Scoring started for the Black Bears early in the second quarter, when junior quarterback Warren Smith completed a touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Jeff Falvey. Sophomore Brian Harvey’s extra point was blocked as the Black Bears went up 6-0.

It took seven minutes for the Wildcats to cut the deficit in half when place kicker Mike MacArthur kicked a 32-yard field goal to make the score 6-3 in favor of the Black Bears, which is where the score stayed entering halftime.

On the Wildcats first drive in the second half, they took the lead after a pass from  quarterback R.J. Tomin found Terrance Fox in the endzone. The Wildcats took the 10-6 into the fourth quarter.

The Black Bears had the opportunity to put more points on the board, but a fumble during the handoff to junior running back Jared Turcotte gave the Wildcats possession on their own 20-yard line.

Midway through the fourth, UNH widened the scoring difference after MacArthur’s 47-yard field goal.

The Black Bears countered with a successful two-minute drill that was capped off by a successful fourth down conversion for the Black Bears, when Smith found junior tight end Derek Buttles in the endzone for the acrobatic reception. Harvey redeemed himself and made the game-tying extra point.

On the first possession of overtime, junior defensive back Jerron McMillian intercepted Tomin’s pass, keeping the Wildcats off the board.

On the ensuing drive, Smith handed the ball off to Turcotte three straight times, amassing just five yards.

On the fourth down, Harvey once again proved his worth, splitting the uprights on the game-winning 37-yard field goal.

This year’s class features six former Black Bears: men’s hockey goalie Mike Dunham, ’93; track and field star Ken Black, ’35; former men’s soccer coach and assistant athletic director Jim Dyer; women’s basketball standout Heather Ernest, ’04; baseball captain Jeff Paul, ’84; and football star Marcus Williams, ’05.

Dunham was a part of the goaltending tandem that brought the Black Bears their first national championship in 1993. At the end of the season he was honored with a first team All-American selection. Dunham also played for three U.S. Olympic teams in 1992, 1994 and 2002, and earned a silver medal with the ’02 squad.

The New Jersey Devils selected him in the third round of the 1990 entry draft, 53rd overall. During his stint in the National Hockey League, Dunham also played for the Nashville Predators, New York Rangers, Atlanta Thrashers and New York Islanders.

Dunham shared the 1996-97 William M. Jennings Trophy with Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. The trophy is awarded to the goalie who played at least 25 games and let up the fewest amount of goals. In 2007, Dunham accepted a position as New York Islanders goalie coach.

Ernest was a member of the women’s basketball team from 2001-2004. She led the Black Bears in scoring each of the four years, putting her fifth on UMaine’s all-time scoring list. She also led the Black Bears in rebounding for three seasons.

Ernest was recognized as America East Player of the Year twice, and made the America East First Team on  three different occasions.

Black, the eldest honoree of this year’s class, was a cross country and track and field standout during his time at UMaine. With the help of Black, the cross country team finished third in the 1932 and 1933 New England Championships.

In 1935, Black won the national championship in the 400-meter dash, setting a U.S. record at the time.

Dyer served as UMaine men’s soccer coach from 1982-92, finishing at or above .500 for 10 straight seasons, compiling a record of 95-74-20.

He was the assistant athletic director for UMaine from 1993-2004 and the Maine Maritime Academy athletic director from 2004-2010, retiring just recently.

Four of his former players are now college soccer head coaches. Dyer returned to UMaine this fall to assist women’s soccer head coach Scott Atherley.

Paul captained the 1984 Black Bears baseball team and played a major role on UMaine’s College World Series teams from 1981-84. He appeared on the NCAA All-Regional team in 1982 and 1984.

Paul batted .340 or better for the Black Bears in three different seasons. In 1984, the Texas Rangers drafted Paul.

The youngest member of this year’s class is football standout Marcus Williams. Williams owns numerous UMaine football records, including most 100-yard rushing with 19, most touchdowns with 35, and most career yards with 3,940.

Williams led the team in rushing in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and helped lead the Black Bears to the Atlantic 10 Championship in 2002.

Williams earned A-10 second team honors in 2002 and first team honors in 2003 and 2004.

After his career at UMaine ended, Williams signed a contract with the Indianapolis Colts.

The induction banquet for the class is on Friday Sept. 24, starting at 6 p.m. in the hall of fame lobby of the Memorial Gym. Tickets for the event are $35 and can be purchased at the Maine ticket office.

The honorees will be recognized at halftime during UMaine’s game against William and Mary.

UMaine’s triumphant regular season didn’t roll over into the conference tournament, as the Wild Cats ousted the Black Bears in the first round. Head coach Ted Woodward had to think about next year a little sooner than he planned on.

The team look to regain the bravado this season, and it seems as though one respected news outlet thinks the Black Bears will do more than that.

Last week, The Sporting News released their 2010-2011 men’s college basketball preview, and has listed the UMaine to finish first in America East.

Heading into the new season, Woodward is loaded with players returning from that third place finish — 11 in all. He has four starters returning, something that he believes will play a large role in how his team does.

“Look at the teams that have been successful. Experience and age matter a lot,” Woodward said. “Your seniors are 22 or 23 years old, and your freshmen are 18 or 19. There’s a huge growth curb physically and mentally during those ages. Having the chance to have guys with some experience continues to foster your leadership abilities.”

The Black Bears will rely on that leadership plenty during the season, especially with some tough out-of-conference opponents. Headlining the list is perennial ACC power the University of Maryland, Big East’s University of Notre Dame, as well as Atlantic 10 foe the University of Massachusetts and last year’s NIT champion, Penn State University.

“Every year we challenge ourselves with our non-conference schedule,” Woodward said.

UMaine also has the opportunity to play in front of a national television audience, when the Black Bears face America East rival Stony Brook on ESPNU, on Feb. 12.

“We have seen great progress from these two programs the last few years and this opportunity represents just another step for them,” said America East Commissioner Patrick Nero in a press release. “We are excited and thankful that ESPN will give both teams a national audience to show how good they have become.”

Coach Woodward sees the game as an exciting opportunity, but not one that should be held on a higher level than any others.

“I think you always have to enjoy what college athletics is about,” Woodward said. “Being able to play on national television broadcast is a tremendous opportunity and one that I’m proud our program will have the chance to participate in. At the same time, we will work hard the entire year to maintain focus, understanding that our record is 0-0 and you play the games on the court.”

His team echoed the same statement.

“I think we just see it as any other game. We can’t get too high or too low,” said junior guard Gerald McLemore.

The University of Maine men’s basketball team recently wrapped up a five-game Canadian tour, finishing up undefeated. The Black Bears begin the regular season on Nov. 12 against Utah Valley University in Utah, and return to Orono for the home opener on Nov. 19 against the University of Maine at Machias.

Much like Pat White, Rodriguez’s former quarterback at West Virginia, Robinson does not have ideal size for the position at only six feet tall. However, his athleticism and dual-threat ability make him the perfect fit for the spread offense the Wolverines run. Robinson’s emergence alleviates a huge burden for Rodriguez.

Since his highly touted arrival in Ann Arbor, Rodriguez has been heavily scrutinized. He left West Virginia amid allegations of NCAA rule violations and those issues followed him to his new job. In May, the Michigan program was placed on probation for violating NCAA regulations.

All of this is not new to the world of college football and this kind of thing is usually overlooked as long as the club is winning. This was not the case with Rodriguez in his first two seasons as head coach, as the team’s record was a horrendous 8-16. There were serious doubts about whether or not his spread offense would work at a school known for its old-fashioned style of football.

For the time being, Robinson has made everybody forget about the negative publicity the program has received with those two monster performances he has produced to start the year.

In college football, unlike the NFL, one player has the ability to take over and win a game. One player can have such a talent advantage that he can literally hijack a game and do as he pleases. Vince Young did this a few times in his career, as did Barry Sanders, Charles Woodson and countless others.

The quarterback is so important in Rodriguez’s system because a great one will have the opportunity to take over the game and be that player on the field who stands out above the rest. Robinson is proof of that: he’s thrown the ball 62 times in two games and ran 57 times. When you consider that a good offensive team will get 65-70 plays per game it is outstanding that he has been able to thrive despite teams knowing the ball will be in his hands.

We must curb the enthusiasm, though. Every year we see a player explode out of the gates as a Heisman front runner only to receive a reality check as the season goes on. Maybe this will happen to Robinson, maybe it won’t. Rodriguez certainly hopes it continues, because he has hitched his wagon to the young man’s arm and legs. After constant scrutiny in his first two and a half years, he can breathe easy.

But, the coach knows he has to keep loading up his roster with recruits. He has seen how far one guy can take his program.

The Black Bears have equal amounts of quality depth at the quarterback position, evident by the breakout performance of sophomore Warren Smith this past Saturday in a 17-7 win at Northeastern University.

Smith, along with senior starter Mike Brusko, leads an undefeated and 20th-ranked UMaine squad into a nonconference game this Saturday at 4 p.m. when they travel to the University at Albany.

Smith, a transfer from the disbanded Iona College program, threw for 145 yards and a touchdown on Saturday, rotating in with the starter Brusko, who owns an 8-2 record as the starter since taking over midway through last season.

“We’re not changing our offense,” said UMaine coach Jack Cosgrove. “Everyone thinks Michael’s a runner and Warren’s a passer. Michael can pass, Warren can run. [The rotation] gives us some diversity there and some potential challenges for defenses down the road.”

UMaine (2-0, 1-0 Colonial Athletic Association) relies primarily on a rush-heavy, ball-control offense – ranking third in the CAA in time of possession last season. Near the end of last season and the beginning of this season, though, opponents have focused primarily on the run by employing eight and nine-man fronts, slowing down the Black Bear offense.

Brusko’s leadership and game management abilities complement Smith’s passing abilities well, and teammates believe rotating shouldn’t disrupt the rhythm of the offense.

“Both quarterbacks take reps with us in practice, and we’re pretty comfortable with them at any time,” said sophomore tailback Derek Session. “We can run or pass with both.”

The return of senior wide receiver Landis Williams made it easier for the quarterbacks, especially Smith, to acclimate themselves amidst soggy conditions over the weekend. Smith found the speedy wide out for a 47-yard touchdown strike in the third quarter to open up a 10-point lead. Williams, out with a hand injury since the beginning of preseason camp, also had an electrifying punt return for a touchdown that was called back because of a penalty.

“Since he’s been here, he’s been a big play threat,” Cosgrove said. “He’s got a burst and an extra gear. I thought by far he was the fastest player on the field on Saturday.”

Defense digs in

After giving up 27 points to a Division II squad in the season opener, the UMaine defense was back to being its old self Saturday. After allowing a first quarter touchdown, the Black Bears didn’t allow a score the rest of the game.

The youthful defense, which has 14 starters or backups that are sophomores or younger, forced two interceptions and picked up four quarterback sacks.

“We’re only going to be as good as our sophomores allow us to be this year,” Cosgrove said. “We have seniors that are proven and can play and have done it, but a football team is 22 and all the special team guys. We took 26 new first-time travelers on that trip.”

Sophomore safety Trevor Coston picked off both passes while redshirt freshman end Kris Enslen had a pair of sacks.

“At the beginning of the game, they made plays that cost us dearly,” Cosgrove said. “But they persevered and took the coaching. Trevor made two interceptions and they couldn’t block Enslen at the end of the game.”

“It’s faster for them at first, and the game hasn’t slowed down,” said senior defensive back Troy Harris. “By the second week, it’s slowed down enough where they started feeling comfortable and made plays.”

Senior end Jordan Stevens picked up the other two sacks.

Albany provides big test

Despite their lopsided 44-7 defeat at the University of Massachusetts last weekend, the University at Albany (0-2) will be a big challenge for the Black Bears.

Led by coach Bob Ford, in his 34th season as the Great Danes head coach, Albany has picked up recent wins against CAA foes ­— winning at the University of Delaware in 2006 and at Hofstra University last season.

“Albany is a very strong team with a great tradition in the Northeast Conference,” Cosgrove said. “They have been either the champion or runner-up for years and years.”

Williams returns, Turcotte still on shelf

The Black Bears welcomed the return of Landis Williams (hand) this past weekend but are still waiting the return of sophomore All-American fullback Jared Turcotte. Turcotte was held out of his second straight game due to a groin injury sustained during preseason camp. Turcotte practiced with the team last week and participated in pregame activities but was held out due to slick field conditions.

The skinny

Albany presents a good test before the Black Bears trek back to New York to face Syracuse University the following weekend. Despite playing in the weaker Northeast Conference, the Great Danes are consistently near the top and challenge themselves out of conference by playing several CAA teams. If Turcotte comes back, however, UMaine is nearly healthy and could just start to click offensively. Defensively, the Black Bears were much better against Northeastern, allowing only seven points. With both sides of the ball improving each week and special teams play getting a boost from electric return man Landis Williams, Albany will have their hands full. They are playing at home though, so that could keep the game close.

Prediction:  UMaine 24, Albany 14

I know what it’s like to play quarterback at the Division I level and how difficult it is to transition from the high school game. With that experience, I can almost imagine what it must be like for a rookie quarterback making his debut in the NFL. Some of you are probably reading this assuming the transition is very similar to the transition you went through in adjusting to the workload your college courses offer. I wouldn’t be fulfilling my journalistic duties if I allowed you to believe that. It’s more like being thrown into shark-infested waters with a bloody nose.

What I’m trying to say is that last year, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco — who led their teams to the playoffs — gave most football fans the wrong impression of how much success a rookie quarterback will usually have in the NFL. Mark Sanchez and Matthew Stafford started their first games as rookies this past weekend and had moderate success. Sanchez certainly was the more impressive of the two by completing 18 of 31 passes with one touchdown and one interception. More importantly, he led his team to a win in their season opener.  Stafford didn’t fare as well — he went 16-for-37 with zero touchdowns and three interceptions. In order to provide a little bit of perspective, allow me to show you the statistics of the three most prominent quarterbacks in the game today from their rookie seasons:

Tom Brady (New England Patriots) didn’t start a single game in his first year and completed a whopping one pass for six yards.  Need I say more?

Drew Brees (then San Diego Chargers, currently the New Orleans Saints) matched Brady in starts with zero but was able to complete 15 of 27 passes and actually threw a touchdown.  Doesn’t quite compare to the six he threw in their season opener on Sunday, does it?

Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts) was the only one of the three who earned himself a job as the starter and actually set the record for touchdown passes in a season by a rookie with 26.  Unfortunately, most people fail to remember he also threw 28 interceptions and led his team to a less-than-mediocre 3-13 record.

The point of this column is not to downplay anything these three have accomplished in their careers or to bash them for their lack of success in year one.  As a matter of fact, it is completely the opposite. My goal is to make sure that you, as the average football fan, remember two things:  It is virtually impossible for rookies like Sanchez and Stafford to resemble the likes of the current Brady, Brees and Manning in their debut seasons. and whatever level of production they do have this year is not indicative of their careers to come. Be patient, Jets and Lions fans.

Mike Brusko is a quarterback for the Black Bears.

One thing the Black Bears did not rely on was the passing attack, one that averaged just under 140 yards per game.

On Saturday afternoon, UMaine had both the run and pass clicking.

Derek Session ran for 114 yards and a touchdown, and backup quarterback Warren Smith threw a 47-yard touchdown pass as the Black Bears shut down Northeastern University 17-7 at Parsons Field.

The Black Bears move to 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Huskies fell to 0-2 and 0-1 in conference play.

After holding out All-American fullback Jared Turcotte for the second straight week due to a groin injury, Session once again carried the load, rushing the ball 20 times and passing the 100-yard mark for the second straight week.

In the first quarter, UMaine took the early lead on a 37-yard field goal by Jordan Waxman. Greg Abelli responded with a 33-yard touchdown run at the end of the quarter to give Northeastern their only lead of the game at 7-3.

Sophomore safety Trevor Coston gave UMaine great field position in the second quarter when he picked off a pass in Northeastern territory, one of his two interceptions of the day. The interception led to a drive capped off by Session’s touchdown run from one yard out.

To end the first half, the Black Bears brought Smith in as quarterback to give the offense more of an aerial attack. Smith, the starting quarterback last season for the disbanded Iona College team, completed all eight of his throws on the drive, but Waxman’s 40-yard field goal attempt to end the half was blocked.

In the third quarter, Smith found senior wide receiver Landis Williams for a 47-yard score to open up the lead to 17-7. Williams returned for the first time since suffering a hand injury early in preseason camp.

Smith and Brusko rotated at the position for the remainder of the second half. Brusko, who brings more of rushing element behind center, will remain the starter of the Black Bears despite Smith’s success.

Smith finished 10 of 13 passes for 145 yards, while Brusko completed five of seven to go along with 39 yards rushing.

Coston led the Black Bears defense with his two interceptions. Jordan Stevens and Kris Enslen recorded two sacks each.

UMaine takes a break from CAA play the next two weekends, starting off with a road game next Saturday at the University of Albany. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. The Great Danes (0-2) are coming off a 44-7 loss to the University of Massachusetts.

After losing seven defensive starters off of last year’s defense, those two words are synonymous with the University of Maine’s football team at the start of the 2009 college football season, especially after a lackluster season opener 34-27 win in overtime over Division II St. Cloud State.

“You move on,” said UMaine coach Jack Cosgrove. “You just have to go to the next season, and we’ve replaced them with seven new guys. You’re going to see this group of guys improve just like those guys did. There was a day when those guys were sophomores, too.”

Despite an underwhelming performance in last Thursday’s win, the young Black Bears have their sights set on the future as they prepare to open conference play at Northeastern University on Saturday at 1 p.m.

“I’ve been telling the young guys that this is where we take a big jump from week one to week two,” said senior linebacker Mark Masterson, the team’s leading returning tackler. “Everybody’s buying into that and I can already tell that we’re really focused.”

“You got to take it as you’re going to get better every game,” added sophomore tailback Derek Session. “Last year was our first game at Iowa and I felt like that was my worst game of the season. Every game I kept getting better and better after that.”

Northeastern (0-1) comes into the first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) contest of the year after being thumped 54-0 by Boston College, an FBS squad.

“We felt like they’re going to be a lot like we were,” Cosgrove said. “They’re going to be disappointed in their opening game, and I felt like they might’ve been tentative in a lot of ways like we were.”

In last Thursday’s home opener, St. Cloud State came out from the outset and took control of a tentative UMaine defense, establishing their running game early, which allowed them to have success through the air (222 yards, 1 touchdown).

“We had a lot of mental things going on in the first half,” Session said. “We had a lot of first-year players, and it was their first game. I felt like we did better in the second half because everyone got their jitters out and came out ready to play.”

In the second half, the Black Bears were able to rely on their vaunted rushing attack, which produced 253 yards, despite the absence of All-American fullback Jared Turcotte who was held out of the game due to a groin injury.

The biggest bright spot for UMaine, which dropped from No. 19 to 20 in the national rankings, was the play of the special teams.

Junior wide receiver Desmond Randall, who missed all last season due to an appendectomy, returned a kickoff 80 yards for a score in the first quarter after the Huskies jumped ahead 3-0. Sophomore kicker Jordan Waxman converted all of his kicks as well, including two field goals.

“Special teams are a huge thing in this conference too,” said senior quarterback Mike Brusko. “A lot of times they make the difference between who wins and who loses. We’ve experienced that firsthand.”

In 2006 the Black Bears suffered a crippling 10-9 loss to UMass after they failed to make an extra point in the waning moments of the game. Last year, however, the Minutemen missed a late extra point to allow UMaine to escape with a 21-20 victory.

While the struggles were evident in the season opener, the 1-0 Black Bears came back on three occasions to get a hard-fought win in overtime.

“They played hard and gave us something that we just weren’t ready for and weren’t expecting,” Brusko said. “But we’re better for it to have played in a tough game and respond and persevere.”

Notes: Turcotte (groin injury), Landis Williams (hand injury) and Derek Buttles (suspension) are all expected to be available for Saturday’s game.

For those of you who don’t know, I am in my fifth year as a member of the University of Maine football team. That’s why I felt this was an appropriate time to give the average person a little sense of what it’s actually like to play football at this level.

For starters, the concept of an “offseason” is simply forgotten when it comes to Division I football. The closest thing that we have is the three weeks’ vacation over Christmas when we get to go back to our hometowns, most of which are outside of New England. When the season ends — usually at the end of November— we get about two weeks when we don’t have any form of practice or workout. After that, we jump right back into our “offseason” workout program that includes any combination of heavy weightlifting and cardiovascular exercise five days a week. Did I mention we have to have these workouts at 6 a.m. every day to ensure they don’t conflict with anybody’s class schedule? This goes on for about three months until we start spring practice at the beginning of April. Throughout these three months, we are constantly organizing individual skill improvement
sessions, such as quarterbacks throwing routes to receivers or defensive linemen working their pass rush moves against their equally large counterparts in the offensive linemen.

Once spring practice starts, we get a break from the fiveday-a-week wakeups at 5:30 a.m., because that’s what time we have to be on the field ready to start practice. For those of us living off campus, that means waking up no later than 4:45 a.m. in order to drive to campus, get into the training room and get dressed in time. Sounds appealing, doesn’t it?

After spring practice comes the summer workouts. Technically, we are permitted to spend the summer months at home (most of us choose to stay up here and work out as a team), but even if you do that, there is a strict workout regimen you are expected to follow for four to five days a week. If you do choose to work out up here, you will be waking up at 5:30 a.m. again for most of the summer so there are no conflicts with summer classes or work schedules.

When August arrives, a college football player’s summer is over, and it’s time to report to camp. Camp is basically the equivalent of being on courtappointed house arrest with one exception: We don’t get to live in our homes. It is three weeks of living in a dorm room without access to any form of transportation and being occupied everyday from 6:30 a.m. until about 9:30 p.m. No, my friends, we do not get Sundays off. Every day is essentially the same as the day before.
Finally, after waking up around 5:30 a.m. for essentially the entire year to workout in one form or another, we reach the season.

All of the hardships and frustrations of the “offseason” disappear from your mind when the season starts. Game day is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced if you haven’t been a part of it. It is the most emotional and absorbing game on the planet and it makes everything you went through for the past nine months completely worth it.

Every Saturday for about three months, we get to walk onto the field with our best friends in the entire world — our second family — and play the game we love to play. In those moments, you feel like you would do anything for the guy standing next to you. It is a bond that can’t be replicated and its value is immeasurable. There are so many more lessons and relationships to take away from the experience than the wins and losses. As difficult as the workouts and the wakeups may seem at times, this opportunity is the biggest blessing anyone could ever ask for.

On Thursday night, UMaine opened their 2009 campaign against another Div. II team, St. Cloud State (Minn.). This game was far different.

The Black Bears clawed their way back from being down three different times in the game and held off the scrappy Huskies, prevailing in overtime 34-27 at Alfond Stadium.

The No. 19 Black Bears stand 1-0 after the victory, while St. Cloud State drops to 0-2.

After the Huskies took a 24-20 lead with 8:42 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Black Bears responded with a 13-play drive lasting 6:43, culminating with a 10-yard touchdown run by Derek Session.

With 1:59 left in the game, the UMaine defense could not stop St. Cloud State as they marched down the field and tied the game on a 30-yard field goal with six seconds remaining.

In overtime, the Black Bears received the ball first and scored on a 1-yard run by senior quarterback Mike Brusko.

Unlike late in the fourth quarter, the Black Bear defense was up to the challenge, forcing an incomplete pass on fourth down to end the game.

UMaine’s vaunted running attack was without All-American fullback Jared Turcotte due to a groin injury, but managed to rack up 245 yards. The Huskies out gained the Black Bears in total yards, 362-346.

The Black Bears were led by Brusko, who had 165 total yards (101 passing; 64 rushing) and two touchdowns on the ground.

Session carried the ground game with 22 attempts for 122 yards and a touchdown. Desmond Randall scored the other UMaine touchdown in the first quarter on an 80-yard kickoff return.

Sophomore Jordan Waxman converted two field goals to round out the Black Bears’ scoring, while senior linebacker Brandon McLaughlin had 13 total tackles, including 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.

UMaine begins Colonial Athletic Association play next Saturday when they travel to play conference rival Northeastern University.