Nine bruising weeks remain in the Atlantic 10 football season, but the University of Maine may already have played its toughest opponent.

The Black Bears are prepping for Saturday’s home game against 25th-ranked James Madison after losing 34-14 to Villanova, now ranked No. 4 in Division I-AA.

Saturday’s game showed Maine coach Jack Cosgrove two things: Villanova is a power, and the Bears have plenty to work on.

Maine needs to take some pressure off its passing game with a more consistent run element. Junior quarterback Mickey Fein established career highs in completions (30), attempts (49), and yards (298) against ‘Nova. Yet, it resulted in only 14 points against a tough Wildcat defense.

“We didn’t convert some red-zone [inside the 20-yard line] situations,” Cosgrove said of his team, which penetrated the Villanova 30-yard line six times and scored twice.

The Bears netted only 77 yards on the ground, the lowest out The Bears netted only 77 yards on the ground, the lowest output since they gained 65 yards in a 61-0 loss at Delaware on Oct. 28, 1995.

“When we did try to get the run game going, we were disappointed with the play of a couple of guys up front,” Cosgrove said. “[But] we hreplacements in our offensive line and a whole new backfield. I want to give our guys a chance to mature.”

Tailback Trey Johnson, who had 53 yards on 14 carries, wasn’t blessed with much running room.

The Bears’ defense failed to contain Villanova’s quick-striking pass game, and must avoid the kind of mistakes that resulted in several big plays, including two for touchdowns.

“We blew a couple coverages,” Cosgrove said. “They had guys wide open. That’s a problem that we’ve got to get corrected.”

The Wildcats rolled up 341 yards through the air, the most allowed by a Maine team since Boston University passed for 360 in 1994. Villanova scored each of the six times it moved inside the Maine 30-yard line.

Another concern for Cosgrove is special teams. Place-kicker Aaron Zych missed field-goal tries of 35 and 42 yards, one of which was blocked. The Bears have had trouble covering kickoffs, which have seldom been inside the 10-yard line.

“For the first time in a long time, I felt we got outworked on the special teams,” Cosgrove said. “We didn’t perform real well in the skill aspect as far as kicking.”

The bright spot has been freshman punter Todd Elwell. Opponents have returned only four of his 14 punts for 20 yards. Elwell’s high kicks average 38.1 yards.

Bear tracks…. Maine, already lacking numbers on the defensive line, may have suffered another loss. Junior tackle Ves Lugo went down Saturday with a left knee injury, the seriousness of which has not been determined. Senior tackle Jon Gallant has missed the last two games with a left knee strain.

Senior central midfielder and captain Ted Sherry has a broken wrist and will probably play the rest of the University of Maine men’s soccer season with a cast on his right arm.

Maine trainer Paul Culina said Sherry fractured the scaphoid bone, located in the area where the thumb meets the wrist, during a 3-2 overtime loss to Massachusetts on Sept. 13.

He played every minute of Saturday’s 2-2 overtime tie against Quinnipiac (Conn.) with the cast on.

Culina said the cast and the protective padding required in order for him to play weigh approximately three pounds.

“It was definitely awkward at first. I’m still getting used to it,” said Sherry. “But it’s not too bulky.”

Sherry has one goal in five games this season.

Maine coach Scott Atherley said Sherry has never missed a game due to injury. He has now played in 61 consecutive games.

“He’s tough as nails,” said Atherley, who also considers Sherry the best leader Maine has had since Gary Crompton in the early 1990s.

The Bears, who are 1-3-1, don’t play this weekend, but open their America East schedule on the road against Delaware and Towson State on Oct. 3-5.

“The teams we’ve played so far have been quality opponents and they’ve all presented us with a different look. That has enabled us to get aour strengths and weaknesses,” said Atherley, who has seven first-year starters in the lineup.

He praised the consistent performances turned in by freshman striker and leading goal scorer Aaron Benjamin (3 goals, 1 assist), sophomore fullback-midfielder Russell Hutchison, and sophomore back Jeremy Palotti, and said he intends to simplify matters for his team by going to a four-fullback, four-midfielder formation instead of three fullbacks and five midfielders.

“We need to play four in the back. We aren’t athletic enough to go with three in the back. Having four fullbacks makes our zone defense a lot more efficient and we get in much better attacking shape when we win possession of the ball,” explained Atherley.

Thirty-six year-old Bill Ashby has become Maine Maritime Academy’s winningest soccer coach.

His team’s 4-0 win over Nova Scotia College last Friday gave sixth-year coach Ashby his 55th win. His record is now 55-37-6. He broke the previous mark set by Jack Huckel.

The institution has had soccer since 1974.

“I feel good about it,” said Ashby, a Lubec native. “There’s a sense of accomplishment. MMA has always had good programs and good coaches. They’ve won a lot of soccer games.”