ORONO, Maine -- The No. 16/16 University of Maine football team (2-1, 1-0 CAA) visits Yale (1-1, 1-0 IVY) on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. live on
ESPN+ and heard worldwide on the
Black Bear Sports Network and the Tunein application. Maine, looking for its first-ever victory over the Bulldogs, meets Yale for the 10th time in history.
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GAME STORYLINES:
- The Black Bears are looking for their first win against Yale in what will be the two teams' 10th overall meeting. Yale holds an 8-0-1 edge in the all-time series.
- Maine and Yale last met in 2015 in Orono, marking the first game of the series ever played in Maine. The Bulldogs defeated Maine, 21-10, in the 2015 meeting. The previous eight matchups all took place at the Yale Bowl.
- Maine's last appearance at the Yale Bowl came in a 26-0 loss back in 1937. The two teams met eight times from 1913 through 1937. The first-ever meeting resulted in a 0-0 tie back in 1913.
- Maine enters action with a 4-33-1 mark against Ivy League opponents. The Black Bears have played Harvard (11) more than any other Ivy team. Maine's last win against an Ivy League member school came in 1998, a 14-3 victory over Dartmouth. Maine's last road win against the Ivy came in 1988, a 37-10 victory at Brown. Maine is 2-3 against Brown, picked up a win at Dartmouth and defeated Princeton for its four Ivy League victories.
- Yale, the 2017 Ivy League Champions and 2018 preseason Ivy League favorites, are coming off a 30-24 victory at Cornell in the Ivy League opener. The Bulldogs started the season with a 31-28 overtime loss at Holy Cross.
- Maine's CAA leading rush defense, ranked third among FCS leaders (40.7 ypg), will look to keep 2017 Ivy League Rookie of the Year Zane Dudek and the Yale rushing attack in check (219.5 ypg).
A UMAINE WIN WOULD...
...Be Maine's first against Yale.
...Be Maine's fifth against an Ivy League opponent.
...Be Maine's first over an Ivy League opponent since 1998 (Dartmouth).
...Be Maine's first Ivy League road win since 1988 (at Brown).
...Be Maine's first-ever win at the Yale Bowl (0-7-1)
...Be Coach Harasymiak's first win over an Ivy League opponent.
...Match Maine's best road start (2-1) since 2013.
SERIES NOTES:
Maine and Yale will meet for the ninth time ... The Bulldogs hold an overall 8-0-1 advantage in the all-time series ... The two teams will be meeting for the first time since 2015 ... Yale won the latest meeting, 21-10, back in 2015 in the Bulldogs' first-ever trip to Orono ... Yale has won eight in a row in the series ... The first-ever meeting in the series came in 1913, a 0-0 tie at the Yale Bowl ... Maine will be making its first trip to the Yale Bowl since 1937 where it suffered a 26-0 defeat ... Yale has outscored Maine 202-17 in the series, including shutting out the Black Bears in each of the first six meetings. Three former Black Bear coaches (Kevin Cahill, Jordan Stevens, Steve Vashel) are on the Yale staff. Stevens also played DE at Maine.
ALL-TIME VS. YALE:
Year   Winner   Place               Score  Â
2015   Yale   Orono, ME           10-21
1937   Yale   New Haven, CT     0-26
1933   Yale   New Haven, CT    7-14
1931   Yale   New Haven, CT    0-19
1930   Yale   New Haven, CT    0-38
1928   Yale   New Haven, CT    0-27
1915   Yale   New Haven, CT    0-37
1914   Yale   New Haven, CT   0-20  Â
1913   Tie   New Haven, CT    0-0
SEASON NOTES:
The rush stops here
• Maine's defensive goals begin with stopping the run, and the Black Bears have surely done that in their first three outings. Maine leads the CAA, and ranks third in FCS, in rush defense (40.7 ypg).
• The Black Bears have allowed just 296-yards of rushing on 104 attempts. Maine's opponents are averaging just 1.2 yards per attempt on the ground, first in the CAA and tops in FCS.
• Maine has held each of its last four opponents to 100-yards rushing or fewer. Three of those opponents have been FBS member schools.
• In total defense, Maine checks in second in the CAA and fifth nationally, allowing just 224.7 yards per game.
High-ranking victories
• Maine opened 2018 by knocking off #7 New Hampshire, snapping an eight-game losing skid against the Wildcats.
• The win was Maine's first over a ranked opponent since knocking off #17 UAlbany, 20-14, on Oct. 15, 2017.
• The victory also came against the highest ranking team since Maine beat #7 James Madison and #6 Delaware in back-to-back weeks back in 2011.
• In game two, Maine fell behind 21-0 in the first 5:03 of game action at Western Kentucky. The Black Bears rattled off 31-unanswered points and blocked a game-tying field goal try with 47-seconds left to secure their third-ever win over an FBS opponent.
• The win over WKU was Maine's third-ever win over an FBS opponent and its first since defeating UMass in 2013.
Behind Enemy Lines
• Through three games, Maine has recorded 15.0 sacks. Maine leads the CAA in total sacks, three more than second place Richmond (12.0) who has played one more game.
• Maine checks in third in all of FCS with 5.0 sacks per game. The Black Bears are tied for fifth in the nation with 15.0 total sacks. However, the three teams in front of Maine one more game than the Black Bears.
• The Black Bears tallied 12.0 TFLs, including 6.0 sacks, in their opener against UNH.
• Maine has four players ranked in the top-14 in the CAA in sacks per game.
• Seven Black Bears recorded at least a half TFL in the win over UNH, with four notching 2.0+.
• Maine's 6.0 sacks against UNH were its most since also notching 6.0 against Rhode Island on Sept. 25, 2016. The 12.0 TFLs were Maine's most since a 12.0 performance on Aug. 30, 2014 against Norfolk St.
• Maine added 6.0 sacks, and 7.0 TFLs, in its win at Western Kentucky.
• The Black Bears currently rank fourth in FCS and first in the CAA with 9.7 TFLs per game.
Third Down Success
• Maine continues to be impress with its third down defense. The Black Bears have only allowed 11 conversions on 44 attempts through three weeks (25.0).
• The Black Holes' 25.0 opponent conversion rate on third down leads the CAA and ranks sixth nationally.
• Over its last five games, dating back to 2017, Maine has held all five opponents (including three FBS teams) to five or fewer third down conversions. Other than the five conversions by UNH in week one of 2018, Maine has held the other four opponents to three or fewer conversions.
Win Back the Musket
• The Black Bears opened the season with a convincing 35-7 victory over rival #7 New Hampshire. The win snapped an eight-game losing skid against UNH, returning the coveted Brice-Cowell musket back to Orono.
• In week one, Maine posted the most total yards of any CAA school (454.0) while also posting the lowest defensive yards effort (108), including holding UNH to an impressive -15.0 rush yards.
•
Chris Ferguson was highly efficient in the season opener, going 21-for-31 (68%). The completion percentage was the highest of Ferguson's career and marked his fifth game of completing 60%+ of his passes.
Sheffield in the Backfield
•
Sterling Sheffield currently leads the CAA in total sacks (4.5), sacks per game (1.50), total TFLs (7.5) and TFLs per game (2.50). He ranks seventh in the league in solo tackles (5.3).
• Sheffield is third in all of FCS in TFLs per game and third in sacks per game.
• Almost 30% (28.8%) of Sheffield's tackles thus far have been TFLs (7.5/26).
• Twice this season, Sheffield has matched a career-high with 3.0 TFLs (vs. UNH, at CMU).
Red Zone Success
• Maine ranks second in the CAA and 12th in the FS in red zone defense (66.7% - 2/3)
• In its first two games, Maine was 6-for-6 on scoring when entering the red zone. Five of those six trips resulted in touchdowns.
• In their first two games, Maine did not allow its opponent to enter the red zone.
Rushing offense
• As a unit, the Black Bears have won the rushing battle in eight of their last nine games.
• Maine's two-headed rushing attack of
Joe Fitzpatrick and
Ramon Jefferson rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the CAA in rush yards per game - 66.3 and 66.0.
• Jefferson checks in fourth in the CAA at 5.66 yards per carry.
Defense Returns Strong
• The Black Bears return eight starters on the defensive side of the ball and a total of 11 with starting experience on defense.
• The Black Bears welcome back their top seven tacklers from 2017, led by Jerry Rice Award finalist
Jaron Grayer who ended the year with a team-high 79 tackles. Grayer finished the season ranked 11th in the CAA at 7.9 tackles per game.
• Maine returns six of its front seven starters. Preseson All-CAA selection
Kayon Whitaker leads the way on the defensive line. Whitaker led the CAA with 0.85 sacks per game (17th nationally). Whitaker also finished tied for third in the CAA in TFLs (14.0).
•
Manny Patterson, who led the CAA in pass breakups per game a year ago, returns at corner in his third season.
Preseason All-Conference Tabs
• At CAA Media Day, held on July 24 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, it was announced that three members of the Black Bears were represented on the All-CAA Preseason Team; junior defensive lineman
Kayon Whitaker, junior kick returner
Earnest Edwards and senior specialist
Mozai Nelson.
• The Black Bears also received preseason accolades from Phil Steele. Junior defensive back
Manny Patterson was named to the Steele' Preseason All-American fourth team as well as to Steele's All-CAA second team. Whitaker and Edwards (KR) each earned spots on Steele's All-CAA first team while senior linebacker
Sterling Sheffield was named to the All-CAA second team. Sophomore center
Chris Mulvey and junior defensive lineman
Charles Mitchell each earned Steele All-CAA third team spots.
Offensive Line Gaps
• A key position that the Black Bears will be looking to fill in the 2018-19 season is on the offensive line. The Black Bears lost three, four-year starters in
John Reddington (29 starts),
Isaiah Brooks (39 starts) and
Jamil Demby (43), who was drafted in the sixth round to the LA Rams. Between the three the Black Bears lost 111 starts of experience.
• Last year, the OL unit finished third in the CAA in sacks allowed (1.9 per game) and produced the league's third highest rushing attack (174.2 ypg), behind All-American
Josh Mack, who transferred to Liberty.
Need to Finishing Strong
• One of Coach Harasymiak's focuses has been on coaching the team to finish in the fourth quarter.
•In the 2017 season, Maine was leading or tied after three quarters in six of its 10 games.
•Looking at the stat even closer, Maine was within four points, tied or leading after three quarters in eight of its 10 games.
•The Black Bears lost their season opener and season finale each by just one point (at UNH, vs. Stony Brook).
Micah Wright climbing the charts
• Fifth-year wide receiver
Micah Wright looks to continue to climb up Maine's all-time receiver rankings.
• Wright ranks 12th all-time in receiving yards at UMaine (1,772) while his 125 receptions are just five behind Kevin McMahan for 12th all-time (130).
• In 2015, Wright caught 61 passes for 818 yards. His 61 receptions rank tied for 9th on Maine's single-season all-time list while the 818-yards are tied for 10th all-time.
-UMaine-
