There was not a whole lot of celebration time for the Maine football team last week.

After a resounding 62-12 victory over Shaw University, Coach Jack Cosgrove immediately turned the team’s attention to Boston College. Before the thrill of victory had been relished properly, the Black Bears’ focus was on bigger and more daunting foes.

“The BC game, as we’ve known all along, is just a tremendous challenge,” said Cosgrove.

“What I said in the locker room was that this will be the biggest challenge to ever face Maine football. We’ve never played a ranked team.”

Maine plays at Boston College, ranked No. 25 nationally, at 1 p.m. this afternoon at Alumni Stadium. The Black Bears have faced Division IA programs before but not quite of this magnitude.

Maine stunned Mississippi St., 9-7, in 2004 and lost the opener to Nebraska, 25-7, last year in which the Black Bears hung tough with the Cornhuskers for much of the game. Maine is 1-3 against Division IA opponents.

“When we played Nebraska, they weren’t ranked,” said Cosgrove. “They were struggling at quarterback, and we caught them in the first game. Mississippi State, we were snuggled in-between some school named LSU and some school named Auburn. Maybe they didn’t pay attention to us.”

It is doubtful that the Black Bears will be sneaking up on the Eagles Saturday. Boston College is coming off a 17-15 loss to North Carolina State last week and have a bye the following week.

“BC’s got a week off after us, and we’ve got a heck of a challenge,” said Cosgrove. “It’s local. So we can’t go halfway across the country and hide from people if it doesn’t go well.”

Prior to last week, BC had scored over 30 points in three straight games, winning two in overtime. The Eagles, however, have averaged 24 points, and Maine hopes last week’s 62 points is a positive sign of an offense ready to breakout.

Maine grounded out 365 yards on the ground last week. Arel Gordon (111 yards) and Jhamal Fluellen (130) were both over 100 yards, while Ryan Callahan totaled 83 yards. Though quarterback Ron Whitcomb only completed 10 passes in 30 attempts, he still threw for three touchdowns.

“The more and more that we progress and come together as an offense, I think you’ll see more and more people making plays,” said Whitcomb. “That’s the point of this offense, spread them out and have individuals break down the defense. It’s getting there.”

Boston College has averaged 260 yards per game in the air while Maine defense has given up 192 yards passing per game. The Black Bears return defensive back Daren Stone after a one-game suspension.

“They’re playing their fifth game,” said Gordon. “When we played Nebraska, it was their first game. They had some mix-ups in their game plan, and Mississippi State, it was their third game. They’re a ranked opponent, and they’ve proven they can win games. They’re pretty much in the middle of their season. So we’re going to have to bring our A-game to play an opponent like this. I do feel it will be our biggest challenge so far as far as the IA teams we’ve played.”

Maine holds a 3-2 edge in the series against BC. The last meeting was a 56-0 win by BC in 1967.

The game will only be broadcast via streaming video on ESPN360, ESPN’s broadband service. Verizon broadband customers can access ESPN360 by going to http://surround.verizon.net/tv/ and clicking on ESPN360 under the TV heading on the left side of the page.