After an impressive season opening win over Sacred Heart University out of the Northeast Conference, the University of Maine football team faces their first major challenge of the 2019 season when it steps up into the FBS and travels to Statesboro, Georgia to face Georgia Southern this Saturday night.
#6 FCS ranked Maine got a great performance out of junior quarterback Chris Ferguson who amassed over 400 passing yards in the first half last Friday night in the win over the Pioneers at Alfond Stadium. Ferguson finished 23-29, 423 yards, with three touchdowns. The Black Bears offense expects to be explosive again this season and will need all of that when it faces the Eagles on Saturday.
Georgia Southern (0-1) is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and is out of the Sun Belt Conference. GSU had to travel to the #6 team in FBS out of the SEC in LSU last Saturday and was beaten handily by the Tigers 55-3. Maine and Georgia Southern have faced each other three previous times when the Eagles were on the FCS level, with GSU winning all three previous games against the Black Bears which were also all in the FCS playoffs. The Black Bears are 3-17 overall against FBS opponents including a 31-28 win over Western Kentucky last season. Maines other two victories over FBS schools came in 2004 with a 9-7 win over Mississippi State, and then 24-14 over UMass in 2013.
Maine has the offensive firepower to stay in this game, but with the loss of linebacker Deshawn Stevens for the season with an Achilles injury I don’t believe the Bears will be able to slow down the Eagles enough to come back to Orono with a win. Expect a close game for the first half and into the third quarter but Georgia Southern will pull away to win their home opener- Georgia Southern 38, Maine 20. The game can be seen with a 6 p.m. kickoff Saturday on ESPN Plus.
Maine quarterback Chris Ferguson celebrates a big play by wide receiver Devin Young (2) during the Black Bears 42-14 win over Sacred Heart in the season opener on August 31 in Orono. Photo by Anthony DelMonaco
