2018 Maine Black Bears football team

2018 Maine Black Bears football
2018 Maine Black Bears football
CAA champion
FCS Playoffs Semifinals, L 19–50 vs. Eastern Washington
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
STATS	No. 4
FCS Coaches	No. 5
Record	10–4 (7–1 CAA)
Head coach	Joe Harasymiak (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Nick Charlton (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Corey Hetherman (3rd season)
Home stadium	Alfond Stadium
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 4 Maine $^	7	–	1	10	–	4
No. 9 James Madison ^	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 16 Stony Brook ^	5	–	3	7	–	5
No. 20 Towson ^	5	–	3	7	–	5
No. 24 Delaware ^	5	–	3	7	–	5
No. 19 Elon ^	4	–	3	6	–	5
Rhode Island	4	–	4	6	–	5
William & Mary	3	–	4	4	–	6
New Hampshire	3	–	5	4	–	7
Villanova	2	–	6	5	–	6
Richmond	2	–	6	4	–	7
Albany	1	–	7	3	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 Maine Black Bears football team represented the University of Maine in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They played their home games at Alfond Stadium. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. They were led by third-year head coach Joe Harasymiak.^[1] They finished the season 10–4, 7–1 in CAA play to be crowned CAA champions. They received the CAA's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where, after a first round bye, they defeated Jacksonville State in the second round, and Weber State in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to Eastern Washington.

Preseason

CAA Poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 24, 2018, the Black Bears were predicted to finish in eighth place.^[2]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	James Madison	241 (21)
2	New Hampshire	206 (2)
3	Delaware	182
4	Stony Brook	169
5	Elon	168 (1)
6	Villanova	164
7	Richmond	127
8	Maine	81
9	Albany	78
10	Towson	74
11	William & Mary	55
12	Rhode Island	39

Preseason All-CAA Team

The Black Bears had three players selected to the preseason all-CAA team.

Defense

Kayon Whitaker – DL

Special teams

Earnest Edwards – KR

Mozai Nelson – Specialist

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:00 p.m.	No. 7 New Hampshire		Alfond Stadium Orono, ME (Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket)	FCS/FSGO	W 35–7	6,597
September 8	7:30 p.m.	at Western Kentucky*	No. 22	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	ESPN+	W 31–28	15,178
September 22	3:00 p.m.	at Central Michigan*	No. 13	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN+	L 5–17	16,474
September 29	1:00 p.m.	at Yale*	No. 16	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	ESPN+	L 14–35	7,889
October 6	3:30 p.m.	No. 19 Villanova	No. 25	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME	FCS/WVII/WIPL	W 13–10	6,894
October 13	12:00 p.m.	at No. 16 Rhode Island	No. 21	Meade Stadium Kingston, RI	CAA.tv	W 38–36	7,301
October 20	3:30 p.m.	at William & Mary	No. 16	Zable Stadium Williamsburg, VA	Cox Yurview	L 20–27	10,462
October 27	1:00 p.m.	Albany	No. 24	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME	FCS/WVII/WIPL	W 28–9	9,248
November 3	4:00 p.m.	at No. 15 Towson	No. 23	Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD	CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive	W 35–28	7,356
November 10	3:00 p.m.	at Richmond	No. 16	Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	NBCS WA+	W 28–9	7,820
November 17	12:00 p.m.	No. 14 Elon	No. 16	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME	FCS/WVII/WIPL	W 27–26	6,584
December 1	12:00 p.m.	No. 8 Jacksonville State	No. 12	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	W 55–27	6,145
December 7	8:00 p.m.	at No. 3 Weber State	No. 12	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN2	W 23–18	7,726
December 15	2:00 p.m.	at No. 4 Eastern Washington	No. 12	Roos Field Cheney, WA (NCAA Division I Semifinal)	ESPN2	L 19–50	7,529
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[3]

Game summaries

New Hampshire

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Wildcats	0	0	0	7	7
Black Bears	0	22	7	6	35

At Western Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Black Bears	0	14	14	3	31
Hilltoppers	21	0	0	7	28

At Central Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Black Bears	0	0	3	2	5
Chippewas	0	10	0	7	17

At Yale

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Black Bears	0	0	7	7	14
Bulldogs	7	7	14	7	35

Villanova

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Wildcats	3	0	7	0	10
No. 25 Black Bears	0	3	7	3	13

At Rhode Island

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Black Bears	7	7	8	16	38
No. 16 Rams	10	6	14	6	36

At William & Mary

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Black Bears	10	7	0	3	20
Tribe	7	7	3	10	27

Albany

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	0	0	3	6	9
No. 24 Black Bears	14	7	0	7	28

At Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Black Bears	7	14	7	7	35
No. 15 Tigers	0	7	14	7	28

At Richmond

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Black Bears	14	7	7	0	28
Spiders	0	3	0	6	9

Elon

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Phoenix	0	10	10	6	26
No. 16 Black Bears	0	14	13	0	27

FCS Playoffs

Maine received a bye in the first round.
Box scores:^[4]^[5]^[6]

Jacksonville State–Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Gamecocks	7	7	10	3	27
No. 12 Black Bears	21	21	7	6	55

At Weber State–Quarterfinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Black Bears	0	7	7	9	23
No. 3 Wildcats	0	3	9	6	18

At Eastern Washington–Semifinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Black Bears	0	0	19	0	19
No. 4 Eagles	21	7	15	7	50

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	—	22	17	13	16	25	21	16	24	23	16	16	12	4
Coaches	—	25	20	16	16	25	22	20	RV	RV	21	19	14	5

References

^ "Football Announces 2018 Schedule". goblackbears.com. University of Maine Athletics. November 1, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
^ Washburn, Rob (July 24, 2018). "James Madison Favored To Win Fourth Straight CAA Football Title in 2018". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
^ "2018 Maine Football Schedule". goblackbears.com. University of Maine Athletics. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
^ "Jacksonville State vs. Maine - Game Summary - December 1, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN. December 9, 2018.
^ "Maine vs. Weber State - Game Summary - December 8, 2018 - ESPN". December 9, 2018.
^ "Maine vs. Eastern Washington - Game Summary - December 15, 2018 - ESPN". December 9, 2018.

[1] "Football Announces 2018 Schedule". goblackbears.com. University of Maine Athletics. November 1, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2018.

[2] Washburn, Rob (July 24, 2018). "James Madison Favored To Win Fourth Straight CAA Football Title in 2018". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved July 24, 2018.

[3] "2018 Maine Football Schedule". goblackbears.com. University of Maine Athletics. Retrieved April 17, 2018.

[4] "Jacksonville State vs. Maine - Game Summary - December 1, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN. December 9, 2018.

[5] "Maine vs. Weber State - Game Summary - December 8, 2018 - ESPN". December 9, 2018.

[6] "Maine vs. Eastern Washington - Game Summary - December 15, 2018 - ESPN". December 9, 2018.

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v t e Maine Black Bears football
Venues	Alfond Sports Stadium (1947–present) Fitzpatrick Stadium (alternate)
Bowls & rivalries	1965 Tangerine Bowl New Hampshire: Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket
Culture & lore	Black Bear Sports Network
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e 2018 NCAA Division I FCS playoff participants
Colgate Delaware Duquesne East Tennessee State Eastern Washington Elon Incarnate Word Jacksonville State James Madison Kennesaw State Lamar Maine Montana State Nicholls North Dakota State Northern Iowa San Diego South Dakota State Southeast Missouri State Stony Brook Towson UC Davis Weber State Wofford
Champion – North Dakota State