After an impressive 35-7 thumping of #7 UNH last Thursday in Orono in their season opener, the now #22 Maine football team will face a stiffer challenge this week when they head on the road to face FBS opponent Western Kentucky in the Hilltoppers home opener Saturday night.
WKU (0-1) is coming off a 34-3 defeat to #4 Wisconsin at Camp Randall last Friday night. The Hilltoppers are coming off a 6-7 campaign in 2017, where they finished 4-4 in Conference USA good enough for an invitation to the Cure Bowl, where they fell 27-17 to Georgia State.
Senior quarterback Drew Eckels led the offense for WKU with 167 yards passing and 38 yards rushing, making up for 205 yards of the 305 the visitors had in the game with the Badgers. Leading rusher from last season D’Andre Furby was held to just 11 yards on three carries.
Maine got a well balanced effort in their blowout win over UNH, as offensively quarterback Chris Ferguson passed for 199 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and running backs Joe Fitzpatrick and Ramon Jefferson combined for 154 yards and a touchdown out of the backfield. The defense put up six sacks and held the Wildcats to -15 yards rushing. Maine will need to use a well balanced attack offensively, limit mistakes, and get another big effort from their defense in order to pull the upset this week. The Bears didn’t turn the ball over in week one.
This is the first ever meeting between Maine and Western Kentucky. The Bears are 2-0 all time against Conference USA, defeating Florida International both in 2002 and 2003. Maine seeks their first win over an FBS opponent since knocking off Massachusetts 24-14 back in 2013. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN Plus.
