ORONO — Latrell Couchman smiled when he thought of his sack on the second play from scrimmage Saturday afternoon. The University of Maine senior linebacker and co-captain came off the left edge unblocked and untouched until he made contact with Stony Brook quarterback Quinn Boyd for a 5-yard loss.

The play was a harbinger of what was to come, and Couchman and his teammates knew it.

“When my number’s called, I’m the captain of the defense, and I want to set the tone for the team, and that’s what I did. It’s a great feeling,” Couchman said.

Maine’s 28-21 win over the Seawolves at Alfond Stadium came largely because the Black Bears made Stony Brook one dimensional, completely erasing the run game from the Seawolves’ playbook.

Three yards. That was Stony Brook’s team rushing total.

Stony Brook entered the game leading the Coastal Athletic Association in rushing, averaging just under 187 yards per game. Roland Dempster has been a yard-chewing machine for the Seawolves, sixth in the Football Championship Subdivision with 890 yards on the ground when he woke up Saturday morning, averaging 111.2 yards per game.

“What did he get?” Maine coach Jordan Stevens asked, glancing down at the stat sheet on the table in front of him for Dempster’s yardage total. “I’m sure it was not enough to have an impact on the game, and that was a big concern of ours.”

Thanks to Maine’s defense, which controlled the line of scrimmage and gave the Seawolves no room to run, Dempster had less of an impact on the game than the sustained swirling winds in Alfond Stadium. Dempster finished with 22 yards on 14 carries, nine coming on one run.

“If there’s one thing we looked at in their offense, it was limiting him. We knew we might not stop him, but to limit him was going to be a key to victory,” Stevens said.

Dempster and Boyd were the only two players to carry the ball for the Seawolves. Because yards lost via a sack count against rushing totals in college football, and because the Black Bears sacked Boyd five times and had seven tackles for a loss, he finished the game with minus-19 yards.

“Line of scrimmage play was not good enough at all,” Stony Brook coach Billy Cosh said. “Maine played more physical than us.”

Dempster did score a pair of touchdowns, both on dives into the end zone from less than a yard out. When he needed yards to move the chains or put Stony Brook in a short yardage situation, however, they simply weren’t there to be found.

“We love a challenge like that. All the boys, we were very motivated to go out there and do our jobs,” said Couchman, who finished the game with seven tackles.

After an 0-4 start to the season, Maine has won five straight. Now 5-4 overall, and 4-1 in CAA play, the Black Bears are playing meaningful football in November for the first time since 2018, when they won the conference and advanced to the FCS semifinals. A big reason for that is a run defense that has been outstanding in four of the five wins.

Last week, Elon gained just 103 yards on the ground, averaging 3.3 yards per carry. In a win at Bryant on Oct. 4, Maine held the Bulldogs to 83 yards on the ground and 2.4 yards per carry. In a win at home over North Carolina A&T that started Maine’s streak, the Black Bears gave up just 69 yards on the ground – 2.2 per carry.

Limiting explosive plays is key, Stevens said. The Seawolves had a few in the passing game, throwing for 299 yards because it was the only choice they had, but Maine did enough to prevent Stony Brook from gaining yards in huge chunks.

“We’ve been able to force teams to earn it. If they’re going to score, they’re going to drive the field, not from explosive (plays),” Stevens said. “Every week, that’s a challenge.”

Next week, Maine plays at Hampton, a team that averages 176 yards per game on the ground. It’s another challenge for Couchman and his teammates as they try to extend their winning streak to six.