A key penalty costs Maine.
By Justin Pelletier
Staff Writer

ORONO – One could make a strong case that one play late in the first half cost Maine a victory Saturday night.

One play after a penalty negated an amazing catch and touchdown by Christian Pereira, Massachusetts cornerback Steve Costello picked up a Marcus Williams fumble and scampered for a touchdown, putting the Minutemen ahead 21-9 in front 7,316 fans at Alfond Arena.

Massachusetts used 120 yards of offense from sophomore Steve Baylark and 15-of-27 passing from Jeff Krohn to beat the Black Bears 24-16 on Friends and Family Day.

“That was a very disappointing loss tonight,” said Maine coach Jack Cosgrove. “This had a little bit of flavor like the Montana game, I think.”

Maine outgained their opponent and outplayed them, but couldn’t come away with the victory.

“We have to eliminate our big mistakes out there, and we’ll be fine,” said Cosgrove.

One of the biggest mistakes of the night came on the big swing play in the first half. A Maine lineman got caught for holding, and on the ensuing play, Williams lost the ball. This was on top of a couple of plays on special teams where, instead of letting kicks roll out of bounds, the receiver played the ball and was ether hit or stepped out of bounds. Quarterback Ron Whitcomb, who went 20-for-35 with two touchdowns, also threw two interceptions, his fifth and sixth of the season.

“He’s a good, solid QB,” said Cosgrove, “and he’s going to make some mistakes out there. What we like about him so much is his ability to learn from those and not repeat his errors.”

Whitcomb had the opportunity to bring his team back with 1:57 left to play in the game, but Maine had burned its final timeout on a previous play — a punt which Massachusetts stacked the right side of the line that confused the Black Bears’ defense.

“That was by design,” said Massachusetts coach Mark Whipple. “We hoped to get them to burn that last timeout, and it worked. It’s hard enough leading a drive with one timeout, let alone none.”

On that last drive, Whitcomb led the offense from the Maine 14-yard line to the Maine 48 before throwing his final pick of the day to end the game.

Maine had pulled to within five of Massachusetts at the end of the third quarter when Whitcomb tossed a 56-yard bomb to Pereira down the right sideline. Pereira was open for most of the night behind a slower Minuteman secondary.

“We were really banged up back there,” said Whipple. “They saw that weakness and they used it to their advantage like a good coaching staff will.”

The Minutemen roared back on the next drive and pushed the lead to eight when Michael Torres booted a 37-yard field goal with 10:44 left in the game.

On the ensuing drive, Maine drove all the way to the Massachusetts 30-yard line before an incomplete pass and two runs for losses forced the Black Bears to punt.

Maine ironically started the game with a solid special teams play, something that had plagued the Bears during the first three games of the season. After their first drive stalled on the Massachusetts 41-yard line, Mike Mellow booted a punt that rolled to inside the one-yard line, pinning the Minutemen against their own goal line. One play later, Massachusetts quarterback Jeff Krohn fell in his own end zone, giving Maine a 2-0 lead with the safety.

With neither team able to generate any offense, the quarter ended with that same score. In the second, however, the Minutemen awoke and torched Maine for a 65-yard bomb from Krohn to Jimmie Howard. One series later, after a short Mike Mellow punt and decent return, Massachusetts again found the end zone on an eight-yard rollout pass from Krohn to Rich Demers.

Maine caught a break after the Black Bears stalled a drive when Mellow’s punt slipped through the hands of return man Steve Costello. Former Messalonskee standout Justin Knox fell on the ball, and two plays later, Whitcomb found Christian Pereira on a fade route in the end zone to pull the Black Bears within five.

In a apparent shift of momentum, Maine blocked a 36-yard field goal attempt by Michael Torres and regained possession of the ball at its own 20. Three plays later, it appeared as though Pereira had put the Bears ahead with an amazing catch over two defenders in the middle of the field. Pereira then ran the length of the field, only to be called back due to a holding penalty on the Maine line. The next play, Marcus Williams fumbled and Costello recovered, scampering into the end zone to give Massachusetts a 21-9 lead.

“We don’t think anyone in the A-10 is going to finish undefeated,” said Cosgrove. “At 1-1, we are on the edge, but we’re still thinking championship, and we are going to have to regroup after this one and face a tough team on the road next week in another A-10 game. That’s the challenge we have now.”