The University of Maine's mascot is the Black Bears, which is a fitting name and unique at that. Most teams are just the Bears or the Grizzlies. Not Maine. They are the Black Bears, and to really capture the essence of what if means to be a University of Maine Black Bear, their colors are black and blue. But what truly makes this Black Bears team so good? Well, I did some digging to get to the heart of this topic.
My first step was to do a history check on this program. What I uncovered was exactly what I expected: they have been pretty average. The team started in 1892, which I must admit was a shocker. These guys were playing leather cap football! They have an all-time record of 569-413-33, which is slightly above average, but for Maine football I'm going to say that is pretty good. The Black Bears have also clawed their way to thirteen conference titles and eight playoff appearances. Their last appearance was in 2013 with a loss to bitter rival New Hampshire in the second round.
Today's team is not the same Black Bears of '13. The Black Bears this season scored an average of 27.42 points per game while only allowing their opponents to score 21.58 points per game. They averaged 134 yards on the ground and 209 in the air. This Maine football team can certainly play. The roster seems impressive. Sophomore quarterback Chris Ferguson threw for 1,877 yards with 19 TDs and 8 INTs. He completed 57.84% of his passes and his QB rating is 129.05. Not great, but not bad. Ferguson did, however, throw five TDs in last week's dismantling of Jacksonville State in the playoffs. Their rushing attack was equally as effective.
The next question I had to ask myself was, "Who did they play?" As sometimes happens, teams can plan easy schedules and get in the playoffs. As I looked into this, I found that the Black Bears went 8-3 on the season and picked up wins against Western Kentucky, Richmond and Villanova. I'm not saying these teams are setting the world on fire, but for a school I had never heard of before, defeating these teams is pretty impressive.
The University of Maine Black Bears are the underdog that no one is talking about, mostly because they play FCS football (but I digress). Am I saying that this scrappy team from the pine trees of the northeast has a chance to win the National Title? Probably not. To do so they would have to beat North Dakota State; but, just like the 1976 "Bad News Bears," they certainly have the opportunity to win all of our hearts.
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