The Maine Black Bears made their furthest road trip in school history for a regular season football game on Saturday night. Maine didn’t enjoy their stay, as the New Mexico Lobos out of the FBS held them to just 118 total yards in a 41-0 season opening win at University Stadium in Albuquerque in front of a crowd of 15,166. The game also marked the head coaching debut of Jordan Stevens, a Black Bear alum and former player.
The teams played to a scoreless first quarter, before New Mexico began the first scoring drive of the night with 5:40 to go in the opening 15 minutes that lasted into the second. Sherod White finished off an 11 play, 60 yard drive with a four yard touchdown run seven seconds into the second quarter to make it 7-0 Lobos. New Mexico added two more TDs before the half to extend the lead on a 13 yard scoring run by Luke Wysong that capped off a 51 yard drive, and a 10 yard TD reception by Wysong from quarterback Miles Kendrick as the hosts led 21-0 at the break. Maine only managed 49 yards in the first half.
New Mexico scored twice in the third quarter in a span of 3:02 as White scored on a three yard run, and Jah’Mar Sanders found the endzone on a 10 yard scamper. The scoring was finished off in the fourth on a Kendrick to Geordon Porter seven yard pass and catch. Maine only had the ball in Lobos territory six times in the game and those resulted in a lost fumble, an interception, three punts, and a turnover on downs.
Joe Fagnano went 12-27 passing for 96 yards and an interception in the loss for Maine. The Black Bears had 20 rushing attempts for a net total of 22 yards. Sean Bowman (40 yards) and Xavier Scott (17 yards) both had three receptions. Brian Lee, Jr. led the defense with eight total tackles and a sack, while Xavier Nurse and Kahzir “Buggs” Brown had an interception each. Kendrick went 14-17 for 170 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in the win for New Mexico. White had 13 carries for 58 yards and two touchdowns, while Porter caught five passes for 54 yards and a score. Wysong had 94 all-purpose yards (43 rushing, 51 receiving) with one touchdown on the ground and one receiving. Jerrick Reed II had seven total tackles for the Lobos, who are out of the Mountain West Conference. Reco Hannah also had 1.5 sacks. Maine returns to Orono for the home opener next Saturday at 1 p.m. when they battle Colgate. The Black Bears are now 4-24 all-time against FBS opponents with the wins coming against UMass (2013, 2021), Western Kentucky (2018), and Mississippi State (2004).
