ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine football team’s offense finally arrived and it did so in dramatic fashion on Saturday afternoon.
UMaine scored 42 first-half points, three more than it had in its first four total games combined, and went on to earn its first victory of the season, 56-28, over Stony Brook of New York at Morse Field in Alfond Stadium.
UMaine snapped a nine-game losing streak dating back to last season. The streak began with a 28-27 loss at Stony Brook.
UMaine is now 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the Coastal Athletic Association.
Stony Brook fell to 0-5 and 0-4, respectively.
Robertson had the best game of his career, completing 25 of 30 passes for 394 yards and five touchdowns.
Junior wide receiver Montigo Moss caught five passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns and graduate student/wide receiver Joe Gillette hauled in four passes for 96 yards and two TDs.
Senior wide receiver Jamie Lamson caught four passes for 65 yards and freshman running back Tristen Kenan grabbed four for 35 yards and ran for a pair of touchdowns.
UMaine’s 9.8 points per game average entering the game left it ranked 116th among 122 Football Championship Subdivision teams.
The Black Bears also racked up 384 yards of offense over the first 30 minutes after averaging 252.5 per game in their first four which ranked them 112th.
They finished with 512 total yards of offense compared with Stony Brook’s 479.
“We had a lot of confidence going into this game because of our week of practice,” said Robertson.
UMaine head coach Jordan Stevens said he was “really proud of the players and the coaches for the effort tonight and it was from the start all the way to the finish. We showed what we’re capable of. That’s a very good Stony Brook team.”
Stony Brook head coach Chuck Priore said he knew Maine was a better team than their record.
“They had a tough schedule, they played through it and they certainly showed up today,” he said.
UMaine’s four losses have come to teams ranked No. 2 (North Dakota State), No. 5 (William and Mary) and No. 17 (Rhode Island) in the recent FCS national poll and to a Football Bowl Subdivision team (Florida International).
Robertson threw four first-half touchdown passes, two to Gillette and two to Moss.
The Black Bears opened up the playbook, using a number of imaginative trick plays and getting a wide variety of people involved in the offense.
The game got off to a good start when sophomore defensive end Xavier Holmes forced a fumble by Stony Brook quarterback Casey Case and also recovered it at the Stony Brook 33 yard line.
Six plays later, Kenan bullied into the end zone from the one-yard line.
“That really sparked us,” said Stevens. “This was our best game of the year in terms of execution. We were in the end zone on offense. We were getting stops on defense in the first half.”
After forcing a three-and-out on the Seawolves’ next possession, UMaine took the ball at its own 20-yard line following a Clayton Taylor punt and marched 80 yards in four plays with Robertson hooking up with Lafayette College (Pa.) transfer Gillette on a 55-yard TD strike.
Stony Brook moved to the UMaine 38-yard line but, on a fourth and two, Jayden Cook was stopped for a one-yard gain by Holmes and it took UMaine just two plays to make it 21-0 as Robertson threw a four-yard pass to Lamson, who evaded a tackle and sprinted for 29 more yards.
On the next play, the Black Bears pulled out a clever reverse and Ewing weaved his way into the end zone from 33 yards out.
The Black Bears capped their 28-point first quarter with a perfectly executed flea flicker, where the quarterback hands the ball off, takes a few steps backwards and has the ball tossed back to him by the ball carrier.
Robertson then floated a 41-yard pass to Moss, who was 15 yards behind the unsuspecting defensive backs and easily coasted into the end zone.
Stony Brook got on the scoreboard early in the second period with its own flea flicker with Case tossing a 47-yard TD pass to a wide open Cook.
UMaine answered just 2:05 later with Robertson teaming up with Gillette for a 34-yard TD pass.
Case threw a 51-yard TD pass to Cal Redman with 2:36 left in the half to make it 35-14 but again the Black Bears answered with a four-play 51-yard drive that was capped by a 27-yard pass from Robertson to Moss.
UMaine sewed up the win by taking the second half kickoff and marching 75 yards on 11 plays with Kenan bursting into the end zone from the two yard line.
“For our offense to come out in the third quarter and go down and score was really good to see,” said Stevens. “And those are all things we’ve been talking about. Those areas of the game where we need to be better focused and we need to get the job done.”
Graduate student Heisey caught a two-yard TD pass from Robertson to extend the lead later in the third period before Case and Cook combined on a 36-yard TD pass late in the period.
Case threw a six-yard TD pass to R.J. Lamarre to cap the scoring in the fourth quarter.
Case completed 23 of 37 passes for 348 yards and four TDs. Cook snared seven for 117 yards including two TDs and Anthony Johnson hauled in five for 88 yards. Stony Brook’s Shakhi Carson was the game’s leading rusher with 59 yards on nine carries.
UMaine freshman linebacker Jabari Odoemenen was the game’s top tackler with nine. Holmes and sophomore linebacker Tyshawn Stewart had five each. Safety Jalen Hoyle’s seven tackles and cornerback JuJu Ganthier’s six paced the Seawolves.
UMaine will travel to Richmond for a 3:30 CAA game next Saturday while Stony Brook travels to Morgan State for a 1 p.m. non-conference game.