When the University of Maine’s football team failed to convert on four downs at the Merrimack College one-yard line following a Chris Bacon interception and 22-yard return in the first quarter of Saturday night’s home opener at Morse Field in Alfond Stadium, the handwriting was on the wall.
The Black Bears had a golden opportunity to take a 7-0 lead and gain momentum but failed to get any points when two rushes and two fumbled snaps by first-year starting quarterback Eddie Buehler turned the ball over to the Warriors. The last fumble was on fourth down and was recovered by Merrimack’s Bryce Ricks.
Merrimack, which had won just five of its previous 17 games entering the contest, went on to post a 23-14 victory.
With a veteran offensive line that was considered to be a strength of the team but certainly hasn’t lived up to that label, and two experienced running backs, the Black Bears should have been able to punch the ball into the end zone even with the Warriors stacking the box.
There’s no excuse for that.
That was a microcosm of the season to date and creates serious concern going forward.
The offense has been inept, and the statistics bear it out.
After scoring three touchdowns in the second quarter of the 21-18 victory at Towson in its season opener, UMaine, now 1-2, has managed only one touchdown and three field goals in 29 possessions over the last 10 quarters.
UMaine lost to Football Bowl Subdivision team Appalachian State 55-3 in between the Towson and Merrimack games.
After three games, the Black Bears find themselves at the wrong end of the Football Championship Subdivision’s offensive statistics.
UMaine’s 12.7 points per game is 107th among 116 FCS schools, its 78.3 rushing yards per game is 104th and its 259.3 yards per contest is 103rd.
Its 42 first downs is tied for 98th and 29.3 percent third down conversion rate is tied for 94th. The Black Bears’ 1-for-12 showing vs. Merrimack was a healthy contributor to its third down inefficiency.
UMaine is averaging just 2.55 yards per rush.
Saturday’s game was a head-scratcher, but you have to give full credit to a gritty Merrimack team that overcame three turnovers and 12 penalties to carve out the win.
UMaine had a grand total of 34 yards on 29 plays in the first half and mustered first downs on just two of its eight possessions.
The UMaine defense was keeping the Black Bears in the game, making two interceptions and forcing three fumbles, recovering one. The defense yielded just one touchdown in the contest as the first two Merrimack touchdowns came on a blocked punt return and an interception return.
But when the Black Bears finally strung together a drive capped by Rashawn Marshall’s seven-yard touchdown run and a trick play that produced a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 14-11 in the third quarter, the defense couldn’t get the stop when it needed it the most.
The Warriors answered with a game-deciding six-play, 59-yard touchdown drive. All six plays were runs and there was also a 15-yard personal foul penalty on UMaine.
“We have to do a better job of tackling in space and get the ball carrier down,” said UMaine head coach Jordan Stevens who was overall pleased with his defense, particularly his defensive line.
The game ended appropriately when UMaine’s Nick Laughlln was tackled in the end zone for a safety with two minutes left. You don’t often see a safety when a running play starts at the five-yard line, but it was a pitchout designed to go around the left end and Merrimack snuffed it out.
The loss to Merrimack puts the Black Bears in a bind when it comes to the FCS playoff picture.
UMaine has another game with a FBS school, Boston College, at 2 p.m. Saturday. UMaine is 4-26 against FBS schools all-time, so they will be heavy underdogs and looking at a 1-3 start with a loss.
The following week, the Black Bears go to Elon in North Carolina to begin their final seven-game stretch against Coastal Athletic Association opponents. They are 1-0 in the CAA with the Towson game being their lone conference game so far.
A loss to Elon would force them to win all of their final six conference games to even be considered for a playoff spot.
Stevens acknowledged during Monday’s weekly CAA coaches conference call that the offense needs to begin producing.
“We have to do a better job of coaching and executing. All of those things are being addressed,” said Stevens. “We have to develop an identity on that side of the football.”
He feels both running backs, Laughlin, who is coming off knee surgery, and Marshall are getting better as the season progresses.
“We have to do more to help our quarterback (Buehler) as well in terms of the run game and keeping pass rushers off of him. We’ve done an excellent job in terms of sacks but there were a number of times this past weekend where there were too many guys (defenders) around him.”
UMaine has allowed only five sacks in three games.
Buehler was intercepted twice by the Warriors including the pick-six by DeAndre Ricks and both were poor throws.
He did throw a touchdown pass but it was negated by a penalty. And there were a handful of drops, also.
So far, Buehler has completed 47 of 84 passes (56%) for 527 yards with two TDs and four interceptions.
Stevens said Buehler will remain the starter with Caden Drezek and Michael McMaugh backing him up. McMaugh occasionally comes in to run the ball out of the quarterback wildcat position but Drezek has yet to see any action.
Drezek is in his fourth year at UMaine and appeared in two games last year.
It’s perplexing that Drezek hasn’t played because UMaine trailed 31-0 at halftime at Appalachian State and had the abysmal offensive first half vs. Merrimack even though the Black Bears trailed only 7-3.
But since Buehler is a first-year starter and is clearly regarded as the best of the three, maybe Stevens wants to give him as much experience as possible regardless of the score.
And you don’t know if there are things going on behind the scenes because coaches aren’t required to relay any specific information to the media on why a particular player isn’t playing.
If there is a silver lining, it’s that UMaine started 0-4 a year ago and went on a six-game winning streak to get into the playoff conversation before losing to Rhode Island and New Hampshire.
But Saturday’s performance leaves one wondering if that is possible.