Moving on - TO MAINE

[danefan]

OK, enough already. Danes got their butts handed to them by UMass - probably the worst loss we've suffered since the 2005 loss at UMass (another turnover plagued game).

 

Like I'm sure Coach Ford has said to the team - its time to move on!

 

Maine comes in 2-0 having beaten St. Cloud St (DII) and Northeastern.

 

St. Cloud St. game recap:

Maine - 34

SCSU - 27

Final (OT)

 

Yes, it took Maine OT to beat an average DII team, but it was week 1 and you never know whether those results are all that accurate.

 

Stats

                                    SCSU    MAINE
FIRST DOWNS...................       25       22
 Rushing.....................        8       16
 Passing.....................       15        6
 Penalty.....................        2        0
NET YARDS RUSHING.............      140      253
 Rushing Attempts............       39       53
 Average Per Rush............      3.6      4.8
 Rushing Touchdowns..........        2        3
 Yards Gained Rushing........      174      287
 Yards Lost Rushing..........       34       34
NET YARDS PASSING.............      222      101
 Completions-Attempts-Int....  22-36-0   9-13-1
 Average Per Attempt.........      6.2      7.8
 Average Per Completion......     10.1     11.2
 Passing Touchdowns..........        1        0
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS...........      362      354
 Total offense plays.........       75       66
 Average Gain Per Play.......      4.8      5.4
Fumbles: Number-Lost..........      1-1      3-1
Penalties: Number-Yards.......     3-34     5-51
PUNTS-YARDS...................    3-115     3-95
 Average Yards Per Punt......     38.3     31.7
 Net Yards Per Punt..........     37.3     25.0
 Inside 20...................        0        1
 50+ Yards...................        0        0
 Touchbacks..................        0        1
 Fair catch..................        0        0
KICKOFFS-YARDS................    6-347    5-309
 Average Yards Per Kickoff...     57.8     61.8
 Net Yards Per Kickoff.......     30.0     40.4
 Touchbacks..................        1        0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD.    1-0-0    3-3-0
 Average Per Return..........      0.0      1.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD  5-107-0  5-147-1
 Average Per Return..........     21.4     29.4
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD..    1-0-0    0-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD.    0-0-0    0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards...........        0        0
Possession Time...............    31:13    28:47
 1st Quarter.................    12:13     2:47
 2nd Quarter.................     6:29     8:31
 3rd Quarter.................     7:36     7:24
 4th Quarter.................     4:55    10:05
 OT  Quarter.................     0:00     0:00
Third-Down Conversions........  7 of 15  6 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   1 of 3   1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      5-5      4-5
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     3-19     2-23
PAT Kicks.....................      3-3      4-4
Field Goals...................      2-2      2-2

 

Maine's QB (Brusko) ran the ball 22 times in the SCSU game (as many carries as the RB) and gained 86 yards on the ground. He was only 9-13 passing for 101 yards and got sacked 3 times.

 

Northeastern Game Recap:

Maine - 17

Northeastern - 7

 

 

BROOKLINE, Mass. -- Derek Session ran for 114 yards and a touchdown and Warren Smith passed for a score to lead Maine to a 17-7 win over Northeastern on Saturday.

 

Session, who finished with 20 carries, scored on a 1-yard run to put the Black Bears (2-0, 1-0 Colonial Athletic Association) ahead 10-7 in the second quarter. Maine added another touchdown when Smith connected with Landis Williams on a 47-yard play.

 

Trevor Coston had a fantastic day for the defense, grabbing two interceptions to stop Northeastern drives while Kris Enslen and Jordan Stevens each notched two sacks.

 

 

Smith completed 10 of 13 passes for 145 yards and one interception. Williams caught six passes for 73 yards, while Desmond Randall had five catches for 64 yards.

 

Matt Carroll was 15 of 24 for 112 yards, two interceptions and was sacked four times for the Huskies (0-2, 0-1). John Griffin led Northeastern with 85 yards rushing on 18 carries, while Carroll added 56 yards on the ground on 17 attempts.

 

 

Stats

http://goblackbears....rtheastern.html

Sorry - I couldn't format them.

 

Different QB this time. Smith 10-13 for 145 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Brusko also threw 5 passes for 11 yards. Brusco appears to be the running QB - 12 carries for 45 yards.

 

Session is their go to RB and has 100+ yards in the first two games.

 

--------------

 

Should be an interesting matchup. Maine was a playoff team last year, but seems to be down a little this year. I don't think they'll be nearly as good as UMass was but they are in the best FCS conference in the country and played a lot of teams tough last year. They are a veteran team and will definitely be coming to UA looking for a blowout win after seeing the UMass score.

 

I'll be there parked in RACC lot at 12pm tailgating. Hopefully the weather is nice, McCarty is physically healed, Esposito is mentally healed and A Smith gets to throw some passes. Go Danes!

[Clickclack]

I'll be there...my first game of the year....also considering taking my little boy to his first UA game of any kind.

[danefan]

Maine comes in ranked 18th in the AGS poll. I expect them to be somewhere close in the Coaches and TSN poll as well.

 

However, IMO, these polls are still ranking Maine because of what they did last year - not what they have this year.

[danefan]

Maine is 20th in the TSN poll - which has us still in the OVR category...so take it for what its worth because we are nowhere near a top 25 team right now.

[danefan]

Maine Coach Jack Cosgrove's weekly press conference:

 

http://www.nmnathlet...?DB_OEM_ID=8500

 

 

Says turnovers are a problem.

 

Platooning QB system includes Warren Smith - a kid who just transferred from Iona.

 

System is a 2-1 series with Smith getting 1 series. Offensive scheme isn't changing with either QB though - at least according to Cosgrove. Stats say otherwise.

 

Seems like Cosgrove doesn't think that the UMass game was indicative of the Danes ability. He points out that the two turnovers in the first three plays was just too much to overcome.

 

A ton of respect for Fordie and Simpson and how the defense played at UMass, despite what the score showed.

[Ruler 79]

Game notes for Maine are up. McCarty listed as a starter. His injury may not be that bad thankfully. Maine is much smaller up front on both lines then Umass.

[mainejeff]

Maine comes in ranked 18th in the AGS poll. I expect them to be somewhere close in the Coaches and TSN poll as well.

 

However, IMO, these polls are still ranking Maine because of what they did last year - not what they have this year.

 

Can the same be said for 0-2 Appalachian State being in the Top 10?

[mainejeff]

Cosgrove has a love affair with Brusko despite the fact that he can't throw the ball or compete a pass to save his life. Word on the street is that Brusko is either dating his daughter or niece.......

 

Smith is the obvious choice at QB for Maine from here on out.......but we'll porbably still see this silly platooning system. It's funny that Cosgrove has been preaching for months how deep Maine's running game is.......yet he feels the need to continue to run Brusko which usually results in little or no gain. I think that Cosgrove thinks that every coach is as dumb as he is........

[UAalum72]

Danes revisit classic upset - TU story, the kind you SHOULD have to start the week's coverage of a game.