UMaine moves up to third Highest rank ever for football team

Another week, another impressive win, and for the second week in a row, new heights for the University of Maine football team.

The Black Bears began the process by running their record to 4-0 with a 42-12 dismantling of Howard University Saturday in Washington. The pollsters did the rest Monday, voting Maine from fourth into the third spot on the Sports Network Division I-AA Top 25 poll behind number one Montana and number two McNesse State.

It is the highest official ranking for the football team in the school’s history.

“It’s kinda fun. Different and fun,” Maine head coach Jack Cosgrove said. “I’m happy for our young guys.”

The Black Bears leapfrogged Lehigh into the third slot with the Engineers falling to fourth despite a 31-24 win over Princeton and picked up one of the 106 first-place votes available. Montana received 99 first-place votes while McNeese State, who the Black Bears defeated in the first round of the Division I-AA playoffs last year, picked up six votes for the top spot.

Cosgrove said the Black Bears will approach their game with Rhode Island, Saturday’s opponent at Alfond Stadium in Orono, the same way they approach every game.

“[The ranking] doesn’t affect our focus. We’re not going to change our spots, our identity, who we are.”

Part of this belief stems from recognizing where the team has come from. As recently as two years ago, the Black Bears were 5-6. In 1999, Maine was 4-7.

“We’ve had a lot of tough times where we had to go through that learning curve of how to win,” Cosgrove said.

While the team has learned to win, Cosgrove and his staff have also had success at recruiting talented players.

“Let’s face it, we’re bringing in better football players than we did five years because of the new stadium and because we’ve got the scholarship dollars to do it,” Cosgrove said.