Wide receiver Jamie Lamson, who had a breakout season last fall when he led the University of Maine in receptions with 49, will return to the lineup for Saturday’s 1 p.m. Coastal Athletic Association game at Delaware after missing the last three games due to a hamstring injury.
Graduate student Lamson had five catches for 29 yards in UMaine’s first two games. He is one of three Black Bear players expected to return to action against the Blue Hens.
In addition to leading the team in catches, Lamson was also tops in touchdown receptions with six. He had 552 receiving yards.
“He will be back in some sort of role, which is great,” said UMaine head coach Jordan Stevens. “He is a leader within the wide receiver group and on the team.”
Lamson entered last season with two career catches for 19 yards. He was used primarily on special teams.
Stevens also said strong safety Devin Vaught will be back after missing the Albany game with an upper body injury and that free safety Shakur Smalls will also return after sustaining an upper body injury against Albany and leaving the game.
Senior Smalls is the team’s third-leading tackler with 23 and he also has two pass breakups.
Vaught, a redshirt freshman, has been involved in 10 tackles and has an interception.
“I’m looking forward to having them all back,” said Stevens.
The Black Bears didn’t play last weekend after winning consecutive road games at Merrimack (26-15) and Albany (34-20) to run their overall record to 3-2 and their CAA record to 1-1.
UMaine went 2-9 in each of the two previous seasons.
Delaware is 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference and is coming off a 42-35 win at Monmouth.
The Blue Hens aren’t ranked nationally because they are transitioning from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision next season.
They will be joining Conference USA with teams like Liberty, Western Kentucky and Sam Houston State.
And since they have been able to increase their number of scholarships over the maximum of 63 allowed in the FCS, they are ineligible for postseason play.
FBS schools are allowed a maximum of 85 scholarships.
Stevens said the bye weekend was something his team needed after playing two road games and having another on the horizon at Delaware.
“We had a couple of objectives within the week. Obviously rest, getting recovered and getting a couple guys back healthy,” said Stevens. “We had three really good practices last week and we were able to get back to some of the basic fundamentals and get going on preparing for our next opponent: Delaware.
“We took advantage of that time that we had and it was really helpful for us,” he added.
Delaware head coach Ryan Carty said UMaine coming off a bye is an advantage for the Black Bears.
“The biggest issue for the Hens is the preparation time. You can get things done when you have the bye week whether it be from a self-scout perspective, the rest and recovery perspective or getting some banged-up guys back,” said Carty. “They get an extra seven days to watch us and make sure they are minding their details against us.”
Carty is very familiar with UMaine as he was a quarterback at Delaware and spent 11 years as an assistant coach at New Hampshire.
“Maine is always a tough team to win against. Coach Stevens is doing the same thing they’ve always done: get guys who play real hard, who are tough, sound and physical and make sure they compete in every game just like the rest of the CAA,” said Carty. “Right now, I see a 3-2 team that is coming off a bye and a big win over a ranked opponent (Albany) on the road. So they obviously aren’t afraid of a hostile environment.”
Stevens is fully aware of Delaware’s talent.
The Blue Hens are not only the fifth-highest scoring team among 123 FCS schools (42 points per game) and No. 8 in yards gained per game (470.6), their rushing defense is ninth-best (93.8 yards-per-game allowed) and their overall defense (315.6 ypg) is good for 20th.
Running back Marcus Yarns was an All-American last year.
“I’m really impressed with their overall production on both sides of the ball and their ability to play together and go out and execute a game plan,” said Stevens.
He said his defense is going to have to do a “great job swarming and getting around their guys, especially with how well their offensive line has been playing.”
The Black Bear offense has become diversified in their last two wins.
Transfer quarterback Carter Peevy found nine different receivers for receptions against Albany after hooking up with 10 against Merrimack. Five caught at least two passes vs. Albany and four had two or more vs. Merrimack.
The Black Bears also rushed for 135 yards against Albany and 112 vs. Merrimack.
“At the end of the game against Albany, our players made plays. Even within some of those plays, we didn’t execute to a high level. That’s been our biggest thing. Being able to execute better and play as 11 together on each side of the ball. That level of execution we know we’re going to need when we’re going to play a team like Delaware,” said Stevens.