The University of Maine football team faced the Villanova Wildcats, the fifth-best team in the Football Championship Series on Saturday Oct. 19, dismantling their fierce foe both offensively and defensively to secure a 35-7 win on homecoming weekend in Orono.
Maine scored all 35 of their points, including 21 points in the first quarter, before Villanova got on the board in garbage time. Black Bear quarterback Carter Peevy passed for 173 yards and three touchdowns, throwing 16 completions on 18 attempts. The graduate student also rushed for a net total of ten yards.
Wide receivers Montigo Moss and Joe Gillette each led the Maine receiving corps with a touchdown. Moss caught all five of his targets, including his touchdown grab in which he used his superior physicality to out-body and “moss” his defender, taking the ball directly out of his grasp in a manner reminiscent of his father, Randy Moss, during his NFL days.
The ground attack was also fundamental for the Black Bears, as they racked up 155 rushing yards and a touchdown against the Coastal Athletic Association’s top defense in terms of points per game. Third-year running back Brian Santana-Fis and fifth-year running back Tavion Banks led the way, with Santana-Fis getting home for a score.
Maine’s “Black Hole” defense was also a terror, racking up seven sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumble recoveries. Villanova entered the contest averaging over 200 rushing yards per game, the Black Bears limited them to just 35 net rushing yards. Maine won the turnover battle 4-1 and held Wildcats quarterback Connor Watkins to 14-31 on passing attempts.
“The key emphasis was to stop the run and get after the quarterback all week,” said third-year defensive lineman Xavier Holmes, who himself contributed 1.5 sacks, five quarterback hits and a forced fumble. “Keep the quarterback in the pocket and everything else is gonna follow through.”
Other key contributors to the Black Hole’s big day included defensive backs Shakur Smalls and Devin Vaught, with one interception each. Smalls added two pass breakups to his stat sheet. Linemen John Costanza and Izaiah Henderson provided great interior defense, combining for a total of ten tackles and 2.5 sacks.
Special teams provided importance to the outcome. After the Black Bears’ first touchdown drive, they forced and recovered a fumble on the subsequent kickoff to give themselves a short field and punch home a touchdown to make it 14-0. Near the end of the first quarter, a field goal block by Costanza allowed Vaught to secure the ball and flash 70 yards downfield for a touchdown to put Maine up 21-0.
Maine’s three-phase thrashing of the country’s fifth-best FCS team certainly raises expectations for Head Coach Jordan Stevens’ squad. It’s safe to say that the 4-3 Black Bears must be feeling the renewed weight of expectations from Maine’s faithful fans. Stevens has now doubled his career win total in his third season at the helm of his alma mater.
“We took care of the football better,” said Stevens when asked what takeaway from the victory would be most important going forward. “When we finish [ahead] in the turnover margin, you’re gonna win games. The ball is everything.”
Maine’s turnover margin has steadily improved throughout Stevens’ tenure.
“If we continue to play disciplined football and we continue to prepare the right way, we give ourselves a chance to compete in the fourth quarter,” said Stevens.
A chance is all the Black Bears can ask for, as they seem to be rolling more and more confidently as underdogs into tough challenges and tense situations. Maine will travel into Kingston on Saturday, Oct. 26 to take on the University of Rhode Island Rams in a CAA matchup as they look to improve to 3-2 in conference play.
