Chris Ferguson tossed five touchdown passes, including four in the third quarter alone, to help the University of Maine football team earn their first conference victory by a score of 51-27 over Rhode Island at Alfond Stadium Saturday in front of a homecoming crowd of 9,205.
Josh Mack ran for 248 yards on 30 carries and a touchdown to help Maine improve to 2-3 overall and 1-3 in the CAA. It was the second 200+ rushing day for Mack, who also amassed over 200 in the Bears other home win over Bryant. Jaleel Reed also caught three touchdown passes on five catches for 123 yards.
Maine trailed 21-10 late in second quarter, but took the lead thanks to a Jared Osumah touchdown catch from Ferguson, and a 77 yard punt return touchdown from Micah Wright in the last 1:37 of the half to take a 23-21 lead into the break.
The Bears buried the Rams in the third. Macks 16 yard scamper for his only score of the day, a Ferguson to Reed touchdown pass, and then one to Earnest Edwards, capped off by a 42 yard flea flicker from Ferguson to Reed made it 51-21 and put the game out of reach. Maine scored 41 consecutive points when they went down 21-10. The Bears also totaled 533 yards of offense.
Ferguson was 18-28 passing for 214 yards. Sterling Sheffield led the defense with nine tackles and an interception, while Jaron Grayer also had nine tackles on the day. Maine is 2-0 at home, and 0-3 on the road this season.
URI (1-5, 0-3) was led by quarterback Jajuan Lawson who went 9-18 passing, 139 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Lawson also led the team on the day rushing with 67 yards on 10 carries. Aaron Parker led the Rams receiving corps with four catches for 95 yards and a touchdown. D.J. Stewart and Nas Jones led the defense with 10 and nine tackles, respectively.
Maine hits the road next Saturday to face Albany at 3:30 p.m. The game can be seen live on ESPN 3.
URI (1-5, 0-3) 14 7 0 6- 27
UME (2-3, 1-3) 7 16 28 0- 51
First downs- URI 20 Maine 28
Total yards- URI 355 Maine 533
Turnovers- URI 3 Maine 1
Time of game- 3 hours, 15 min
