The University of Maine’s football team got off to a sluggish start for a third straight game on Saturday afternoon, allowing Merrimack College to take a 10-0 lead and a 15-6 halftime advantage.
But the Black Bears, behind graduate student transfer quarterback Carter Peevy and a stellar performance by the defensive unit, stormed back in the second half to outscore Merrimack 20-0 and earn a 26-15 non-conference victory on a rainy day at Duane Stadium in North Andover, Massachusetts.
UMaine improved to 2-2 and has already matched the win total of each of the previous two seasons when the Black Bears went 2-9 both years.
Merrimack fell to 1-3, although two of the losses came at the hands of Football Bowl Subdivision teams the Air Force Academy and UConn.
Merrimack and UMaine are in the Football Championship Subdivision, which has 22 fewer scholarships and fewer resources than the FBS schools.
Mercer University (Ga.) transfer Peevy completed 17 of 26 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns to graduate student tight ends Mason Gilbert (seven yards) and Cooper Heisey (12 yards).
The Black Bear defense, which gave up 632 yards in a 51-22 loss to Monmouth the previous weekend, was stout throughout the game, limiting the Warriors to just 195 yards and one third down conversion in 13 attempts.
Monmouth had gone 11-for-15 on third down.
UMaine finished with 350 yards of offense.
Merrimack’s offense collected only eight first downs and was held to just two field goals as nine Merrimack points came off a fumble return and a safety.
UMaine head coach Jordan Stevens said he and his coaching staff “really challenged” the defense to be better and more physical and “they responded really well.
“They played great,” said Stevens.
And the Black Bears’ second-half rally was triggered by an interception by redshirt junior cornerback Alhaji Kamara, which gave the offense the ball at the Merrimack 29-yard line late in the third period.
The Black Bears moved to the Merrimack-5 and had first-and-goal only to have 15-yard illegal block penalty put it back to the 20.
But Peevy ran for eight yards to the 12 and then threw a pass across the field to Heisey on the left side and the co-captain lunged into the end zone.
Joey Bryson’s extra point made it 15-13 with 4:50 left in the third period.
Bryson, who had missed a 37-yard field goal to close out the half, atoned for his miss early in the fourth quarter when he capped a 10-play, 49-yard drive with a 35-yard field goal that gave the Black Bears a lead they would never relinquish.
Peevy had runs of 12 and nine yards on the drive and threw two passes to senior wide receiver Montigo Moss that covered 28 yards.
The Black Bear defense forced another Merrimack punt a little later in the fourth quarter and the offense strung together a seven-play, 94-yard drive that culminated in a five-yard TD run by redshirt senior Tavion Banks.
Peevy hooked up on completions of 20 and 43 yards to graduate student wide receiver Joe Gillette and completed an 11-yarder to Moss before Banks rattled off a 14-yard run before slicing into the end zone from five yards out with 5:54 remaining to make it 23-15.
The UMaine defense forced another three-and-out for the Warriors, and the Black Bears sewed up the win with 2:06 left when Bryson kicked a 40-yard field goal after a pair of runs by Jaharie Martin produced 16 yards and 13-yard pass from Peevy to Moss and an ensuing 15-yard personal foul contact-to-the-head penalty at Moss’ expense moved the ball down to the Merrimack 23.
“I’m really proud of our guys for how they played,” said Peevy, who noted that the Black Bears made some minor adjustments in the second half, but it was more about the fact “everybody just kept playing. Nobody quit. Nobody gave in.
“We just kept playing ball because the only thing you can do is worry about the next play,” he added. “We could have folded but we kept fighting.”
He said a lot of players made big plays on offense.
“It’s really nice to have guys all around who can catch the ball,” said Peevy, who also credited the offensive line for creating holes for the running banks.
The quarterback lauded the defense, too.
“They played a great game. [The offense] can’t give the ball away and take sacks in the end zone,” said Peevy. “If we hadn’t scored points for [Merrimack], that game was much further apart. We just have to keep getting better.”
Merrimack’s Grant Jackson opened the scoring just 3:05 into the game when he scooped up a Banks fumble and ran 53 yards for a touchdown.
Just 2:43 later, Liam Davis kicked a 40-yard field goal to make it 10-0 after Jermaine Corbett had set it up with a 46-yard run.
The Black Bears got on the board with the touchdown pass from Peevy to Gilbert just 24 seconds into the second quarter after a 38-yard pass from Peevy to Mo Irefin highlighted a 12-play, 80-yard drive.
Davis added another field goal, a 44-yarder, with 9:06 left in the half and Peevy was sacked in the end zone by defensive end Jay Thompson 4:02 later to make it 15-6.
Gillette and Moss pace the UMaine receiving corps with four catches apiece for 86 and 52 yards, respectively. Banks was the leading rusher with 62 yards on 13 carries and Martin had 13 for 36. Peevy had 15 carries for 28 yards.
Linebacker Kesean Dyson paced the UMaine defense with a game-high 10 tackles. He also had a sack. Tackle Izaiah Henderson had six tackles and ends Xavier Holmes and Jacob Tuioasosopo had five apiece.
Justin Lewis completed 8 of 13 passes for 62 yards after replacing former UMaine quarterback Ayden Pereira, who was ineffective. Pereira did come back late in the game and finished with five completions on 12 passes for 30 yards.
Corbett ran for a game-high 80 yards on 15 carries although 46 came on one run. Jared Dunn, Corbett and Myles Wilson each had three catches.
Thompson’s eight tackles and linebacker D.J. Frazier’s seven led the Warrior defense and Paris Lenon had two sacks.
UMaine will return to Coastal Athletic Association action with a 3:30 p.m. Sept. 28 game at Albany.
Merrimack hosts Dartmouth College from the Ivy League at 1 p.m. Sept. 28.