover from last year’s squad, the JMU defense is one of the best in the conference.
In last week’s win over Delaware, the Dukes sacked the quarterback eight times, including 2.5 sacks by senior defensive end Arthur Moats, a preseason All-CAA selection. Moats leads the CAA in sacks with 9.5 on the season and heading into last weekend’s game he was first nationally in tackles for loss.
“They’re frightening,” Cosgrove said of the defensive line. “I know this: We’re not throwing on the first play of the game because in the William & Mary and Delaware games the ball got spit back in the quarterback’s throat.”
UMaine’s pass-heavy offense will have to run the ball effectively to be successful offensively against the league’s fourth-ranked unit.
“To be successful against JMU, we are going to have to run the ball and get it past the first level because they have a really good [defensive] line,” Jones said.
Dennis picks up conference honor
Sophomore linebacker Donte Dennis was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Week for his outstanding efforts against UMass. The first-year starter had two interceptions, including one that led to a score at the end of the first half, and he also recovered a fumble.
Dennis ranks fifth in the conference with 81 tackles and is tied for first in interceptions with four.
