The University of Maine football team is one of, if not the only, Football Championship Subdivision team to play two games against Football Bowl Subdivision clubs this season.
Unfortunately for the Black Bears, it has resulted in an 0-2 start, including Saturday night’s 45-3 thrashing at the hands of a perennially strong University of Toledo team that has won 54 of its last 78 football games.
UMaine lost its Sept. 1 opener to the University of Connecticut 24-21.
The good news is, UMaine’s general athletic fund is $700,000 wealthier thanks to the guaranteed money supplied to the school by the FBS institutions.
UMaine received $325,000 for the UConn game and $375,000 from Toledo.
UMaine is in negotiations to play two more FBS teams next fall.
FBS schools are allowed 85 athletic scholarships, which is 22 more than the FCS schools.
UMaine first-year head coach Joe Harasymiak said Toledo was faster and more athletic than UConn.
“The biggest difference between the two schools was the explosiveness of Toledo’s offense. They were very talented,” said Harasymiak, who noted that Toledo had more big-play threats than the Huskies.
Harasymiak said speed is the most noticeable difference between the players at FBS and FCS schools.
“The players are bigger at the FBS schools, but the speed is what really dictates the difference in levels,” said Harasymiak. “The speed haunts you. You can match up with them a bit physically because we have tough kids. But because of their speed, you can’t catch them. When their skilled kids catch the ball in space, they can turn it into an 89-yard touchdown.”
Toledo quarterback Logan Woodside threw four touchdown passes including 64-, 85- and 89-yarders to three different receivers.
Harasymiak also observed that the FBS dynamic can be challenging from a mental standpoint.
“It’s hard because you can play well against a FBS team but not be rewarded with a win like you would against a FCS school,” said Harasymiak.
But Harasymiak thought his team battled hard and played “pretty well in six out of the eight quarters” against UConn and Toledo. Because they played them back-to-back, “we got worn down in the second half of the Toledo game,” he added.
UMaine trailed Toledo only 10-3 until the Rockets scored with 3:29 left in the half and then broke the game open in the second half.
He believes playing two FBS teams had its benefits, despite the challenges.
“Obviously, where we are, it’s something that has to be done from a financial standpoint,” said Harasymiak, who also said it helps in recruiting because players like the challenge of going up against FBS teams.
Future recruits also can watch those games on computer or television so they can become familiar with the Black Bears program. Several live too far away to drive to Orono for a game.
He doesn’t feel the two losses will have an adverse effect on the team’s confidence because, for six quarters, they showed they can go toe-to-toe with teams that “on paper, have more talent than the teams in our league.”
Even so, he said it is important to snap the six-game losing streak, which dates back to last Halloween, as soon as possible.
“You have to make sure that [losing] culture doesn’t seep into our identity … that the players feel comfortable with it. We’re headed in the right direction, but it’s hard when you don’t see the result, which is a win,” said Harasymiak. “We knew these first two games were going to be challenging.”
UMaine has a week off before playing its home opener against sixth-ranked James Madison at noon Saturday, Sept. 24. It also will be the Black Bears’ first Colonial Athletic Association game.
“The bye week is a blessing right now,” said Harasymiak. “I’m glad those two games are behind us.”
Coaches also fear incurring more injuries when taking on bigger, stronger, faster FBS teams. Harasymiak didn’t believe his team suffered any substantial injuries against Toledo.