ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine desperately needed a victory on homecoming to remain in the hunt for a Football Championship Subdivision playoff berth.
And the Black Bears took care of business against a University at Albany team that is winless in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Sophomore quarterback Chris Ferguson threw a 77-yard touchdown pass to Earnest Edwards on the game’s first play from scrimmage, and Ferguson also ran for a score to lead 24th-ranked UMaine to a 28-9 victory at snowy Morse Field on Saturday afternoon.
UMaine (5-3) improved to 4-1 in the CAA, while Albany fell to 2-6 and 0-5, respectively.
UMaine is in a first-place tie with Delaware, James Madison and Towson, the latter of which is the Black Bears’ opponent next Saturday in Maryland.
“It was a great team win and will enable us to have a meaningful November,” said UMaine head coach Joe Harasymiak.
The Black Bear defense turned in a superb performance, holding the Great Danes to just 113 total yards and only three successful third-down conversions in 17 attempts.
“The last few games, we haven’t had our best games in the secondary so we wanted to come out and play with confidence against one of the top offenses in the conference and make a statement,” said senior free safety Darrius Hart, who was in on seven tackles and made an interception.
Albany had averaged 386 yards including 268.9 passing yards, although starting redshirt senior quarterback Vince Testaverde suffered a leg injury on the first play of the second quarter when he was sacked by defensive end Kayon Whitaker and linebacker Sterling Sheffield and didn’t return.
He is the son of the former National Football League quarterback of the same name.
“Every time we come out, we’re focused on stopping the run and putting them in third-and-long,” said junior Whitaker, who was involved in seven tackles and had a game-high 2.5 sacks. “We want to make big plays, get the ball, get sacks and interceptions and do whatever we can to help the offense.”
“They’re one of the better defenses we’ve faced,” said Albany sophomore running back Karl Mofor (12 carries, 68 yards).
Old Town native Andre Miller, a Husson University transfer, hauled in his first three catches in a UMaine uniform for 64 yards and all three helped set up two scores. Miller was helping fill the void left by injured senior wide receiver Micah Wright (ankle).
“It was great to get out there. We have something special here and it’s great to be a part of it,” said Miller, a sophomore wide receiver.
“I’ve seen Andre progress from (training) camp to now,” said Ferguson. “He has good hands and he’s a really good route-runner. To see him come in and step up and make those plays when we needed them is huge.”
UMaine made it 14-0 on its third possession of the game as Miller’s 15-yard back-shoulder reception near the right pylon was immediately followed by Ferguson’s 1-yard quarterback sneak with 4:34 left in the first period.
Redshirt freshman running back Ramon Jefferson (19 carries, 93 yards) capped the first-half scoring with 1:09 remaining in the half when he scampered six yards for a TD. He gained 35 yards on seven carries during the drive.
“The guys up front said ‘just do your part’ so I trusted them, I followed behind them, hit the gaps when they opened up and lowered my shoulder to get as many yards as I could,” said Jefferson.
Ethan Stark’s 38-yard field goal and Jerah Reeves’ 14-yard TD reception from third-string quarterback Jeff Undercuffler cut UMaine’s lead to 21-9 with 11:59 left in the game.
Backup quarterback Will Brunson got hurt in the second half.
UMaine sewed up the win with an eight-play, 70-yard drive.
A terrific one-handed catch by Miller went for 33 yards and he added a 16-yard reception later in the drive which culminated in a 5-yard TD pass from Drew Belcher to Julian Dunn with 7:55 left in the game.
Belcher had taken a pitchout from Ferguson and Dunn was open in the right side of the end zone.
UMaine held the Great Danes to seven total yards in the first half and registered three sacks.
It took the Black Bears only 19 seconds to forge a lead they would never relinquish. The speedy Edwards circled out of the backfield into the middle of the field and Ferguson hit him in stride.
“Every game, they come out in the same coverage. Coach Nick (offensive coordinator Nick Charlton) and I talked about calling it the other day,” said Ferguson. “Earnest just had to beat one guy, the ’backer, so I put it on him and let him run.”
“It was a mismatch. We lined up incorrectly,” said Albany redshirt senior defensive end Brian Dolce.
Ferguson completed 21 of 30 passes for 244 yards. He was intercepted once. Edwards made six catches for 114 yards and Jaquan Blair had five for 37.
Linebacker Deshawn Stevens registered eight tackles and a sack before being ejected from the game for targeting in the second half. Targeting is hitting a defenseless opponent above the shoulders or using the crown of the helmet.
Sheffield posted six tackles and a sack.
Albany’s three quarterbacks combined for a 10-for-30 showing for 62 yards. Reeves made three catches for 36 yards. The Great Danes received nine tackles apiece from Neven Sussman, A.J. Mistler and Levi Metheny.