ORONO – There are 12 days left until the University of Maine football team takes Morse Field for its season opener against perennial national power Montana. (Fans who want to know the exact time can check out the countdown clock on UMaine’s Web site at goblackbears.com.).

That’s not the only clock ticking at UMaine.

Sunday afternoon at Alfond Stadium, coach Jack Cosgrove’s Black Bears played the second of three preseason intrasquad scrimmages. With the season fast approaching, it was a key opportunity for he and the coaching staff to evaluate the three contenders for UMaine’s starting quarterback job.

Cosgrove remained guarded Sunday about which of the candidates will be the heir apparent to Jake Eaton.

“There’s no rush. We want to do the right thing,” Cosgrove explained of the battle between redshirt freshman Ron Whitcomb, junior Jon Meczywor and sophomore Chris Legree.

“All three guys have played exceptionally and now we have three guys who could be the starting quarterback,” said associate head coach and offensive coordinator Bobby Wilder. “We’ve never had that kind of depth [in his nine seasons at UMaine].”

Judging from Sunday’s scrimmage, Whitcomb appears to be the frontrunner. The 6-foot-2, 212-pounder from East Rochester, N.Y., took most of the reps with the “first” team and exhibited a strong throwing arm along with quick feet in the pocket.

Meczywor, who started the Bears’ final three games and led them to an NCAA first-round victory at Appalachian State, got a fair amount of work and was solid. Legree, who led UMaine to a win last fall at Richmond after Eaton was injured, played less than Meczywor.

Freshman Anthony Cotrone also took several snaps.

“Right now they’re lined up… Ronnie is taking a lot of the first-team reps with Mecz second and Chris third,” offered Cosgrove, who said the staff would review the tape of Sunday’s scrimmage before deciding who will direct the offense against Montana.

Preseason injuries plaguing Bears

The squads that lined up across from each other Sunday weren’t representative of the units UMaine hopes to field against Montana. No fewer than 16 Bears were sidelined with injuries, most of them believed to be minor.

Eight projected defensive regulars unable to participate, including senior end Dennis Dottin-Carter, a senior co-captain, along with end Marcus Walton and tackles Pat Pa’u, Mark Stetson and Dan Joslyn.

The secondary was without starting cornerbacks Devon Goree and Jarrod Gomes. Linebacker Agean Robinson and backup cornerback Clinton Brown also were unable to go.

On the offense, three-fifths of the starting line sat out. They were tackle Matt Hammond, guard Mike Leconte and center Ben Lazarski.

“You’ve got to be smart with your personnel,” Cosgrove said. “We’ve got to make sure guys are ready to play when the games are here.”

The defense demonstrated its depth and proved stingy. With an Atlantic 10 officiating crew handling the scrimmage, it enjoyed a penalty-free afternoon, came up with a few interceptions and only allowed two touchdowns.

Conversely, Wilder put the offense through some extra wind sprints after the scrimmage to hold it accountable for penalties, turnovers and alignment mistakes.

“We’re young, so we need that,” Wilder said. “The biggest point we wanted to get across today was they need to know how difficult it is on Saturday.”

Wilder said the absence of the injured linemen is disruptive to the unit’s ability to gel, but said the backup guys also receive important repetitions, which should pay dividends.

“A lot of those young offensive linemen are getting work against a great defensive line,” he said.