The University of Maine’s football team did not make the progress it was seeking from last year.
The Black Bears had their second consecutive 2-9 campaign, and the 18 losses over the past two seasons is the most in back-to-back years in program history.
UMaine was 1-7 in the Coastal Athletic Association after going 2-6 a year ago.
Head coach Jordan Stevens returned just nine of 22 starters from his 2022 team, and inexperience, injuries to key personnel, inconsistency and a lack of depth contributed to the two-win season. Despite the record, the second-year head coach maintained that the team is in a “really good place, culturally.”
“We’ve progressed a lot when it comes to becoming more of a team. But I’m disappointed that we didn’t have the wins to validate those things,” Stevens said.
For the second straight season, the defense was victimized by big plays.
The Black Bears gave up 53 plays of 20 or more yards after giving up 54 in 2022. They gave up 39 pass plays and 14 rushes of 20 or more yards, as well as 19 plays of at least 40 yards.
Opponents had nine rushes of 30 or more yards.
“We need to do a better job eliminating big plays,” Stevens said. “It’s demoralizing to continue to give up big plays. We have to keep the ball in front of us.”
They were 96th among 122 Football Championship Subdivision teams in pass defense, allowing 239.3 passing yards per game. And they were 92nd in rushing defense (177 yards per game).
And the most telling stat is that they were 118th in third-down defense as opponents converted on 49.6 percent of their third downs.
The defensive unit was hit hard by injuries and didn’t have the quality depth it needed to compensate. It also didn’t tackle well on a consistent basis as opposing backs and receivers racked up a ton of yards after contact.
The inability to establish a good pass rush was another issue as it averaged just 1.27 sacks per game, which was tied for 109th in the country.
First-time starting linebackers Darius McKenzie and Christian Thomas played in just five and three games, respectively, before being sidelined by season-ending injuries. McKenzie was leading the team in tackles at the time with 37 in five games. Christian Thomas was involved in 10 tackles in his three games.
Both will be back next season.
“McKenzie can be one of the best linebackers in the league and Christian be a top linebacker,” Stevens said.
Veteran safeties and 2022 starters Robbie Riobe and Shakur Smalls only played in four games each. Riobe had 18 career starts entering this season and Smalls had 13.
They will also both be back. Smalls was the team’s fourth-leading tackler two years ago with 48, and Riobe had 38 tackles in 2022.
The only starters the Black Bears lose on defense are nose tackle Josh Lezin (23 tackles) and strong safety Damon Matthews (45 tackles, six pass breakups, interception).
Matthews replaced Smalls.
The defense should be noticeably improved next season.
Kahzir “Buggs” Brown, the junior cornerback, led the team in tackles with 61 and in pass breakups with seven. He also had an interception, and he forced two fumbles. He had 59 tackles in 2022.
Linebacker Tyshawn Stewart (58 tackles) and end Xavier Holmes (51 tackles, 7.5 for lost yards and 2.5 sacks) were second and third in tackles, respectively, and both are sophomores.
Boston College senior transfer Izaiah Henderson led the team in sacks, with four, and tackles for loss at 9.5. He finished with 49 tackles.
Junior linebackers Abdul Stewart (48 tackles, team-high 3 interceptions) and Vince Thomas (37 tackles) and sophomore cornerback Alhaji Kamara (31 tackles) will also be expected to be important contributors next season along with sophomore LB Latrell Couchman (27 tackles), junior tackle John Costanza (26, 2 sacks) and freshman LB Jabari Odoemenem (23).
Junior Rayshad Wallace (16) and senior Jacob Tuiasosopo (13 tackles) shared a defensive end spot and redshirt freshman Jamari Gibson (19) got plenty of reps at cornerback.
“We had a very young team on defense and we have a lot of good players coming back,” Stevens said. “We have to continue to develop leadership on defense.”
He also stressed that they have to create quality depth so “we can withstand multiple injuries and continue to play at a high level. We weren’t able to do that this year and it hurt us.”
The offense should also be significantly better as it loses just one starter, All-CAA honorable mention Kevin Jones, the right tackle.
Senior quarterback Derek Robertson, who was also chosen an All-CAA honorable mention, is seventh in the country in passing yards (2,933) and ninth in completions per game (23.45) and passing yards per game (266.64).
His eight leading receivers will also return, including All-CAA third-team tight end Rohan Jones (22 catches, 240 yards, 5 touchdowns) and wide receivers Jamie Lamson (49-for-552 yards, team-high 6 TDs), Montigo Moss (37-for-408, 3 TDs), Joe Gillette (36-for-570, 5 TDs), Michael Monios (28-for-296, 1 TD), Trevin Ewing (17-for-243, 2 TDs), running back Tristen Kenan (27-for-226, 1 TD), tight end Cooper Heisey (22-187, 3 TDs).
The glaring weakness on offense was the inexistence of a running game.
UMaine rushed for just 79.7 yards per game — only three teams in the Football Championship Subdivision rushed for fewer yards. That made the offense more predictable.
“We have to improve our running game,” Stevens said.
Shifty true freshman Kenan had an impressive first season with 462 rushing yards in 110 attempts but missed two games and portions of two others due to injury.
Brian Santana-Fis (27 rushes, 112 yards) and Tavion Banks (37-103) will also return but John Gay (54-for-205) will depart.
Banks missed seven games due to injury.
The offensive line was young and inexperienced with six underclassmen getting a lot of playing time. Sophomores Darius Bell and Joe Horn were the left tackle and center, respectively, redshirt freshmen Nicolas Cruji and Jack Boutaugh were the guards, and true freshmen Xavier Lozowicki also got a lot of snaps at guard, as did redshirt freshman Tyler Williams.
The Black Bear offense turned the ball over 11 times in its last four games, which was a major contributor in its season-ending four-game losing streak.
“We have a lot of talent on offense but we have to turn the ball over less,” Stevens said.
Placekicker Cody Williams, who converted seven of his 10 field goal attempts and all 32 of his extra points, will have to be replaced.
Stevens said they are going to hit the recruiting trail hard and also take a long look in the NCAA transfer portal to upgrade their roster.
“We need to add pieces where there are holes and we need to have depth so whoever goes down, we can still compete at a high level and still win games,” Stevens said.
