The University of Maine’s college football season starts in two weeks, and the Black Bears have not figured out who their starting quarterback will be.
Coming off back-to-back 2-9 campaigns, UMaine needs to start the season off strong at home versus Colgate on August 30, and third-year head coach Jordan Stevens’ biggest decision of the summer still looms large.
As of Thursday morning’s practice, there are still two or even three signal callers with a case to get the nod: the proven winner and most talented ball carrier in fifth-year transfer Carter Peevy, the familiar presence of senior Anthony Harris and the powerful left arm of redshirt sophomore Caden Drezek.
“It’s kinda the elephant in the room. Everybody’s wondering the same thing,” Peevy said. “All of our quarterbacks have a lot of ability, we have talent across the board. But I think a team’s at its best when one guy is behind the wheel.”
At Mercer, Peevy was the Bears’ primary starter in 2020 and 2023. He tallied 2,284 yards with 11 touchdowns in the air and 324 yards with 12 touchdowns on the ground last fall, leading Mercer (9-4) to a first round FCS playoff victory over Gardner-Webb. The Georgia native first arrived in Orono in January via the transfer portal, one month after preseason activities began.
Meanwhile, Harris has rode the bench at UMaine the past three years, patiently waiting his turn to command the Black Bears’ offense. The Pennsylvania native knows coach Stevens’ playbook the best of anyone on the depth chart and has the valued ability to run the football, but attempted just 18 passes in seven appearances last fall.
Both Peevy and Harris have drilled alongside UMaine’s first unit in practice, and Stevens says he’s close to choosing a “QB1” for the game against Colgate.
“We have so much depth that we haven’t catered the offense to one individual. We just want to make the right decision, and we’re gonna do that here shortly,” Stevens said. “My big thing is who’s gonna help us win that game against Colgate — who are the guys gonna follow, and be confident with calling the offense — and we have to rep that guy with the [first unit] next week.”
The Black Bears have the privilege of being patient because the entire quarterback room is training under the same playbook, and because their receiving corps is so experienced.
UMaine’s offense is returning its five leading wide receivers (in yards) from last season, plus breakout tight end Cooper Heisey.
“You have to learn how to play with different quarterbacks, but it’s a lot of the same stuff,” fifth-year wideout and preseason All-CAA Honorable Mention Joe Gillette said. “We’re way farther along than we were last year. We’ve got good chemistry going right now.”
The suspense of Stevens’ decision seems to be weighing the most on his quarterback room.
“Obviously it’s gonna be disappointing for whoever doesn’t get the job, because you put a lot of work into this,” Peevy said. “But the biggest thing is being able to handle it, and [looking] around to see what else you have to be thankful for.”
“We know that whoever is the starter is going to be the best one for the team, and whoever is the starter is going to have 100 percent support from the room.”
