The schedule that University of Maine football fans feared before the season has proven to be even more difficult so far.

It isn’t getting any easier for homecoming, with the defending national champions in town.

No. 6 Villanova, the Black Bears’ foe on Saturday (noon, CSNNE) is their fourth-straight top-15 opponent. Maine is 1-2 against ranked opponents so far, with their only win coming against rival No. 16 New Hampshire, and their latest loss coming last week at No. 2 Delaware, 26-7.

With a disappointing first half of the season, Maine (2-4, 1-2 CAA) is unlikely to realize its goal of returning to the playoffs for the first time in two years, but head coach Jack Cosgrove said the Bears are still taking the right approach this week.

“It’s hard to come back off the road and getting beat up as we did down at Delaware,” he said. “But our guys were very upbeat and ready to get back into game-planning, and the challenge of a great, great football program and the defending national champions coming up here to Orono.”

While Delaware showed why it is a serious contender to succeed Villanova as national champs last week, Maine also contributed to its own demise with familiar mistakes, such as three turnovers and porous pass defense, two points of frustration for Cosgrove.

“It starts to get old when (those mistakes) keep coming up at you,” he said.

The Black Bears gained just 237 total yards, their second-lowest output of the season (195 vs. Syracuse). Junior running back Jared Turcotte topped the 1,000-yard mark for his career during his 11-carry, 55-yard performance, but also had a fumble that led directly to a Blue Hens touchdown. Junior quarterback Warren Smith completed 19 of 29 passes for 156 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

The defense, meanwhile, gave up 283 yards and a touchdown to Delaware QB Pat Devlin, and Maine dropped to the eighth-ranked pass defense in the CAA.

“I think one of the major areas of concern for us is defending the pass,” Cosgrove said.

“We missed some tackles, came out of coverage and did some things that are uncharacteristic of us,” he said.

Maine can’t afford to make those mistakes against Villanova (3-2, 1-1), which boasts to most prolific offense in the CAA (29.6 ppg). Senior quarterback Chris Whitney hasn’t thrown the ball a lot this year but leads the league in pass efficiency. Senior running back Aaron Ball ranks sixth in the conference in rushing with 333 yards, and is among the league leaders averaging 5.5 yards per attempt.

Defensively, the Wildcats are allowing just 15.8 ppg, third in the conference. Turcotte, Pushaun Brown and Maine’s offensive line will have their work cut out for them as Villanova is giving up just 83 yards rushing per game, tops in the league.

Maine fans will note that Villanova fell last week, 31-24, to William & Mary, which Maine dropped a heartbreaking 24-21 loss to in Week 4. That game was a microcosm of Maine’s season so far, a roller-coaster ride of consistency and emotions.

“Our progress this season has been inconsistent as our play has been inconsistent,” Cosgrove said. “I don’t think without a consistent game-day performance that you can advance the way you need to. That’s something that has been a season-long issue for us.”

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