By Andrew Stefanilo
The University of Maine football team is 3-1 this season after losing their first game to the then-No. 16 ranked team in the nation last Saturday.
The Northwestern University Wildcats got more than they bargained for last weekend against the Black Bears at home despite the 35-21 scoreline.
The Wildcats had previously taken apart Syracuse University and California University before playing the Black Bears.
“It’s colossally disappointing to be in that environment with the opportunity that we ended up seeing come our way and knowing that if we were to do a couple more things better we might have really been in an exciting fourth quarter,” head coach Jack Cosgrove said.
This was the Black Bears second game against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent. They beat the University of Massachusetts Minutemen 24-14 in their second game of the season and could have gotten another W on Saturday if it weren’t for some costly turnovers.
“I don’t think Northwestern is a program that plays down when the play an [Football Championship Subdivision] team. That’s a program that radiates energy, excitement and enthusiasm for just playing the game,” Cosgrove said.
Northwestern proved why they’re one of the best in the nation when they took back two interceptions for touchdowns that ended up being one of the deciding factors in the game.
“The spirit of our guys and their competitive level never changed and that was impressive beyond words,” Cosgrove said. “We just kept going. After being down 21-0 we drove right down the field and that’s just a bunch of guys working.”
The Black Bears outgained the Wildcats in total yardage 379-373 and caused a couple turnovers of their own.
“You learn things about yourself and your team especially when you play in these games, and I think everything that we get out of this game is going to have a positive influence on us as a football team.”
The Black Bears can’t dwell on the tough loss. They hit the road again this weekend to start conference play against the Richmond Spiders.
Richmond is the defending Colonial Athletic Association champion. UMaine didn’t get to play them last year, so it’s going take a lot of preparation this week.
“Number one, we have to move on from last game,” Cosgrove said. “That’s how it always is. If you win you have to put it behind you and if you lose you have to put it behind you because it’s over.”
Richmond captured a win last weekend after dropping two straight. They come into the matchup with the Black Bears with a record of 2-2.
One of their losses was a 23-21 heartbreaker to FBS school North Carolina State University. Their latest win was a 30-21 decision against Liberty University.
“They’re an excellent football team and very well coached. We didn’t play them last year so we don’t have a game against their new staff that took over last year,” Cosgrove said.
The Spiders have only given up an average of 14 points per game and both losses have been by a mere two points. Offensively, Richmond is averaging just over 23 points a game.
“They play very physical and they play very fast on both sides of the ball,” Cosgrove said. “They’re just a solid team.”
The Black Bears defense has given up just under 20 points a game and are averaging over 25 points a game on offense. Both teams feature talent on both sides of the ball, a formula that should make for a closely fought contest next Saturday.
“[Being] on the road does take its toll but we’ve learned to cut down on our excuses about that. When we’re on the road we have to go on the road and do it as well as we can,” Cosgrove said.
“It’s another opportunity to win and there’s an emphasis on conference play now. We’re competing for an opportunity to be the conference champion.”
The Black Bears will play at Richmond at 4:00p.m. Sept. 28.