Orono, Maine -- The No. 22/25 University of Maine football team (1-0) takes to the road for the first time this season as it meets Western Kentucky (0-1) on Saturday evening. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT streaming live on
ESPN+ and carried over the airwaves on the
Black Bear Sports Network.
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GAME STORYLINES:
- Maine and Western Kentucky meet for the first-time in history. The Black Bears enter action 1-0 on the year after starting off their season with a convincing 35-7 win over archrival, and formerly No. 7 ranked, New Hampshire. Maine starts the year 1-0 for the first time since 2014.
- Western Kentucky, a C-USA member school, began the season with a 34-4 loss at No. 4 Wisconsin.
- The Black Bears enter play 2-0 against C-USA member schools, with both wins coming over Florida International. Maine defeated FIU 33-7 on the road on Oct. 19, 2002. The following year, Maine beat FIU 24-14 on Sept. 13, 2003 in a game played in Portland, Maine.
- The Black Bears are looking for their third-ever victory over a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent. Previously, Maine defeated Mississippi St., 9-7, in 2004 before scoring a 24-14 victory at UMass in 2013. The Black Bears enter action 2-16 all-time against FBS opponents.
- The Black Bears were impressive on both sides of the ball in their opener, racking up the most yards of any CAA school in week one (454) while giving up the fewest yards of any team (108). Maine's 'Black Hole' defense limited UNH to -15 rush yards on 32 carries, the fewest rush yards allowed by Maine since holding Villanova to -39 back in 2006 . Seven Black Bears tallied 0.5 tackles-for-loss or more as Maine finished the contest with 12.0 TFLs and six sacks. The win snapped Maine's eight-game losing skid against UNH, returning the 'Brice-Cowell' musket to Orono for the first time since 2010.
A UMAINE WIN WOULD...
...Be Maine's first against Western Kentucky.
...Be Maine's third over an FBS opponent (Miss. St '04, UMass '13 - 2-16 overall).
...Be Maine's third win over a C-USA member school (FIU '02 & '03)
...Give Maine its first 1-0 road start since 2013.
...Give Maine its first 2-0 start since 2013.
...Be Maine's first-ever win in the state of Kentucky.
...Move Coach Harasymiak's overall record above .500 (11-11).
...Be Maine's first win over an FBS opponent under Coach Harasymiak.
SERIES NOTES:
Maine and Western Kentucky will meet for the first time in history ... The Black Bears will be looking for their first Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) victory sinec defeating UMass, 24-14, in 2013 at Gillette Stadium ... The Black Bears have two wins against FBS programs (9-7 at Miss. St., 2004) ... The Black Bears are looking for their first victory in Kentucky and will be playing their first ever game in the Bluegrass State ... Maine's last victory over a opponent in its first meeting was in 2014, a 24-14 win at Elon ... Maine is 2-0 all-time against C-USA member schools. The Black Bears defeated FIU in both 2002 (33-7) and 2003 (24-14).
SEASON NOTES:
High-ranking victory
• 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.
Behind enemy lines
• The Black Bears spent a lot of time in the UNH backfield during Thursday night's 35-7 victory over the No. 7 Wildcats. The Black Bears finished the game with 12.0 TFLs, including 6.0 sacks.
• Seven Black Bears recorded at least a half TFL in the win over UNH, with four notching 2.0+.
• Maine's 6.0 sacks 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.
Leading the CAA on both sides
• 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.
• In the national FCS rankings after week one, Maine checks in second in total defense (108.0), second in sacks (6.0), third in rush defense (-15.0) and seventh in scoring defense (7.0); all tops in the CAA.
No rushing here
• In the season-opener, the Black Bears' defense held New Hampshire to -15 total rush yards.
• The negative total was the lowest amount allowed by Maine since it held Villanova to -39 back in 2006.
• Maine last held an opponent to negative rush yards in 2005, a -8 yard performance by Rhode Island.
Tough slate awaits in 2018
• The Black Bears will be challenged with one of the toughest schedules in all of FCS, including just four home games during the 2018 campaign.
• The Black Bears are scheduled to take on a pair of FBS opponents for the fourth straight season. Maine will take on Western Kentucky and Central Michigan. Each meeting will be the first in history between the two squads. Both Western Kentucky (Autonation Cure Bowl) and Central Michigan (Idaho Potato Bowl) appeared in Bowl games in 2017.
• Maine will also travel to meet Yale a year after the Bulldogs went 9-1, winning the Ivy League.
• Three of the CAA teams the Black Bears will face in 2017 begin the season ranked in the STATS FCS Top-25 and FCS Coaches polls, led by New Hampshire (7/9).
• Two of Maine's opponents (New Hampshire, Elon) were featured in the 2017 FCS playoffs.
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.
New changes on staff
•
Nick Charlton, who is in his fourth year on staff at UMaine, was promoted to Offensive Coordinator on Feb. 27, 2018. Charlton, who spent the 2017 season as the Special Teams Coordinator and Wide Receivers coach, replaces former OC Liam Coen, who accepted a job with Holy Cross before moving on to the LA Rams staff.
• Jared Keye was promoted to Special Teams Coordinator and will also continue to coach the outside linebackers.
•
Pat Denecke moves from tight ends coach to the offensive line, after former OL coach Brian Piccucci accepted a role with the Detroit Lions.
• The Black Bears welcome in two new assistant coaches for 2018.
Andrew Dresner joins the Black Bears and will coach the wide receivers,
Dean Petzing will mentor the tight ends and
Diamond Weaver will coach the cornerback grouping.
Need to finish 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 begins 2018 ranked 12th all-time in receiving yards at UMaine (1,694) while his 121 receptions are just nine behing 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-
