COLLEGE REPORT

After spending 72 hours in Hawaii over the weekend, which included absorbing a 44-3 loss in a game against the Division I-A University of Hawaii football team, the University of Maine Black Bears arrived back in Bangor Monday afternoon looking and feeling about the way you’d expect following their five-day, 11,000-mile trip.

“I’m tired,” said Maine All-American tailback Carl Smith, moments after stepping off the plane at Bangor International Airport. “Real tired.”

Despite the 30 hours spent in the air just getting to Hawaii and back, many of the Maine players said the experience of playing a major college opponent in front of 35,000 fans was a positive one that overshadowed the loss and the team’s disappointing 0-5 record.

“It was a real thrill playing in front of a big crowd in a big stadium and playing a I-A team,” said sophomore linebacker Mark Dube. “I think we competed well, although, as usual, things didn’t go our way.”

The question now facing the Bears is how they will react physically to the inevitable jet lag caused by the trip as they prepare for this Saturday’s return to Yankee Conference play against a 3-2 Rhode Island team in Orono.

Maine head coach Kirk Ferentz said he will combat the team’s fatigue by taking it very easy on the squad in practice this week.

“We’ll just jog and stretch out today then get ’em home and put ’em to bed,” said Ferentz. “Tomorrow we’ll just go out in sweats. We’ll have a meeting. Practice will be cut back. I’m entertaining thoughts of doing the same thing Wednesday.”

On the plus side, Maine came out of the Hawaii game with no major injuries. The Bears were bolstered by the return of offensive guard Tom Rogers, who had been sidelined with walking pneumonia. Smith, who had missed the Richmond game last week with a bruised shoulder, led Maine against the Rainbows with 52 yards on 17 carries and is fine.

“My legs are tired, but the shoulder feels great,” Smith said. “I feel like I’m getting back to form.”

Maine All-American guard Rob Noble, who is recovering from a sprained left knee which has sidelined him since preseason, did not see action against Hawaii. His status remains in question for Rhode Island.

The experience of the trip on the whole was positive enough to cause Ferentz to change his tune on the wisdom of scheduling the Rainbows. Ferentz had expressed reservations about the trip last week before departing.

“I’d do it again,” he said in the airport Monday. “I know I was pessimistic last Monday. But it was a great experience educationally for our kids. They got to see a part of the country they probably wouldn’t have seen. This is about as close to a bowl game as we’re going to get. I thought we handled it well.”

After Saturday night’s contest, the Maine players spent most of the day Sunday relaxing on Waikiki Beach, located across the street from their hotel.

“We had more free time than we expected,” said Dube. “Some of us got to see some of the sights. It was a great experience.”

Despite the one-sided score of the contest, the Maine players felt they earned the respect of the Rainbows as the game progressed. Case in point: Smith was tackled hard after a 1-yard gain on the first Maine possession by Hawaii defensive end Lyno Samana, who proceeded to scream taunts at Smith.

“He was saying we had no business being on the field with them,” Smith recalled. “But after we moved the ball on them (the next possession) they quit talking and just played football. I think we showed them something.”

Maine’s defense actually yielded fewer yards to Hawaii (400) than did Division I-A Utah (457) two weeks earlier, while the Black Bear offense gained more yards against the ‘Bows (231) than Maine gained against two of its four I-AA opponents.

Summarizing the Hawaii trip, Ferentz said he hopes it serves to separate Maine’s winless start from the remainder of the season.

“I said after the game we should look at the next six games as a second season. We’ve got four at home and two on the road, all against I-AA teams. If we can take the same intensity into those games we did against Hawaii, we’re going to win some games,” Ferentz said.