ORONO, Maine — Carter Peevy has played his entire football career in Georgia.
Now the Mercer University transfer is looking to make an impact for the University of Maine football program as he battles for the quarterback job vacated by Derek Robertson, who transferred to Monmouth University (New Jersey).
Last season, Peevy led Mercer to a berth in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs and ran for two touchdowns in a 17-7 FCS playoff first-round win over Gardner-Webb including a 72-yarder. He ran two yards for the other TD.
And he is the only signal-caller at UMaine with extensive experience.
Senior Anthony Harris appeared in seven games last season as the backup to Robertson and completed 13 of 18 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. He wasn’t intercepted and carried the ball eight times for minus-21 yards.
Caden Drezek is a sophomore who didn’t appear in a game last season.
Peevy, who is from Lawrenceville, Georgia, completed 201 of 303 passes for 2,275 yards and 11 touchdowns for Mercer last season (66.3 percent) and he ran the ball 125 times for 324 yards and 12 touchdowns.
UMaine hasn’t had a quarterback who has run for over 300 yards since Drew Belcher rushed for 314 yards on 88 carries in 2015.
Peevy sprinted for a touchdown in last Saturday’s 18th annual Jeff Cole Memorial Spring Game which pitted the Black Bear offense against its defense.
He also completed several throws as did Harris and Drezek.
It was UMaine’s third and final scrimmage.
“Carter had his best day (Saturday). He is progressing. He has adapted really well,” said UMaine head coach Jordan Stevens who was also impressed with Harris and Drezek.
Peevy has shown resilience throughout his career.
He had a great freshman season at Mercer during the abbreviated eight-game 2021 spring campaign, leading the Bears to wins over ninth-ranked Chattanooga (35-28), 17th-ranked Furman (26-14) and No. 20 Eastern Tennessee State University (21-13).
His 1,318 passing yards were second most in the Southern Conference and he was third in completion percentage (54.3) and TD passes (8).
He was the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year.
But, in the fall, he sustained a groin injury and lost his job to Coastal Carolina transfer Fred Payton, who wound up throwing 44 touchdown passes and close to 4,700 yards in two seasons.
Peevy wound up having sports hernia surgery after the fall 2021 season.
He won the job at Mercer last fall and now he is hoping to win the job at UMaine.
Peevy said the UMaine coaching staff’s persistence is how he landed in Orono.
‘They were really consistent when it came to talking to me. It was a good connection at first and they consistently stayed with me, ” said Peevy. “They wanted me to come on a visit and when I came, I really liked the place and I really liked the system.
“I felt good about it. I wanted to come up here and see what I could do,” said Peevy.
He said he learned to master Mercer’s offensive system during his four years there so when he came to UMaine for the second semester, figuring out a new system was an adjustment.
“I was picking up a lot of stuff fast. Things definitely picked up as spring went along. Every day, I was getting a little bit better and I hope during the summer and fall, it will get even better and, hopefully, we’ll be ready to go,” said Peevy.
He was pleased with the Cole game and said it is now up to the quarterbacks and receivers to continue to “get on the same page” this summer and fall.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do,” said Peevy.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Peevy said he brings “a lot of creativity” to the Black Bears.
“If things break down, I can make things happen with my feet. I can scramble, throw it around. I just want the best for my guys,” said Peevy, who is married to the former Addy Garman.
“It’s all about team success and whatever I can do to help with that. My legs can create a lot. We just have to keep getting better,” he added.
He said having played in the FCS playoffs will be beneficial.
After beating Gardner-Webb, the Mercer Bears lost to eventual national champion South Dakota State 41-0.
“When you make the playoffs, that gives you more game experience in bigger atmospheres,” said Peevy. “The more games you get under your belt, the better. The more intense situations, the higher the stakes. That allows you to play every game like just a normal game. You keep your head in high intense situations and that’s always good to have.”
UMaine will visit FBS power Oklahoma on Nov. 2 and playing a Southeastern Conference team will be nothing new for Peevy.
“At Mercer, we played (SEC schools) Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss (Mississippi),” said Peevy. “I’ve been in those big stadiums before. It’s always a lot of fun playing in those big atmospheres but it will be a challenge so we have to be ready to go,” he said.
UMaine will open the season at home against Colgate at 7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 30.
