UMaine aims for playoffs Bears open Sept. 4 against Montana

ORONO – Media day for the University of Maine football team is strategically placed on the afternoon of the second day of double sessions.

In essence, it gave the Black Bears Tuesday afternoon off to soak in the sun on Morse Field and take a break for photos and interviews to talk about their prospects for the 2004 season.

Even so, the reality of the rigors of training camp were fresh in the players’ minds.

“No one likes camp, but it’s necessary,” said smiling senior tailback Marcus Williams, who has rushed for 1,000-plus yards in each of the last two seasons.

Expectations are again high for coach Jack Cosgrove’s team, which went 7-5 last season and missed the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

The Bears have been ranked anywhere from No. 2 to No. 23 in the preseason polls and the focus for UMaine’s veterans is to win the A-10 championship and get back to postseason.

“With the buzz created by the media and all the work we’ve done in the offseason, there’s a lot of excitement among the players that we have back to show the nation what we can do,” sophomore quarterback Ron Whitcomb said.

UMaine appreciates the votes of confidence, but collectively knows polls don’t win games.

“It’s interesting and exciting to look at and we all check, regardless of what people say, but we can’t get too caught up in that,” Williams said. “We know we have a good team, it’s just a matter of us going out and executing on Saturdays.”

The Bears are well aware of the considerable challenges that await them, starting with the Sept. 4 season opener at nationally ranked Montana. And the memory of their most recent game, a season-ending 47-27 loss at New Hampshire last November, has helped motivate them.

The defeat not only ended UMaine’s postseason hopes, it damaged their credibility.

“Losing to New Hampshire made us look bad,” said senior safety Brandon McGowan.

Junior linebacker Jermaine Walker said the Bears will try to build off that unexpected setback as they prepare for the new campaign.

“We were supposed to be in the playoffs, so it didn’t feel too good,” Walker said. “We came out with a fire in our hearts [this season] to do what we were supposed to do last year.”

Cosgrove, who is guiding the UMaine program for the 12th year, is pleased he and his players can look back on a solid 7-5 season, if only briefly, and be completely unsatisfied.

“There’s a change that’s taken place in our program and, as a result, our players truly expect to win,” Cosgrove said. “When they don’t, it impacts them.”

He would prefer his players look ahead to the challenges of 2004.

“For us, the priority is we need to have a phenomenal preseason to establish an identity of who we are, what we’re going to do, and how we’re going to do it,” Cosgrove said.

UMaine was put through its paces during a long, hot, difficult Tuesday morning practice. Cosgrove said it was the kind of session that tests the players in different ways.

“We really challenged them and I thought they responded,” Cosgrove said. “We had all the right things going on, the heat, the humidity, to challenge a guy and to help him grow physically and mentally in the toughness department.”

The Bears feature plenty of experience on both sides of the ball, including Whitcomb, the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, along with all-conference selections Mike Leconte of South Portland at offensive guard, Christian Pereira at wide receiver, Williams and McGowan.

Since the upperclassmen know what it takes to win a league title and get to the playoffs, they’re determined to get the job done again this fall.

“The seniors, we’re ready,” said defensive end Marcus Walton. “It’s our last season, so we’re just rallying up the troops, trying to get ready.”