The #16 University of Maine football team got into a 21-0 third quarter hole Saturday afternoon, before the offense got going some, but it was too late as the Yale Bulldogs sent the Bears to their second straight defeat by a score of 35-14 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut. Yale is now 10-0 all-time versus Maine.
Without starting junior quarterback Chris Ferguson who is out with a seperated shoulder suffered in a loss at Central Michigan in first quarter last Saturday, the offense sputtered led by redshirt freshman quarterback Isaiah Robinson.
Yale quarterback Kurt Rawlings led an opening 10 play, 75 yard drive, converting on a one yard keeper in just 4:03 to make it 7-0 Bulldogs. With 12:30 to go into the second quarter, Rawlings hit receiver Reed Klubnik for a seven yard touchdown to make extend the lead to 14-0. Maine (2-2) had some good chances in first half including getting some great field position on a Yale fumble, but couldn’t convert and it also included a 44 yard field goal by Kenny Doak that came up short. The Bears also had a turnover on downs where they were unable to pick up a yard on a third and a fourth and short on two runs by tailback Joe Fitzpatrick in Yale territory, and another drive where on a 3rd and short the ball was snapped over the head of Robinson resulting in a 20 yard loss. The visitors only had 75 total offensive yards at intermission, that included a 2-8 passing effort from Robinson for six yards and still trailed 14-0.
With 4:42 left in the third quarter, Trenton Charles broke through the Maine defense for a 15 yard touchdown run that upped the hosts lead to 21-0. However 50 seconds later, Maine broke their streak of seven quarters with no touchdowns, as Robinson found Earnest Edwards wide open on a playaction pass. The 50 yard touchdown would cut the deficit to 21-7.
Yale (2-1) had the answer though as Klubnik caught his second touchdown of the day 3:30 later, 24 yards from Rawlings made it 28-7 headed to the final quarter. Jacquain Blair made a one handed catch and broke a tackle just 20 seconds into the fourth quarter, taking it 63 yards for a score and Maine was back within 28-14 with a ton of time to play with 14:40 left. The Bears caught a break on the ensuing possession by the Bulldogs, as Rawlings attempted a forward flip pass that was intercepted by Maines Kately Joseph at the Yale 30 who returned it to the 17. However another turnover on downs with four incomplete passes turned the ball back over to Yale. After Maine turned the ball over on downs at their own 33 with 5:18 left, Klubnik caught his third touchdown of the day from Rawlings with 1:13 to play. The six yard score on a fourth down play ended the scoring on the day and secured the Bulldogs second straight win.
Robinson finished the day 10-27 passing, 179 yards, and two touchdowns. Maine got more one dimensional in the second half with going to mostly the passing game, as Fitzpatrick had eight rushes for 44 yards in first half, and finished with 10 rushes for 44 yards in the game. Freshman running back Ramon Jefferson who had a solid start to the day left early with an upper body injury (5 attempts, 23 yards). Blair had the one big catch for 63 yards and a touchdown, Edwards caught two passes for 58 yards and a touchdown, while Micah Wright caught four passes for 30 yards. Jeffrey DeVaughn led the Maine defense with a career high nine tackles, while DeShawn Stevens added seven. The Bears were able to pick up 189 yards in the second half after a slow start, for a total of 264 for the day. Maine, who was holding opponents to 1.1 yard per rush this season to lead the FCS, also did slow down the Yale rushing attack after a good start, holding the Bulldogs to 90 yards total on 40 attempts (2.3 yard average).
Rawlings had a big day for Yale, completing 22-36, 306 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He also ran for a score. Freshman Spencer Alston rushed 21 times for 50 yards. JP Shohfi had a ton of big catches on the day, including on third down, catching 10 balls for 124 yards. Klubnik had six receptions for 85 yards, with three of those catches going for touchdowns. Jordan Carey had six total tackles to lead the Bulldogs defense. Yale had 396 total yards of offense. Efficiency was also the receipe for success in the game, as the Bulldogs were 8-15 on third down, 5-5 in the redzone, and had the ball nearly 10 minutes more than the Black Bears.
Maine (1-0 in CAA) will head back home for first time in over a month as they host Villanova next Saturday at Alfond Stadium at 3:30 pm. in a huge early season conference clash. Villanova was ranked #13 in the FCS entering Saturdays play, but lost 29-27 at #18 Stony Brook after holding a 21-6 halftime lead, dropping them to 3-2 and 0-2 in the conference.
UME (2-2) 0 0 7 7- 14
YAL (2-1) 7 7 14 7- 35
Total yards- Maine 264 Yale 396
First downs- Maine 13 Yale 22
Turnovers- Maine 0 Yale 3
Time of possession- Maine 25:03 Yale 34:57
