The University of Maine’s struggling football team will try to end its four-game losing skid on Saturday when Coastal Athletic Association newcomer Sacred Heart ventures to Orono for a 3:30 p.m. contest.
It will be Military Appreciation Day for the Black Bears, who are 1-4 overall and 1-1 in the CAA. Sacred Heart is 1-3 and 1-2, respectively, but is coming off an impressive 20-13 victory over New Hampshire. UMaine will look to rebound from a 43-17 drubbing at the hands of Elon.
The Black Bears will try to provide a consistent performance after a loss that involved yet another inefficient offensive showing, back-to-back blocked punts and a defensive outing that was marred by explosive plays as Elon scored on plays of 57, 55 and 39 yards.
UMaine has played four of its first five games on the road, including Football Bowl Subdivision games at Appalachian State, a 55-3 loss, and Boston College (22-16).
FBS schools have many more resources than Football Championship Subdivision programs like UMaine.
UMaine head coach Jordan Stevens said it is “terrific” to be home and is looking for his team to “play to its identity.”
And he pointed out that his team will have its hands full against a Sacred Heart team that is not only coming off a win over New Hampshire, but it also battled Elon much more competitively than his team, losing 24-21 on a field goal with 1:19 left in its previous game.
“Sacred Heart is well-coached. They are competitive. They stay in games. We are going to have to do a great job controlling their quarterback (Poochie Snyder) and keeping him in check,” Stevens said. “His ability to scramble and get the ball downfield is really impressive.”
Snyder completed 8-of-10 passes for 95 yards and rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown against UNH.
Snyder has completed 67.95 percent of his passes for 558 yards and six touchdowns and has been intercepted just once. He is also the Pioneers’ second-leading rusher with 197 yards on 50 carries behind Chuck Webb’s 237 yards on 63 carries.
Snyder’s completion percentage is 13th best in the FCS and the team’s 179.5 rushing yards per game is second best in the CAA.
Jason Palmieri (17 catches-154 yards) and Dean Hangey (13-for-152) are their top receivers and the defense features linebacker Myles Hamilton (32 tackles, 2 pass breakups) and strong safety Kymari Latney (22 tackles).
Stevens said earlier in the week that he will re-evaluate the quarterback position and, based on the depth chart, Eddie Buehler has kept his starting job despite a 14-for-35 showing against Elon.
Buehler has completed 55.7 percent of his passes for 815 yards and four touchdowns with six interceptions.
One of the few bright spots at Elon was the running game, which churned out a season-best 167 yards on 34 carries behind Rashawn Marshall’s 105 yards on 14 carries.
He now has 281 yards on 64 carries.
Nick Laughlin (19 catches-189 yards) and Evan Wallace (17-for-148) are their top receivers and the defense features linebacker Sam Oppenheimer (49 tackles, 2 interceptions) and strong safety Jeremiah McGill (34 tackles) along with linebacker Noah Carpenter (33 tackles).
Oppenheimer is 13th in the nation among players at the 124 FCS schools with 49 tackles and his 32 tackles are fourth-best.
UMaine is last in the CAA in points per game (14.2) and next-to-last in yards per game (272.6) and rushing yards (94.2).
Sacred Heart is third in the CAA in total defense, allowing 325.5 yards per game.
Elsewhere in Maine
The state’s six Division III football schools are all winless heading into Saturday. They are a combined 0-17 on the season.
Bangor’s Husson University (0-4 and 0-1 in the Conference of New England) will entertain Western New England (2-2, 1-0) in a CNE game at 1 p.m. at the Winkin Sports Complex; Castine’s Maine Maritime Academy (0-3, 0-1 in CNE) will travel to Dudley, Massachusetts to take on Nichols College (1-3, 1-0) at 2 p.m. and the University of New England in Biddeford, 0-4 and 0-1, will host 15th ranked Endicott College (4-0, 1-0) at noon.
Maine Maritime Academy, which restored its football program in 2023 after it had been suspended for COVID-related issues and financial concerns in 2020, is looking to snap a 35-game losing streak.
The three New England Small College Athletic Conference schools will also be in action as 0-2 Bowdoin of Brunswick visits 2-0 Amherst at 1 p.m., Waterville’s Colby College (0-2) will trek to 1-1 Middlebury, also for a 1 p.m. kickoff, and 0-2 Bates will await 1-1 Tufts for a 7 p.m. game in Lewiston.