MT. PLEASANT, Mich. – Despite an impressive effort by the Black Hole defense, the No. 13/16 Maine Black Bears suffered their first loss of the season, falling to FBS Central Michigan 17-5 on Saturday afternoon at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. The Black Bears are now 2-1 on the season.
Maine limited The Chippewas (1-3) to just 177 yards of total offense on 57 plays, an average of just 3.1 yards per play. Quarterback Tommy Lazzaro was the leading passer and rusher for Central Michigan, as the Black Hole held him to just 82 yards passing (7-16, 1 TD, 1 INT) and 44 yards of rushing.
Maine quarterback
Chris Ferguson suffered an upper body injury in the first quarter, and was sidelined for the rest of the game as a result. Before leaving, he completed 3-of-4 passes for 21 yards. In relief, redshirt freshman
Isaiah Robinson connected on 16 of his 32 passes for 162 yards and two interceptions.
Ramon Jefferson averaged 5.8 yards per carry, gaining 64 yards on 11 carries, including a 27-yd scamper in the first half.
Jaquan Blair led the Black Bear receivers with five catches for 57 yards.
Devin Young also brought in five receptions, gaining 38 yards.
Maine picked up three points in the 3
rd quarter when
Kenny Doak split the uprights on a 38-yd field goal. The sophomore kicker went 1-for-2 on the day on field goals, as his first attempt was blocked.
Sterling Sheffield (10 tackles, 3 TFL, Sack, FR),
Deshawn Stevens (8 tackles, INT)and
Jamehl Wiley (7 tackles 2 TFL) led the Black Hole defense on the day.
Taji Lowe added five tackles, including one for a loss.
Kayon Whitaker made a sack in the contest as well. The Black Bear defense forced nine punts, as
Richard Carr blocked one in the fourth quarter that went out of the end zone for a safety.
Both teams were plagued by penalties, as Maine was penalized 11 times for 113 yards, while Central Michigan was charged 8 times for 83 yards.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Neither team could get any points in the first quarter, as the two teams combined for nine punts to start the game. Maine nearly scored on its first drive of the second quarter, as Robinson led a 10-play 49-yd drive, but stalled on a goal-line stand by the Chippewas on fourth down.
CMU punted after gaining possession, but Robinson was picked off by Da'Quaun Jamison on the next Black Bear drive. With a short field, the Chippewas drove 46 yards on three plays which finished with a Lazzaro 5-yd plunge into the end zone for the game's first score.
The teams traded punts for the majority of the second quarter. With the Black Bears being forced to punt from their own end zone near the end of the half, Central Michigan returned the ball to the Maine 23-yd line with nine seconds left in the quarter. Ryan Tice converted a 41 yard field goal as time expired to give the Chippewas a 10-0 advantage at half.
To start the third quarter, Robinson and the Black Bears put together an 8 play, 49-yd drive, setting up a 43-yd field goal opportunity for Maine. The kick was blocked, as CMU regained possession. Maine got the ball back just two plays later, as Stevens earned the interception with 10:18 left in the quarter.
Both squads punted, on their ensuing possessions. Maine drove 11 plays and 67 yards for its best drive of the game next, as Jefferson, Fitzpatrick and Robinson combined for to rush for all 67 yards to setup Doak with a 38-yd field goal to make it a 10-3 game.
Central Michigan struck next with an 80-yd touchdown drive, as Lazzaro found Sullivan for the score to make it a 17-3 game.
Later on, the Black Hole forced a Chippewas punt on their own 15-yd line, as Carr's deflection went into the end zone for the final points of the game with 6:23 left in the fourth.
--
Maine heads to New Haven, Conn. next Saturday to play Ivy League foe Yale. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. at the Yale Bowl. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
-UMaine-
