Healthy Bear QB Meczywor gets playoff start

BOONE, N.C. – There was no “quarterback controversy” this week surrounding the University of Maine football team.

That’s because among the veterans, only Jon Meczywor has been 100 percent healthy.

Meczywor, a 6-foot-5 sophomore from Lanesboro, Mass., took most of the repetitions during practice this week. He is coming off a 7-for-20 performance good for 72 yards and two touchdowns in his collegiate debut last Saturday against New Hampshire.

“The improvement in him this week has been incredible,” said UMaine associate head coach and offensive coordinator Bobby Wilder. “He’s got a game under his belt and his confidence level is much higher.”

Meczywor was pressed into action against UNH after backup Chris Legree, a redshirt freshman, sustained a bruised throwing shoulder in the Richmond game. Legree was pressed into service and directed the Bears to victory after senior Jake Eaton suffered a knee injury against the Spiders.

Legree couldn’t practice prior to the UNH game and his shoulder was only beginning to round into shape this week, when he finally returned to practice. He will be UMaine’s backup today, if needed.

Meczywor knows the offense well, but there is no real way in practice to replicate the urgency and pressure of making game decisions. Even so, Wilder admitted he turned up the heat on his quarterback this week.

The coaching staff threw as many possible defensive looks and changes at Meczywor as possible, even altering the Bears’ regular practice routine to do so.

“I’ve been trying to make him feel pressure, trying to put him in the mindset he’ll be in Saturday a 1 o’clock,” Wilder said. “It’s the unknown of what the defense is going to do and have to react to it in a fraction of a second.”

Wilder estimated Meczywor has put in 50 hours watching game films and going over the game plan in preparation for today’s game.

“Our kids now know that we can win with him at quarterback,” Wilder said. “They know that he can play in a big game and we can win.”

Bears reaching high in Boone

With the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop, the UMaine football team made its way Friday along the winding mountain roads of Tennessee and arrived in North Carolina, the site of today’s NCAA Division I-AA first-round playoff game against Appalachian State.

The Bears filed off the bus and onto the AstoTurf at Kidd Brewer Stadium, where they held a light 75-minute practice to make final preparations for the Mountaineers.

The stadium and the ASU campus are cut into a hillside, as are virtually all the buildings “up on the mountain,” as the locals describe their location. Brewer Stadium stands some 3,300 feet above sea level, flanked by a tree-lined ridge.

However, anyone who might have been expecting warm weather was in for a rude awakening. Temperatures in the low 40s greeted the Bears, but once the sun sank behind the mountains, the breeze chilled the air considerably.

Still, it was more tolerable than the windy, frigid conditions UMaine practiced in on Thanksgiving Day. Today’s weather forecast for Boone calls for a chance of light rain early, temps in the 30s, and a chance of snow showers in the afternoon.

Injury bug bites again

While the Bears have encountered their share of injuries this season, the season continues to take its toll. Sophomore Brandon McGowan did not participate in Friday’s practice.

The Bears’ starting strong safety remained on the sidelines, sporting an ice bag on his sore left knee, which he injured in practice earlier in the week. McGowan, who has been one of UMaine’s most consistent defensive players in recent weeks, is listed a “questionable” for today’s contest.

If McGowan can’t go, the Bears will plug in either Matt DiBiase and Joan Quezada at the strong safety spots. Quezada started in place of DiBiase at one SS spot last week.

Eaton making slow progress

UMaine quarterback Jake Eaton, who suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee two weeks ago at Richmond, is slowly improving.

Eaton didn’t practice Friday but carefully tested his knee, which was in a brace, with a bit of light jogging. He also did some throwing for the first time since the injury.

While he clearly isn’t ready to play, Eaton and the Bears are holding onto the slim hope he might be able to get back on the field if UMaine can keep winning.