Bears must build on opener’s lessons Maine goes south to face William & Mary; Husson, MMA also on road

Football teams often make some of their most significant strides between their first and second games of the season.

The University of Maine is hoping to build off the lessons of last week’s loss at eighth-ranked Youngstown State as it opens Atlantic 10 Conference play with a contest at William & Mary.

Maine (0-1) at William & Mary (0-1), Zable Stadium, Williamsburg, Va., 7 p.m.: The Black Bears are hoping their first-year players and new starters will be much more comfortable this week, although The Tribe always presents a difficult test.

William & Mary has won five of the six meetings, although the last scheduled game (in 2003) was never played after Hurricane Isabel inundated Zable Stadium and the campus. UMaine should enjoy an exciting atmosphere as The Tribe is playing its first home game on its new FieldTurf surface.

UMaine coach Jack Cosgrove is looking for a much more complete effort out of his squad this time around.

“Hopefully now that we have a game under our belt, we’ll respond with a little more poise, a little more control and we’ll persevere, we’ll go for 60 minutes,” Cosgrove said.

The Bears will have to be better in pass coverage against W&M’s spread offense, which threw the ball 41 times between two quarterbacks in a 27-14 opening week loss to Division I-A Maryland. UMaine hopes to get pressure on Jake Phillips and Mike Potts up front while getting tight coverage from the secondary.

Wide receivers D.J. McAuley and Elliott Mack had five catches and a touchdown each against the Terrapins. Elijah Brooks is a talented runner.

UMaine’s defensive leaders include tackle Mike DeVito, linebacker John Wormuth, and safeties Daren Stone and Jonathan Calderon.

The Bears offense also seeks more production after playing a good first half against YSU. Senior Arel Gordon demonstrated his running and receiving abilities, accounting for 202 all-purpose yards.

Senior QB Ron Whitcomb threw for 114 yards and a score, but found himself running with the ball more than expected (18 times, minus-10 yards). If he can sit tight in the pocket while the young receivers get open, UMaine should be able to mount a more potent attack.

“We have to make key plays. We all need to be ready to respond to the challenges of the game situations,” Cosgrove said. “There’s no question that there should be a little higher level of confidence.”

The Tribe allowed 366 yards against Maryland but also came up with four turnovers. Safety Kevin Allen and linebacker Josh Rutter stood out against the Terps.

Husson (1-1) at Norwich (1-1), Northfield, Vt., 2 p.m.: The Eagles look to follow up a big victory over Utica with a win over the Cadets. However, Husson has won only one road game in its first three-plus seasons.

Husson was especially proud of a defensive effort during which it allowed only 208 total yards. Linebacker Ross Salovitch spearheaded the effort with 13.5 tackles, including four for a loss of yardage.

Norwich of the Empire 8 Conference features RB Darnell Jackson (118 ypg, 6.9 ypc), QB Marcus Adames (21-37, 213 yds., 1 TD, 2 INTs) and receiver Adam DeJong (9 rec., 108 yds.). The Cadets are averaging 19 points and 275 yards per game.

The Eagle offense has only averaged 199 yards per outing, but freshman Bryan Ferguson’s 103-yard effort last week was encouraging. Quarterback David Chase (19-52, 216 yds., 3 TDs, 4 INTs) has Andre Wildman (5 rec., 75 yds.) among his receiving targets.

The Norwich defense has allowed 21 points and 348.5 yards per game. Micah Lieberman (9 tackles per game) leads the way.

Maine Maritime Acad. (1-0) at Western New England (1-1), Springfield, Mass., 1 p.m.: The Mariners opened with a nonleague win over Becker but now jump into their New England Football Conference schedule against the Golden Bears.

MMA piled up 233 rushing yards last week behind QB Brandon Hamilton (19 carries, 112 yds., 2 TDs), who also completed three big passes. WNEC is coming off a 31-3 victory over Westfield State during which it allowed only 19 rushing yards. Brent Dube (9 tackles) paced a strong defensive effort that included nine quarterback sacks.

The Golden Bears piled up 226 rushing yards and 136 through the air with RB J. Capitanio (17 carries, 156 yds., 2 TDs), QB Jon Tallerico (13-21, 114 yds, TD, INT) and end Kevin Miculcy (8 rec., 93 yds., TD).

Wayne Withers, Joe Blier, and Rob Leighton sparked the defense, which allowed only nine yards rushing.