UMaine head football coach Jack Cosgrove stopped by the PM Jab for his weekly visit today, and had a very interesting quote on the David Hood situation:
"We certainly don't think the things that are out there in the public are true with this situation"
UMAine faces Syracuse this week for the second time in as many years. The Orange are aiming for a bowl game this year, and are off to pretty good start. Brian Harrison from the great Syracuse blog Orange44 was nice enough to take some time to break down this confident Syracuse team.
1. What’s the overall feeling for the program this year?
It’s a lot of hope and optimism around this program right now. Marrone is a guy that is liked by almost everyone because he’s not only serious about bring success back to the program, and not only is improvement visible in every way, but he’s also one of us. He’s a Syracuse guy. He wants the program to succeed not only because his name is on the door, but because he understands what it means to Syracuse. And with a pretty reasonable schedule and a seemingly open Big East, people are thinking positively. I think, along with most people, Syracuse is just shy of a Bowl this season, but it will be on the horizon for the Orange in the next couple of seasons.
2. Offensive Style...Impact Offensive Players
It’s Delone Carter to start. He’s a power runner than will not shy away from contact and has the ability to find seams and run through them. Carter can break tackles and push people around. Last year against Maine is only ran for 72 yards, but he had 4 total touchdowns. Look for him to be the guy that punches in a score in the red zone, or catches a pass in the flat to muscle it in.
Five CAA Football squads have been recognized for top academic performance by earning NCAA Public Recognition Awards. Maine, Northeastern, Richmond, Villanova and William and Mary were all honored this week for their teams’ work in the classroom during the 2009 season.
The public recognition awards are given each year to teams scoring in the top 10 percent of their sports based on the most recent multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR). The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester or quarter by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete. The APR includes eligibility, retention and graduation in the calculation. High-performing teams receiving public recognition awards posted APR scores ranging from 978 to a perfect 1,000.
“We’re extremely pleased with the CAA Football teams honored by the NCAA with Public Recognition Awards,” CAA Football Commissioner Tom Yeager said. “The fact that three of our five squads were also NCAA Championship participants is a credit to the hard work and commitment by our student-athletes, coaches and academic support staffs who are determined to succeed at the highest level both on the playing field and in the classroom.”
CAA Football’s five teams were among 19 NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) squads recognized. Only four of the 16 teams which competed in the 2009 NCAA Division I Football Championship earned Public Recognition awards. Three of those squads were CAA Football members including 2009 NCAA Division I National Champion Villanova. The Wildcats were one of only two NCAA National Champions to earn Public Recognition, joining Fairleigh Dickinson’s women’s bowling squad.
Not only can CAA Football fans from all 10 schools get up-to-date information on CAASports.com, but they also have a CAA Football news source outlet on Twitter. Get a look at CAA Football and its programs by following the league at twitter.com/The_CAAFootball. CAA Football will tweet throughout the spring season and continue into the 2010 fall season. Be sure to also check out the 2010 CAA Football Spring Blog at CAASports.com. Various student-athletes have been dropping in with their takes on the spring practice season, while the CAA Football Blogger continues to keep fans up to speed on other news and notes from around the league.
After 2 straight losses and 3 straight road games, the Maine Black Bears football team was looking forward to some home-cooking. Instead of a hearty meal, they ended up with a plateful of mom's leftover meatloaf. Delaware wore down a tired Maine defense in the second half and came out of Alfond Stadium with a 27-17 win over the Black Bears.
“Have to give Jack (Cosgrove) a lot of credit,” said Delaware coach KC Keeler. ”He is doing a great job with a very young team.”
The scoring started in the first quarter when after Maine's first drive ended in a missed field goal, Delaware quarterback Pat Devlin (a transfer from Penn State) found senior wide receiver Mark Duncan on a post pattern for a 79 yard touchdown pass to put the Blue Hens up 7-0. Maine answered later in the period with a beautifully thrown 45 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Warren Smith to wide receiver Desmond Randall to tie the score at seven. The Maine offense, which made the move to Warren Smith as the permanent starting QB last week, really embraced their new passing-based offense, but the balance between the run and pass was left behind in the transition.
“We're passing the ball a lot more than we did a couple of weeks ago,” said Maine head coach Jack Cosgrove after the game. “We aren't running as well as we were at the beginning of the year, though. We lost that balance and we aren't using one to compliment the other right now.”
The second quarter saw Maine stop Delaware on the goal line. Maine's offense stumbled, and Delaware cashed in on decent field position at their own 37 with a seven play, 63 yard drive that took 2:01 seconds off the clock. The drive was capped off by an eight yard Leon Jackson touchdown run with 5:12 left in the first half to put the Blue Hens up 14-7. Maine once again responded, this time with an eight play, 82 yard drive, and Smith's second touchdown pass of the night, this one a nine-yarder to Tyrell Jones, to tie it at 14 going into the half.
“We went into the half tied at 14,” said Cosgrove. “The second half they outplayed us, and the scoreboard showed it.”
Maine got their only points of the second half on the opening drive, as they had a twelve play, 54 yard drive that lasted 5 minutes and 46 seconds. The only problem was the drive stalled at the Delaware 17 yard-line, and the Black Bears had to settle for a 35 yard Jordan Waxman field goal. Smith looked back at that drive as the turning point after the game.
“When we have a drive like that, we have to finish it off with a touchdown,” said Smith. “We have to finish. Tonight it was the difference between winning and losing.”
Delaware's next drive got to the Maine 27 yard line, but a lost fumble gave the Black Bears offense the ball again. Delaware's defense stiffened, and it got the ball back for the dangerous Devlin. Eight plays and 71 yards later, Delaware had a 21-17 lead after Jackson took it in from two yards out. Another Maine three and out led to another long Blue Hens drive, this one eleven plays and 79 yards, but once again the Maine defense stuffed Delaware on a fourth down deep in Black Bear territory, this time at the seven yard line.
“We knew had couldn't let them convert that one,” said sophomore linebacker Donte Dennis, who finished with 23 tackles and a sack. “We wouldn't give in and we stopped them.”
Unfortunately, the Maine offense didn't take advantage, and their drive stalled after six plays and 19 yards. Forced to punt, they gave the ball back to Delaware, and this time the Blue Hens put it away with a ten play, 62 yard drive, which culminated in a 25 yard David Hayes touchdown run on fourth down to give the Blue Hens a 27-17 lead. Warren Smith threw his second interception of the night on the next drive, and it was academic from that point on. Maine has now lost three straight after starting off the year 2-0, and Coach Cosgrove is looking for some answers.
“We've got to do stop doing those little things that keep us from winning games,” said Cosgrove. “(False Starts) on a second and two, just those little things that are holding us back.”
Maine travels to Hofstra next week.
POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO
This coverage was made possible by our friends at MBR.org
UMaine football coach Jack Cosgrove was on the CAA Media call today, and Matty was there to ask some questions. You can listen to the full audio below.
Also got a chance to speak with Northeastern head coach Rocky Hager talked about the Maine game and QB Warren Smith.
The UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa once again hosted a playoff game between Northern Iowa and a CAA opponent. Unlike UMaine and UNH before them, however, the Richmond Spiders left Cedar Falls with a win. A 13 yard touchdown pass from QB Eric Ward to TE Joe Stewart with 14 seconds left gave a Richmond a 21-20 win, but more importantly, a date with Montana on Friday in the FCS title game in Chattanooga. As happy as Richmond was, UNI was obviously dissappointed.
After 2 straight losses and 3 straight road games, the Maine Black Bears football team was looking forward to some home-cooking. Instead of a hearty meal, they ended up with a plateful of mom's leftover meatloaf. Delaware wore down a tired Maine defense in the second half and came out of Alfond Stadium with a 27-17 win over the Black Bears. 
The UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa once again hosted a playoff game between Northern Iowa and a CAA opponent. Unlike UMaine and UNH before them, however, the Richmond Spiders left Cedar Falls with a win. A 13 yard touchdown pass from QB Eric Ward to TE Joe Stewart with 14 seconds left gave a Richmond a 21-20 win, but more importantly, a date with Montana on Friday in the FCS title game in Chattanooga. As happy as Richmond was, UNI was obviously dissappointed.
