ORONO, Maine — It has been a frustrating season thus far for the University of Maine football team.
That is especially true for the offense, which managed only one touchdown in Saturday’s 20-7 Colonial Athletic Association loss to Albany at Alfond Stadium.
Coach Jack Cosgrove’s Black Bears (2-5, 1-3 CAA) have scored 10 points or less in five of their seven games.
Even so, the continued strong play of the defense kept UMaine close.
“I think we had an opportunity to win the football game throughout,” Cosgrove said.
“I thought we battled them for four quarters. I kept feeling as though we would get that [tying] score,” he added, pointing out that UMaine’s two fumbles led to 10 Albany points.
The rebuilding process from last season’s potent attack to this year’s less experienced and physically battered unit again was evident against the Great Danes.
Freshman quarterback Drew Belcher made his first collegiate start on Saturday and exhibited some ups and downs that might be expected with a first-year player.
He completed 13 of 30 passes for 123 yards, including a touchdown toss to Art Williams in the first quarter. He also was sacked five times and often was under pressure when throwing.
Belcher carried 13 times for 22 yards and fumbled once, which resulted in an Albany return for a touchdown.
“I think there were some good things and there were some things that we’ve got to help him get better at,” Cosgrove said during Monday’s CAA teleconference.
He made it a point to spread out the responsibility for the offense’s lackluster performance, including citing the coaching staff.
“I think there was some indecision at times and obviously that’s something that we’ve got to help him with coaching-wise, simplify some things to just make it easier on him,” he said.
One thing that might accelerate Belcher’s growth and efficiency would be to improve the ground game. Going into the Albany contest, only Columbia (45.8) averaged fewer rushing yards per game than UMaine’s 75.6 ypg among 121 teams in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Despite being without starting guards Chase Hoyt and Dan Carriker because of injuries, UMaine showed some signs of growth running the ball.
The Black Bears gained a season-high 169 rushing yards behind freshman tailback Nigel Beckford, who picked up 75 yards on 10 carries in the most productive effort this season by a UMaine tailback.
Beckford stepped in as the No. 1 tailback after junior Nigel Jones suffered an upper-body injury in the Towson game last month.
“He did some nice things running the football,” Cosgrove said of Beckford. “He’s a young guy that we have high hopes for.”
Even so, the Black Bears made a concerted effort to spread the ball around in the backfield. Junior Isaiah Jones (9 carries, 48 yards) and redshirt freshman Jerickson Fedrick (6-21) also were in the mix.
“Nigel [Jones] is done for a while and we just felt like we would kind of involve all three of them in different roles,” Cosgrove said.
“We ran the football better than we had been and at times executed in the passing game, but at times we seemed indecisive, so that goes back really to coaching better and doing some things better with a young player like that to help him play with more confidence,” he added.
Injuries hamper Bears
Even though neither Cosgrove nor any of the Black Bears are using them as an excuse, injuries continue to hamper the team’s overall effectiveness.
On Saturday, eight players who began the year as starters at their respective positions were standing on the sidelines, unable to contribute.
That group included sophomore quarterback Dan Collins, junior tailback Nigel Jones, guards Hoyt and Carriker, sophomore wide receiver Jordan Dann and sophomore tight end Sean Reuss on offense. Backups who were out included freshman wideout Micah Wright.
On the defensive side, junior linebacker Randy Samuels and junior end Mike Kozlakowsi were sidelined.