ORONO, Maine — After opening the season with losses to two Football Bowl Subdivision opponents, the University of Maine desperately needed a boost of confidence boost (ie, a victory).
The Black Bears got what they were looking for on Saturday afternoon.
UMaine exhibited an effective pass-run blend and connected on some “chunk” plays early in the game, laying the foundation for a 27-17 Colonial Athletic Association win over Rhode Island on Morse Field at Alfond Stadium.
“Obviously, that’s our goal every week to win, so it certainly feels a lot better than it has the last two weekends,” said UMaine head coach Jack Cosgrove.
An announced crowd of 7,535 turned out on a brilliant fall day as the Black Bears (1-2, 1-0 CAA) turned in a strong defensive performance and exhibited ig-play capabilities on the offensive end.
“It’s great seeing everybody out here supporting us,” said UMaine junior quarterback Dan Collins. “We worked all summer thinking about having the first home game after the two big (FBS) games and having everybody out there excited for us and see us play.”
Collins completed 14 of 25 passes for 211 yards and redshirt freshman wide receiver Micah Wright caught 7 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown to spark the offense. Sophomore tailback Nigel Beckford netted 91 yards on 17 carries and got into the end zone twice.
Redshirt freshman tailback Darian Davis-Ray also gained 74 yards on 12 carries, but left the game with an apparent right ankle injury in the fourth quarter.
UMaine amassed 472 yards of total offense and the defense held Rhode Island (0-4, 0-2 CAA) to 232 net yards, including minus-6 yards on the ground.
The Black Bears surrendered several long pass plays, but received a hard-charging effort from the defensive line to keep URI quarterback Paul Mroz (17-for-39 passing, 234 yards, 2 interceptions) on the run.
Noseguard Pat Ricard spearheaded the UMaine defense with nine tackles, including 1½ sacks, while end Mike Kozlakowski logged seven tackles and 1½ sacks. Senior cornerback Sherrod Baltimore came up with two first-half interceptions.
“I think we played OK. I’m definitely not satisfied,” Baltimore said. “We’re going to all look to get better.”
That sentiment likely originated with Cosgrove, who spoke frankly about a performance that left plenty of room for improvement and reflection.
The Bears were plagued by penalties (14 for 118 yards) and muddled through a lackluster second half on both sides of the ball.
“That was disappointing that we couldn’t finish the game the way we started on that (defensive) side of the ball,” Cosgrove said.
“I think we set a Guinness Book of World Records for penalties,” he added. “That’s sitting in my stomach pretty hard right now.”
UMaine overcame its shortcomings by virtue of a dominating first half. The hosts built a comfortable 17-3 that would have been larger Sean Decloux not uncharacteristically missed two field goals.
UMaine amassed 295 yards of offense in the first 30 minutes, including 186 yards and a touchdown through the air.
Wright was the offensive catalyst, but Collins was steady and backup QB Drew Belcher threw a touchdown pass. The Bears also cranked out 109 yards on the ground.
Baltimore spearheaded the defense with his interceptions, the second of which set up a touchdown.
UMaine afforded Rhode Island only 67 yards on 27 plays, limiting the Rams to three rushing yards on 16 attempts.
Baltimore’s first interception led to a promising drive by UMaine, which stalled out at the URI 8. Decloux pulled a 25-yard field-goal try wide left.
Rhode Island responded by marching down the field, keyed by a 33-yard strike from Mroz to Khayri Denny. The Rams settled for Justin Rohrwasser’s 30-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead at 3:21 of the period.
UMaine then took charge during a span of 47 seconds.
The Bears needed three plays to take the upper hand. Belcher came on for his first snap and faked a run to the right. He pulled up to throw and lofted a ball to Wright, who leapt over URI safety Tim Wienclaw for the catch, kept his feet and made it into the end zone.
Decloux’s PAT made it 7-3 at 1:56 of the first quarter.
“Drew threw up the ball for me to go up and get it and I made the play,” Wright said.
Baltimore intercepted Mroz for the second time on URI’s next play. After a 16-yard pass from Collins to Jordan Dunn, Beckford burst through the middle for a 21-yard scoring jaunt that pushed the advantage to 14-3.
Decloux missed left on a 43-yard field goal attempt on UMaine’s next possession, but another defensive stop gave the Bears another opportunity. They moved to the 25 before Decloux connected on a 43-yard field goal that gave UMaine a 17-3 lead with 4:15 to play in the half.
“Sherrod got us going, then we had a really productive rest of the half,” Cosgrove said.
The Bears pushed the lead to 24-3 midway through the third quarter after a defensive stand, a punt and a 15-yard penalty put them at the URI 39. On the third play, Beckford followed a big hole off right tackle, shook off a hit, then ran over a defender at the 5 on his way to a 28-yard scoring run.
“”I’m a physical running back, so if someone’s in my way, it doesn’t matter to me,” Beckford said. “I saw the end zone.”
The Rams responded with a touchdown drive of their own, going 78 yards on nine plays. T.J. Anderson’s 1-yard plunge capped it, which left URI trailing 24-10.
UMaine got some of those points back early in the fourth quarter on Decloux’s 23-yard field goal, but Rhode Island went right back on the attack and, aided by three penalties, covered 74 yards on 10 plays, including Mroz’s 3-yard scoring keeper.
The PAT cut UMaine’s lead to 27-17 with 9:54 remaining, but the Rams were unable to get any closer.
“It was pretty much backyard football at the end of the game, (URI) throwing the ball up in the air and making plays,” Cosgrove said.
UMaine heads back on the road for the next two weeks, starting with Saturday’s contest at Richmond.