The University of Maine’s football team is looking to build on last season’s improvement, which saw the Black Bears win five games after winning a total of four the previous two seasons combined.
The Black Bears should be able to move the ball more effectively this season with Carter Peevy back for his second season as the starting quarterback and a number of quality receivers to throw to even though the top two pass catchers graduated.
There are also some promising new running backs.
But the big question mark will be the defensive line.
All of last year’s starters have graduated or entered the transfer portal and four of them were among the team’s top nine tacklers.
Sophomore nose tackle Jaedin Lee and junior end Chris Bacon did see limited playing time a year ago with Lee appearing in 10 games and Bacon in nine. Both are expected to start Saturday’s opener at Liberty University in Virginia. Redshirt sophomore Elias Sherman, who had 22 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 11 games at Central Missouri last season, will be a tackle and redshirt sophomore Ta’Kai Chisolm will be the other end.
Head coach Jordan Stevens acknowledged that it’s a young defensive line but feels it has good potential.
Senior linebacker and co-captain Latrell Couchman called it a very hard-working unit and said he has confidence in them.
The defensive line will have to put pressure on the quarterback while also being able to limit the effectiveness of the running game.
Opponents averaged 4.9 yards per carry a year ago and that is too much.
Defensive coordinator Umberto Di Meo may have to employ a high-risk defense with a lot of blitzing in the early going while the young line matures.
Senior Couchman, the team’s 10th-leading tackler with 35 last season, and fellow linebacker Christian Thomas, a graduate student whose 63 tackles were third-highest, will anchor the defense.
“They have been really consistent,” said Stevens. “Christian had a great second half last year.”
Thomas was a preseason All-Coastal Athletic Association honorable mention.
Redshirt junior Sherrod Hudson, who has seen action in 22 games in a backup role the past two seasons, will be the other starting linebacker.
Cornerback Jamaree Gibson who had 34 tackles and a team-leading nine pass breakups, and safety Devin Vaught, whose 43 tackles were sixth-most and whose three interceptions tied for the team lead, supply the Black Bears with two quality veterans in the secondary.
Gibson was a preseason All-CAA honorable mention.
Sophomore safety Jake Kucera appeared in seven games a year ago and is ready for a more prominent role and Frostburg State transfer Vincent Nwachi is expected to start at cornerback.
The defense has to limit the number of big plays. That has been a major problem for UMaine in recent years.
The offense should be able to put plenty of points on the board.
Peevy, who transferred from Mercer University in Georgia a year ago, completed 66.6 percent of his passes for 2,422 yards and 18 touchdowns while being picked off just five times. And he played most of the season with a nagging knee injury.
He is healthy now and has also shown the ability to run the ball which will help diversify the offense.
He ran for 324 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2023 to lead Mercer to a Football Championship Subdivision playoff berth.
Stevens said Peevy has also emerged as a leader and is a co-captain.
University of North Carolina Pembroke transfer Sincere Baines, whose 7.59 yards per carry broke the Division II record last season and was the Mountain East Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year, and fellow sophomore Rashawn Marshall have impressed Stevens and they will be running behind a seasoned offensive line.
The offensive line will be one of the team’s strengths with three starters having at least 19 games under their belt in center Nicolas Cruji (26 games), left tackle Andrew Kocan (20 including 9 at Virginia Military Institute) and Jack Boutaugh (19) of Turner as the right guard. Left guard Anthony Iliano and right tackle Tyler Williams each have played 12 games.
Cape Elizabeth’s Nick Laughlin is the leading returning receiver with 22 catches for 186 yards and the Black Bears also have two speedy big-play threats in Trevin Ewing and Mo Irefin, who were tops on the team in yards per reception at 18.2 and 15.89, respectively.
Ewing was a preseason All-CAA kick returner so between him, Irefin and Harvard transfer Scott Woods, the Black Bears have three returners capable of breaking a long return.
The receiving corps has been bolstered by the addition of Woods, who caught 52 passes for 547 yards and was a first team All-Ivy return specialist. He averaged 15.3 yards per punt return.
Declan McKevitt and Fryeburg’s Eli Mahan are experienced tight ends.
Anthony Pecorella is the punter and Sam Tremblay and Joey Bryson are the placekickers. Zach Zoglio is the long snapper.
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UMaine, 5-7 a year ago after a pair of 2-9 seasons in Stevens’ first two seasons at the helm, is capable of improving on that record even with games against Football Bowl Subdivision teams Liberty and Georgia Southern.
Their eight-game CAA schedule is favorable for the Black Bears as it features just one team picked in the top three in the coaches’ preseason poll and that is No. 1 Rhode Island. Number four Stony Brook and number five New Hampshire are the only other teams within the top six and Stony Brook and URI have to play in Orono.
They have three games against teams chosen 11th or lower in the 14-team league.
They also have winnable non-conference games against Stonehill and Merrimack.
UMaine was picked ninth in the preseason poll.
Stevens noted that having both coordinators back in Di Meo and offensive coordinator Mikahael Waters back is a big plus for the Black Bears and the team is more “aligned” than ever.