UMaine enters postseason in good health

Usually, by December, college football teams are relatively banged up.

Not so for UMaine, which goes into its first postseason game in 12 years surprisingly healthy. The Bears are missing only two players who might have made the trip if they were healthy.

Junior offensive lineman Brian Williams and freshman lineman Josh Watson of Limington are out of action. Williams, a backup, has missed the last several weeks with a separated shoulder. Watson, who had earned a starting spot at guard, has been sidelined by a knee injury.

“I know that we’re fairly healthy by most standards,” Cosgrove said. “We’ve been able to play the last three football games as healthy as we want to be.”

Playing by the numbers

Regardless of how far UMaine advances in this year’s playoffs, their statistical numbers won’t change a bit – officially.

The NCAA does not recognize postseason statistics for football at any level, even though it is the only sport for which this rule is in effect.

“Postseason playoff or bowl games cannot be considered a part of a season’s schedule,” the NCAA statistics manual states. “Consequently, the statistics of a postseason game… should not be added directly to any team’s or player’s season or career record, nor can such statistics affect single-game records.”

The young and the restless

UMaine goes into tonight’s game sporting one of the youngest teams in the country.

The Bears have four first-year players, one redshirt freshman and seven sophomores in the starting lineup.

UMaine has only 10 seniors and eight juniors among its 79 roster members. That means 61 players, or 77 percent of the team, is made up of freshmen and sophomores.

Atlantic 10 no slouch

The Bears, who shared the league title with Hofstra, William & Mary and Villanova, are one of three teams representing the country’s top-rated conference in today’s playoff action.

This marks the second time in four years the A-10 has placed three teams in the 16-team Division I-AA postseason field. The Southland Football Conference, home to McNeese State, also has Sam Houston State and Northwestern State in the playoffs.

The Atlantic 10 was the highest-rated I-AA conference in the computer ratings compiled by Jeff Sagarin for USA Today. The Southland is No. 2.

The returns are in

UMaine senior Lennard Byrd has proven himself a dangerous kickoff and punt returner again this season. He ranks sixth nationally with a 27.4-yard average on kickoffs and has averaged 10.9 yards on punt returns.

Byrd, who returned a kickoff 81 yards for a score against UNH two weeks ago, joins Pete Ouellette as the only players in UMaine history to return a punt and a kickoff for TDs in their careers.

Byrd holds the school mark for career punt return yards with 905 on 79 attempts.

Bear tracks: UMaine senior tailback Royston English, who ranks third on the school’s all-time rushing list with 2,842 yards, is the first Bear running back since Ben Sirmans (1992) to run for 100 yards or more in four consecutive games. English, who has eclipsed 100 yards six times this season, started the current streak with a 113-yard effort against William & Mary, then followed with a career-high 213 at Rhode Island, 171 vs. Massachusetts and 158 at New Hampshire. English needs 168 yards to reach 3,000 for his career and would become only the third Bear to accomplish the feat. Carl Smith (4,025) and Lorenzo Bouier (3,828) rank first and second, respectively.