On Saturday, Sept. 19, the University of Maine football team traveled to Massachusetts to take on Boston College. Boston has been a good team this year and scored an upset win over Rutgers University just last week.
This was a major opportunity for the Black Bears and the final chance at a Football Bowl Subdivision win for the season. A victory today would solidify their reputation atop the Football Championship Subdivision schools.
Before kick off, Boston College (BC) was heavily favoured to win this game, with sportsbooks setting their projected win margin at 38 points.
The Maine defense clearly did not agree with those predictions and came out of the gate strong, forcing BC to turn the ball over on downs at the end of its opening drive. This would be the key to keeping the game in control, and giving third-year quarterback Eddie Buehler a shot to lead the Black Bears to a win.
The Eagles would come back quickly on the next drive, and in just three plays and under two minutes of game time, third-year redshirt running back Evan Dickens cashed in the Eagles first score. Second-year redshirt wide receiver Johnathan Montague Jr. followed shortly after with a 31-yard receiving touchdown. The Eagles also tacked on a safety to extend their lead to 16-0 after just one quarter of play.
Then, the Black Bears came alive. The second quarter was dominated by UMaine, who showed resilience against a power conference opponent.
The surge was highlighted by graduate student and defensive back Jamaree Gibson, who picked off the BC air-attack to place Maine in prime position to get on the board.
Maine would knock in a field goal, as well as a five-yard passing touchdown later in the quarter to third-year redshirt running back Nick Laughlin, which closes the gap to 19-10.
At halftime, the focus in the locker room emphasized holding strong on defense and continuing to let Buehler move the ball through the air, a gameplan that had given them a fighting chance. The second half kicked off and Maine was on a mission to make a statement to the rest of the country, go beat Boston.
To kick off, the Black Bear defense delivered. The unit held BC to just three points in the third quarter and gave the offense a real shot to make some noise. Unfortunately, the offense fell flat in the third, scoring zero points and watching the scoreboard turn to 22-10.
But that was not the impression our team wanted to leave in Boston. In the final quarter, Maine fought down the field on an 11 play, 80–yard drive, and placed themselves in scoring position with about half a quarter left to play.
With that opportunity, Buehler connected with Laughlin once again for their second score through the air this game, and moved Maine within one score and a real chance to score an upset.
From there on, it was all defense and BC was able to barely hold on to defeat Maine 22-17. It was a great effort from the Black Bears, who showed promise for the season to come and multiple positives on the box score.
This marked the second game this season where Buehler has thrown for multiple touchdowns, while also reaching his career-high in passing yards with 201.
Laughlin also scored twice this game, and is set to lead the Maine backfield for the rest of the year.
The Black Bears return to action next Saturday, Sept. 26, when they travel to Elon University for their second Coastal Athletic Association game this season.
