The nor’easter that swept through Maine Thursday didn’t stop the Colby College football team from taking the field for its typical early morning practice, although coach Jack Cosgrove adjusted the Mules’ schedule.
“We thought it would be worse, actually,” Cosgrove said after practice ended with positional meetings in Colby’s fieldhouse. “Thursday is a shorter day, anyway. We stretched in here (Colby’s fieldhouse). We did our walk through. We kept them from getting extra wet, I guess. We cut a couple periods. We did our two-minute drill, which we usually do Thursday, we did it (Wednesday). We just plan ahead when stuff like this is coming. You want to maximize what you get done despite what’s going on.”
This has been a week of refocusing after a 27-26 loss at undefeated Middlebury, a game which was Colby’s best effort so far this season — yet also its toughest loss. The Mules led 13-0 in the first half, only to see Middlebury rally for 27 unanswered points. Colby rallied and had a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter when Ty Mahar recovered a Panther fumble for a touchdown. The ensuing extra point was missed, and a 32-yard field goal with 22 seconds left was wide right, allowing Middlebury to escape with the one-point win.
“We’re in a ball game there. We’re ahead, behind. We fought our asses off to get back. I can’t tell you how good it was to see us respond to the fact they got up on us by two touchdowns. We came back and had a chance to win it,” Cosgrove said.
The loss dropped Colby to 0-5, and clinched a sixth straight losing season. Colby went .500 (4-4) in 2013, and last had a winning record in 2005, when it went 7-1 and finished second in the New England Small College Athletic Conference.
“They’re invested in the game. They’re invested in practice. They’re invested in everything they do for us,” Cosgrove said of his team. “We just haven’t got the reward yet. That was an undefeated team on their Homecoming. It would’ve been a heck of a win. It happened, and we’ve got to move on and play what I think is the most talented team in the league, by far.”
Colby’s next opponent is Trinity, the three-time defending NESCAC champion. Despite Trinity’s 3-2 record, Cosgrove sees the Bantams as the team to beat in the league.
“You look at them on film, their players are bigger, faster and stronger than anybody else’s. That’s what you see,” Cosgrove said.
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Maine (2-4, 0-3 CAA) takes a break from Colonial Athletic Association play this weekend to play at Football Bowl Subdivision Liberty.
Maine won the previous meeting, 42-20, in 1992. Maine had five interceptions in that game and returned three for touchdowns.
This is the second game this season against an FBS opponent for Maine. The Black Bears lost at Georgia Southern, 26-18, on Sept. 7. This is the fifth consecutive season Maine has a pair of games against FBS opponents on the schedule. In 2017, Maine’s game against Central Florida was cancelled when the Knights had to reschedule a American Athletic Conference game against Memphis postponed early in the season by Hurricane Irma.
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Husson and the University of New England meet in Bangor on Saturday afternoon for the first time as Commonwealth Coast Conference opponents. Last season, Husson traveled to Biddeford to face the Nor’easters in a non-conference game and came away with a 44-7 win.
So far, Husson has been right at home in its new conference. After an 0-3 start in non-conference play, the Eagles won their first two CCC game. It beat Becker, 28-12, and then
University of New England running back Devon Charles runs up the middle during a Sept. 28 game against Western New England College in Biddeford. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer
held off Curry, 42-40, in a shootout last week. The CCC is expected to be a step up in competition for Husson, which dominated its previous league, the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference, losing one league came in the last five seasons.
UNE (2-3, 0-2 CCC) is coming off a bye week, and is looking for its first conference win of the season. The Nor’easter fell to Curry, 34-31, on Oct. 5 in their last game. UNE’s other conference loss was a 50-38 loss at Western New England.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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