Controlling the football is a key to winning games.
And the best way to control the football is by having a dominant offensive line that owns the line of scrimmage, opening holes for the running backs and protecting the quarterback in passing situations.
The offensive line is the strength of the 2026 University of Maine football team that opens its season with a Coastal Athletic Association game at Towson University in Maryland at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Four of the five starters in the line are back and two of the five were chosen to the Phil Steele preseason All-CAA first team in tackles Anthony Iliano, a redshirt junior, and senior Andrew Kocan. They were also selected to the All-CAA preseason team as chosen by the league’s coaches.
Iliano was an All-CAA second teamer a year ago and was a Steele preseason All-American for this season.
Starting guards Noah Stanley, a redshirt sophomore, and redshirt senior Jack Boutaugh also return, although Boutaugh has moved over to take the center position for the departed Nicolas Cruji.
Graduate student Ian Erickson, who was a backup last season, will slide into Boutaugh’s starting right guard spot.
UMaine also has depth in the interior line as graduate student guard Tyler Williams and redshirt-sophomore tackle Liam Reamer were backups last season.
“That’s a great group,” said fifth-year head coach Jordan Stevens. “I think the world of Iliano and Kocan and their leadership. The guys in the line have consistently brought energy to each and every practice or workout. It’s good to have your big guys bringing the most energy each and every day.”
The interior offensive line averages 315.4 pounds per man.
Stevens guided the Black Bears to a 6-6 campaign a year ago with a six-game winning streak following an 0-4 start before losses to CAA champion Rhode Island and arch-rival New Hampshire to close out the campaign.
The Black Bears went 5-3 in conference play.
Both records were his best at UMaine, but this year’s team could better those.
They will have a new starting quarterback in redshirt sophomore Eddie Buehler, and the wide receiver corps is inexperienced. But they do have veteran tight ends in grad student Eli Mahan and redshirt junior Elijah Smalls and an impressive stable of running backs including freshman All-American Rashawn Marshall, redshirt junior Nick Loughlin and sophomore Daniel Batch.
Marshall was the team’s second-leading rusher behind the departed Sincere Baines, averaging 5.3 yards per carry with 684 yards on 128 carries. Redshirt junior Laughlin had 164 yards on 31 carries (5.3 yards per carry) in five games before sustaining a season-ending knee injury.
Sophomore Batch had 11 carries for 65 yards.
Marshall, a Steele All-CAA first team pick, has bulked up to gain more yards after contact.
Smalls had 12 catches for 148 yards and Mahan had three for 14 yards.
Boutaugh was a Steele All-CAA second team pick along with kicker Sam Tremblay, and Mahan was a third teamer.
UMaine likes to throw to its backs, and Marshall was the team’s third-leading receiver with 21 catches for 147 yards. Laughlin had 11 catches for 202 yards and Batch had eight for 57 yards.
Leading wide receivers Scott Woods (55-for-653 yards) and Mo Irefin (34-for-400) have left, so the top returnees are redshirt junior Ty’ee Stephens (9-for-154) and grad student Evan Wallace (4-for-27). Transfers Malik McNeely, who had 24 catches for 331 yards at Virginia Military Institute and Keyon Concepcion from Concord University in West Virginia, where he caught a team-team leading 46 passes for 566 yards and was all-conference, could make an immediate impact.
UMaine should be able to establish an effective running game and control the line of scrimmage against its Football Championship Subdivision opponents, and Buehler is a dual threat quarterback who can extend plays with his legs.
He shouldn’t have to throw the ball 30 times a game, but will need to be accurate to keep opposing defenses honest and prevent them from stacking the box with eight players to try to stop the run.
UMaine has a preseason Steele All-American kicker in Tremblay, who made nine of his 10 field goal attempts and 35 of 36 extra point kicks a year ago.
So the offense should be able to put up plenty of points and control the clock.
There are plenty of question marks on defense, where they return just three players who started the regular season finale at New Hampshire a year ago.
But they do bring back players who saw plenty of snaps even if they weren’t in starting roles.
UMaine lost its top five tacklers, but the team does return seasoned redshirt junior defensive ends Chris Bacon, Ta’Kai Chisolm and co-captain Kye Pressley along with starting redshirt sophomore free safety Jake Kucera and graduate student cornerback Jamaree Gibson.
Linebacker Noah Carpenter and cornerback Brayden Isaiah, both redshirt sophomores, have also seen plenty of action and have been elevated to starting roles.
Gibson and Bacon were chosen to the All-CAA coaches’ preseason team and the Steele All-CAA first team along with Chisolm and Kucera.
Bacon had 35 tackles and four sacks last fall, and Gibson had 34 tackles and five pass breakups, which was tied for first on the team.
Carpenter had 32 tackles, Chisolm had 30 including 4 ½ sacks and Isaiah also had 30 tackles to go with five pass breakups. Kucera had 26 tackles.
The new starting linebackers alongside Carpenter will be junior Sam Oppenheimer, who was involved in nine tackles in nine games, and sophomore Shane Keyes-Wilson, who had 14 tackles in 11 games.
UMass transfer and graduate student Jeremiah McGill, who had 85 career tackles at UMass, will be the strong safety and Central Connecticut State transfer Derek Berlitz, a redshirt senior, and graduate student Bryce Purnell will be the starting tackles.
Purnell had 14 tackles in 12 games in 2025 for UMaine.
“We have got to limit the explosive plays,” said head coach Stevens, referring to big-yardage gainers.
The three defensive ends should put pressure on the opposing quarterbacks and the defense should steadily improve as it gains experience.
Gibson is one of the league’s best corners.
If UMaine’s offensive line controls the football, the Black Bear defense should be fresh, which will be helpful.
Anthony Pecorella will return to punt and averaged 40.5 yards per punt a year ago with 15 inside the opponents’ 20-yard line and five of 50-plus yards. He has 130 career punts between his four years at Maryland and one season at UMaine.
UMaine will have new kick returners with Batch or Stephens returning kickoffs and redshirt sophomore Juelz Russell and freshman Ty Boone returning punts.
Iliano said this is the closest-knit of all the UMaine teams he has played on and that will be valuable in establishing positive team chemistry.
The Towson game, even though it’s the opener, could have huge ramifications since it is a conference contest.
With CAA heavyweights Villanova, Delaware, Richmond and William and Mary departing the conference, the schedule is more favorable.
But UMaine has a daunting task early with four of its first five games on the road including games against Football Bowl Subdivision teams Appalachian State and Boston College.
That magnifies the importance of the Towson game.
A win would give UMaine momentum, and a victory over Elon in its next CAA game on Sept. 26 would mean UMaine would have a 2-0 conference record with four of its last six conference games at home.
And three of them are against teams picked below the Black Bears in the coaches’ preseason poll. The other is the season finale against arch-rival New Hampshire who has a new head coach in Sean Goldrich.
UMaine was chosen seventh in the poll among 13 teams.