Football faces playoff challenge at Appalachian State

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The playoffs have arrived for the Division I Football Championship Subdivision, and the 8-3 University of Maine Black Bears are on their way to Boone, N.C., to face the 8-3 Appalachian State University Mountaineers.

This is UMaine’s first postseason appearance since 2008 and will mark their second postseason game against ASU, the first game being a 14-13 win in 2002 —UMaine’s only FCS playoff win.

On paper, the Black Bears and Mountaineers have similar résumés. Both teams are comparable in virtually every statistical category in conference play, and both come from conferences that see national championship-caliber teams every year.

The Colonial Athletic Association and Southern Conference sent five and three teams respectively to the postseason this year and have produced the national champion 10 out of the last 13 years, including seven in a row from 2003-2009. ASU won three straight from 2005-2007.

ASU has the worst pass defense in the SoCon, but when compared to the CAA pass defense, they would rank third. UMaine, who has the best pass defense in the CAA, would rank sixth in the SoCon, averaging only 9 yards better than ASU.

ASU looks to be better at stopping the run than the pass, as two SoCon teams averaged more than 300 yards of rushing and ASU kept one of them to below 200 yards. The best rushing team in the CAA, Towson University, averaged 240 per game. UMaine will have to rely on their passing attack to gain yards against a team used to playing against running-oriented teams.

The Black Bears will have to cut down on penalties and turnovers as well; the final regular season game against the University of New Hampshire was marred by turnovers and unfulfilled opportunities given to them by the defense.

All season, UMaine’s defense has worked hard to give their offense more opportunities to win, such as in games against Villanova University with four red-zone stops; the University of Massachusetts where they stopped UMass on fourth down four times; and against James Madison University, where they held JMU’s final drive to a field goal, allowing UMaine to tie the game up with their own field goal and eventually win in overtime.

UMaine lived and died with the turnover in the regular season and they will have to find a way to use their plus-nine turnover differential to their advantage.

The Black Bears’ defense have their work cut out for them, as the Mountaineers possess arguably the best offensive weapon in all of FCS football. Senior wide receiver Brian Quick leads the fourth-ranked passing offense with an average of 96 yards of receiving per game and 16.5 yards per catch. He came into 2011 as the FCS active leader in career receiving yards and yards per catch.

Sophomore wide receiver Andrew Peacock can’t be forgotten either, as he also put up respectable receiving numbers with 45 yards per game and a 12-yards-per-catch average.

Sophomore quarterback Jamal Jackson spearheads the passing attack and can be considered a dual threat with his ability to run the ball. Not only does Jackson lead a passing attack that gains 230 yards per game, but he has also racked up 308 yards rushing.

Senior running back Travaris Cadet leads the Mountaineers’ rushing attack with 655 yards on 145 carries. Backup junior running back Steven Miller runs averages just over 5 yards per carry and has 377 yards on the year.

For UMaine, senior quarterback Warren Smith will start in his first playoff game, coming in with 2,643 passing yards on the season, averaging 240 yards per game. His favorite target, junior wide receiver Maurice McDonald, will likely sit out once again, so he will have to rely on freshmen receivers DaMarr Aultman and Arthur Williams.

Sophomore tight end Justin Perillo has been a favorite of Smith’s as well, as Perillo is the second-leading receiver on the team with 446 yards on the season. Senior running back Pushaun Brown will also be a big player for UMaine on offense, averaging 5 yards per carry and almost 100 yards per game.

First team All-CAA members safety Jerron McMillian and offensive lineman Chris Howley and New England Sports Writers Association Head Coach of the Year Jack Cosgrove will lead the team to ASU on Saturday, where kickoff will be at 2 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN3.com.

Cosgrove couldn’t be reached for comment by press time.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 1st, 2011, 4:48 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.