Picked to finish ninth in the Colonial Athletic Conference preseason polls, the University of Maine goes into Saturday’s game at Richmond (3:30 p.m., no TV) ranked atop the conference standings at 3-0.

Going by the preseason polls, the whole CAA has been turned upside down. Towson, picked to finish last, is tied with the Black Bears at 3-0.

The Black Bears, who improved to 5-1 overall with last week’s 27-21 victory over Rhode Island and are now ranked 9th in the country, may be surprising everyone else, but not their coach.

“I thought we had a very talented senior class, and that’s your starting point with any type of success,” Maine coach Jack Cosgrove said. “The thing that’s different about this group is they’re fifth-year seniors, so they’ve been through the redshirt process and spent more time with us, and I think their talent level is such that it bears recognition.”

The biggest difference from last year, when Maine finished 4-7, isn’t necessarily talent. Maine has eliminated mistakes that plagued it last year, Cosgrove said.

“We were a team that lacked some on-field discipline last year, especially the penalties and the turnovers. The most significant changes that have taken place in this program relate to those areas,” he said.

One of those areas, penalties, reared its head again last week. The Bears were flagged 10 times for 102 yards. Cosgrove attributed that to sloppiness, particularly along the offensive line, which had numerous holding infractions.

“There were parts in the game where we were… lazy with our technique,” Cosgrove said.

Maine goes back on the road this week against 18th-ranked Richmond with hopes of getting its running game back on track against the worst run defense in the conference (221.7 yards per game).

After averaging 128 yards rushing per game in its first three games (a stretch that included 37 yards against Pittsburgh), the Bears have averaged 107.7 ypg in their three CAA games. But Cosgrove said the drop-off is a product of the run defenses they have faced so far.

“We want to be a run football team first and foremost,” Cosgrove said. “We go into every week looking for ways to run the football.”

 “We just went against what we feel will be three of the best run defenses we’ll face throughout the course of the year,” he added. “Rhode Island, (James) Madison and Delaware were very stout up front. We’ve been challenged, there’s no doubt. I thought we measured up for the most part each and every week.”

The play of senior QB Warren Smith has helped make up for the decline in the ground game. Against Rhode Island, he completed 18 of 26 for 233 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Smith has not thrown an interception in five of six games, another big indicator of Maine’s disciplined play.

“The one thing that kept Warren from being the kind of guy that we had complete trust in was he’s a Brett Favre fan. He’ll take those risks and those type of things,” Cosgrove said. “We needed for him to throw the ball away, to do the smart thing. We needed him to play quarterback and lead the team, and that’s what he’s doing.”

Maine’s defense is ranked second in the conference in total defense (327 ypg), first against the pass (140.3 ypg) and fourth in points allowed (20.7 per game), despite losing last season’s top tackler, Donte Dennis, for the season to Tommy John surgery.

Senior Vinson Givans has stepped in as the Bears’ top playmaker at linebacker, leading the team in tackles with 47. Against Rhode Island, he had 10 tackles and an interception return for a touchdown.