ORONO, Maine — With the 24-21 loss to the University of Connecticut in the rearview mirror, the University of Maine football team will look ahead to an even more formidable Football Bowl Division team: Mid-American Conference power Toledo.
The teams will play 7 p.m. Saturday in Toledo, Ohio.
Special teams, with which UMaine had some issues at UConn, will be of special concern against Toledo.
“They have an all-conference punt returner, so we’re going to have to do a good job against him,” first-year UMaine head coach Joe Harasymiak said of Corey Jones, who averaged 10.2 yards per return in 2015.
“We can’t just kick it well. We’re going to have to put it in the right spots,” he added.
The kicking game continues to be a work in progress for the Black Bears.
Sophomore Patrick Leonard from John Bapst High School in Bangor made his debut as the replacement for graduated place-kicker Sean Decloux. He converted all three extra points but missed both of his field-goal attempts, from 37 and 47 yards.
His 37-yarder in the second quarter had plenty of distance but sailed wide right, and his potential go-ahead field goal with 1:48 remaining in regulation was blocked.
It came on a fourth-and-10 situation and the coaching staff decided to go for the field goal rather than try to pick up the first down.
“The 30-yard line was our max for trying a field goal, and the ball was right at the 30,” Harasymiak said. “(Leonard) had been kicking well in practice. We were hoping to go up by three and then hold them the final two minutes, but it was a low kick.”
Redshirt freshman Derek Deoul handled the punting and kickoffs. He averaged 38.2 yards on his five punts and his four kickoffs carried an average of 53 yards. There were no touchbacks and one of his kickoffs carried out of bounds for a penalty.
Punter James DeMartini was serving a one-game suspension for violating the student-athlete code of conduct last spring and will battle Deoul for the job this week, Harasymiak said.
DeMartini averaged 40.7 yards per punt in 2015.
He said having DeMartini back will be a plus, though he will have to earn his spot back.
Deoul will challenge Leonard for the place-kicking job.
“We’ve got to do a better job in the kicking game,” Harasymiak acknowledged. “We will continue to work on it. We’re going to emphasize some things, and we’ll do a better job managing it.
“It’s the hardest thing to simulate in practice … the actual atmosphere for kickers,” Harasymiak said. “And they are first-time starters.”
Injury update: UMaine did not lose anyone due to injuries at UConn and expects to regain the services of starting junior offensive tackle Jamil Demby, who suffered a strained posterior cruciate ligament (knee) nearly a month ago.