The University of Maine’s football team will find itself playing the rest of the season for just a winning record now that its slim playoff aspirations were all but dashed by previously winless Stony Brook on Saturday, as UMaine football lost 28-27.
UMaine is now 2-5 overall, 2-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association, and has four games remaining this season.
The Black Bears would have had a chance to win the conference title if it had beaten Stony Brook and continued to run the table with victories over Richmond, Rhode Island, Albany and New Hampshire.
But that didn’t happen.
“It’s on to Richmond at this point,” said UMaine first-year head coach Jordan Stevens, who added that they aren’t looking beyond the Richmond game on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Alfond Stadium in Orono.
“It’s going to be a huge challenge here at home. They’re a real strong opponent. Coach [Russ] Huesman has done a great job with his team. We will have our hands full,” Stevens said.
The game is very important for the Spiders, who are one of four teams with a 3-1 conference record that is chasing league leader New Hampshire (5-0). They are 5-2 overall.
The Stony Brook loss was devastating.
After spotting the Seawolves a touchdown on the game’s opening drive, UMaine scored 20 unanswered points to take a 20-7 lead into the intermission.
It would have been a 24-7 lead but an ineligible receiver downfield penalty negated a touchdown pass from Joe Fagnano to Montigo Moss so the Black Bears had to settle for a field goal.
And then they received the second-half kickoff and a chance to extend the lead.
Instead, two incompletions and a sack resulted in a punt and Stony Brook marched down the field and scored to make it 20-14.
The Black Bears responded with a drive of their own to restore the 13-point lead but they would never score again and Stony Brook scored a pair of touchdowns.
UMaine’s Cole Baker missed what would have been a go-ahead 46-yard field goal with a minute left.
He had kicked a 45-yarder earlier.
Stevens said his pass defense was victimized by big plays.
Freshman quarterback Charlie McKee, making just his second career start, completed passes of 48, 24, 16 and 35 in the second half to key the Seawolves’ three scoring drives. He wound up completing 18 of 21 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns.
“They were able to hit some passes down the field and that’s something we need to improve on,” said Stevens.
“We fought well but we left too many windows for them to get back into the game. It’s a credit to [Stony Brook] and how they finished.”
One of the game’s pivotal plays occurred with 8:32 remaining in regulation.
UMaine, leading 27-21, had a fourth-and-three at the Stony Brook 31-yard line.
Fagnano threw a pass to Kobay White but the play lost a yard and Stony Brook eventually took the 28-27 lead on a pass from Charlie McKee to Khalil Newton with 5:48 left.
“That was a key point in the game, for sure,” said Stevens.
UMaine also came up short on its last drive when Baker missed the field goal.
The Black Bears marched down to the Stony Brook 33 with 1:31 remaining and had a first down.
They could have made Baker’s field goal attempt much more manageable but could only gain 6 yards on three plays.
Stevens said the outcomes of games are often decided in second and third quarters and that was the case on Saturday.
He lauded the effort of Fagnano, who completed 28 of 45 passes for 314 yards and was also UMaine’s leading rusher with 65 yards on 10 carries.
“He has shown his toughness throughout the season. His awareness for where we need to get for a first down and where we are on the field is tremendous. He scrambles and fights to get first downs. He leads by example as he has in the past,” said Stevens.
“I am proud of his willingness to compete throughout the duration of the game. He led us back and gave us a shot to win it with a field goal.”