ORONO – When the University of Maine football team reached the Division I-AA national quarterfinals in 2001 and 2002, it was a stingy and swarming defensive unit that set the tone for its success.

The Black Bears are hoping a talented, deep defense can help them become a more significant player in the Atlantic 10 conference this season.

Coach Jack Cosgrove is counting on the defense to ease UMaine’s transition to a full-fledged spread scheme with an inexperienced offense.

“Anybody that looks at us now knows that we’re more experienced on that [defensive] side of the ball going into ’06 than we are in any other phase of the game,” Cosgrove said.

There will be plenty of challenges for UMaine, which plays four of its first five games on the road, including contests at four-time I-AA champion Youngstown State and Division I-A Boston College.

The Defense

The optimism about the defense starts up front, where fifth-year seniors and co-captains Mike DeVito and Matt King are proven commodities. DeVito, a second-team all-league tackle last season is a horse inside while King, who missed most of last season with two finger injuries, is a force at one of the end spots.

“It starts up front. If they can’t get past us, they can’t do anything,” DeVito said of the line, which also includes junior tackle Bruno Dorismond and junior end Patrick McCrossan.

That group is backed up by veterans in tackles Reggie Paramoure and Bryan Greer and ends Josh Caldwell of Brewer and Derek Runnells of Winslow.

“Our vision is for them to be real pace-setters for how our defense plays,” Cosgrove said.

The Bears return seven of their top 10 tacklers off a unit that ranked third in A-10 total defense (326 yards per game) and second in passing defense (180.5 ypg). A talented linebacker corps is headed by junior John Wormuth and sophomore Andrew Downey inside with soph Jovan Belcher playing on the outside.

UMaine has a mixture of veterans and underclassmen in the secondary, which is led by senior strong safety Daren Stone, an all-league third-teamer at safety in 2005, and senior corner Manauris Arias. Sophomore Jonathan Calderon takes over at free safety, while Lionel Nixon and Lamir Whetstone man the other corner.

Senior safety Joe Vanidestine of Bangor and soph corner Stephen Barker provide depth.

“We’re really excited to get the season started,” Stone said. “We have a lot of confidence.”

The Offense

Continuing a transition that began midway through last season, the Bears have adopted the spread offense as their permanent scheme. UMaine averaged 28.3 points per game while going 3-1 to end the 2005 season.

Offensive coordinator Bobby Wilder has put senior co-captain Ron Whitcomb, a fourth-year starter, back at the helm of an offense that will feature the running and receiving talents of senior Arel Gordon.

“It definitely has the ability to be a big-play offense,” Whitcomb said. “You’re going to see a lot of different people touching the ball.”

Whitcomb enters the season needing 1,527 yards to become the school’s all-time leading passer. He lacks 41 completions, 168 attempts and nine touchdowns to move into first place in those categories.

“We’ve got experience and leadership at quarterback with Ronnie, who’s very much in control of the operation,” Cosgrove said.

Freshman Michael Brusko is the backup quarterback.

Gordon combines speed, quickness and toughness in giving the Bears a multifaceted weapon. He caught a team-leading 70 passes and averaged 5.7 yards per carry last season.

Gordon, who is complemented by a stable of backs that includes sophomores Jerron Pearson and Teron Allen, along with freshman Julian Glenn.

The Bears should also have versatility at H-back, where juniors Matt Mulligan of West Enfield and Anthony Cotrone provide a combination of power finesse. Senior Ken Henry also will see time at fullback.

UMaine is full of potential at wide receiver. Sophomores Rodney Salomon and Kenneth Fersner saw lots of time a year ago and are joined by veteran Manzi Pierre and freshmen Landis Williams, Des Randall and Ryan Callahan.

“We have a real talent pool. It’s just a real inexperienced talent pool,” Cosgrove said.

Guard Justin Roberts is the lone senior in an offensive line that includes returning starters in junior tackle Shawn Demaray and soph guard Chris Arnao. Sophomore Ryan Canary takes over at center while freshman Jake Queener has earned the other tackle spot.

Sophomores Chris Parcells and Jake Serdy are among the possible backups.

Special Teams

Special teams is an area of emphasis for UMaine, which was lackluster in its punting and place-kicking phases in ’05. West Virginia transfer Kash Kiefer has earned the nod as the punter but with a week left before the opener, the kicking spot is up for grabs.

Junior Bobby Donnelly of Portland, who was 12 of 12 on PATs last season but made only one of four field-goal tries, is competing with freshmen Luigi Sebastiani and Portland’s Devin McNeill for the position.

Arias, Whetstone, Stone and Pearson will be utilized on kick and punt returns.

“It’s going to be an unpredictable, challenging and exciting,” Cosgrove said of the Atlantic 10 title chase.

SEPTEMBER

9 – at Youngstown State, 4 p.m.

16 – at William & Mary*, 7 p.m.

23 – Shaw University, 2 p.m.

30 – at Boston College, 1 p.m.

OCTOBER

7 – at Towson*, 3 p.m.

14 – Villanova*, 2 p.m.

21 – Hofstra*, 2 p.m.

28 – at Rhode Island*, noon

NOVEMBER

4 -Northeastern*, noon

11 – at Massachusetts*, noon

18 – New Hampshire*, noon

*-Atlantic 10 Conference game