ORONO, Maine — Drew Belcher’s performance in Saturday’s 23-10 Colonial Athletic Association football victory over Stony Brook was just what the University of Maine football team needed.
The rugged sophomore from Reading, Massachusetts, led the Black Bears in rushing (25 carries, 65 yards, 1 touchdown) and went 11-for-16 through the air for 109 yards.
“He’s a quarterback but he’s a football player, too,” UMaine head coach Jack Cosgrove said. “He’s a tough kid.”
That doesn’t mean there is any sort of shakeup planned at quarterback.
When asked whether UMaine (3-4 overall, 3-1 CAA) would continue to use both quarterbacks moving forward, Cosgrove on Monday said, “yeah, you can probably assume that.”
Junior Dan Collins, who has started all seven games this season, had a tough outing. He played only two series and was 1-for-3 passing for 18 yards with a sack and two near interceptions.
That opened the door for Belcher, who helped the Black Bears overcome a 10-3 halftime deficit by leading with a scheme that relied heavily on the run, with him as the primary ball carrier.
“Some of them obviously were QB runs. Others [were] pressures, scrambles and decisions,” Cosgrove said. “We got him on the edge with our naked game and our sprintout game and he chose to tuck the ball a couple times. He’s just a good decision-maker in those instances.”
Cosgrove said Belcher’s particular quarterbacking style was well-suited to beating Stony Brook. And he has continued to show gains while playing a complementary role.
“His overall quarterback game has improved tremendously before our eyes since the start of the season,” said Cosgrove, who also praised Belcher’s calmness.
In preparing for another key Colonial Athletic Association game at Villanova on Saturday night, both Belcher and Collins are expected to be part of the game plan.
“They’re very close ability-wise and they bring strengths to our offense,” Cosgrove said.
“It’s probably been hard on both of them to not really be the guy, but they both can be the guy and help us win and that’s what this is about,” he added.
New kids on the block
UMaine continues to receive contributions from several freshmen and other first-year performers.
On Saturday, that group included sophomore tight end Jason Simonovich, redshirt freshmen Jeffrey DeVaughn (safety) and Andrew Stevens (defensive tackle) and freshmen Julian Dunn (H-back), Sterling Sheffield (linebacker), Joshua Huffman (safety), John Kay (snapper) and Joe Fitzpatrick (tailback).
No fewer than 15 Black Bears missed Saturday’s game due to injuries.
Simonovich was a key in UMaine’s blocking scheme and made two catches, including a nifty leaping grab of a Belcher pass for 41 yards.
“That was probably one of the really uplifting parts of the game to me because he’s still a ways away from what we envision him being as our top tight end,” Cosgrove said. “But playing against Stony Brook, another hard football team to play against, he did a nice job.”