Maine @ UNH, Thursday Nite Throwdown

[CenMEBlackBearFan]

Does Maine have any chance of breaking the dominance that UNH has had over Maine? Initial thought are probably not with Maine starting a red-shirt freshman, Chris Ferguson. Maine does return 8 starters from it's offense but going with a QB who has never taken a game time college snap is asking a lot. He has the weapons with his returning WR's and his RB's and an experienced OL should help as well. McDonnell and staff have owned Maine in the past but 30 yr old head Coach Harasymiak seems to have a controlled infectious attitude that gives Maine a fighting chance. Coach H has called this the biggest game of the year and the team seems confident to try to get the Brice-Cowell musket back to Orono.
Maine does own a 4-1-1 record when starting the season with UNH.
Can't wait, 2 days and counting.:D
GO MAINE!!!

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I'm going to be interested to see the interest and attendance at this game, moving it from the last weekend of the season to the first Thursday of Week 1. Personally to me it feels like a mistake. I think big rivalries like this should be regular season-enders.

[DirtyDukes]

Based on how they played at the end of last season, and how much I think of Coach Joe, I'm taking Maine 35-34 in an all-time classic CAA game.

[LUHawker]

I'm going to be interested to see the interest and attendance at this game, moving it from the last weekend of the season to the first Thursday of Week 1. Personally to me it feels like a mistake. I think big rivalries like this should be regular season-enders.

I'd never want L-L moved from being the season-ender, but for a rivalry like UNH-Maine, which hasn't always been the final game of the season, I think it brings some excitement to the start of the season.

[ccd494]

I'm going to be interested to see the interest and attendance at this game, moving it from the last weekend of the season to the first Thursday of Week 1. Personally to me it feels like a mistake. I think big rivalries like this should be regular season-enders.

Seeing as this is the debut of UNH's completely revamped stadium, I think it will be fine.

[citdog]

I was going to point out the fact that UNH has a renovated stadium but the fella from Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's home State pointed it out first. Thankfully not with a bayonet.

[CenMEBlackBearFan]

Seeing as this is the debut of UNH's completely revamped stadium, I think it will be fine.

I too can't wait to see the new stadium. My last trip to Durham was 2013 and even though UNH needed a win to get into the playoffs and we had clinched a CAA title we got rolled by UNH again. Hoping this game has that end of season feel even though it's the first game of the year. Also looking forward to being on the old "home" side as the visitors bleachers left something to be desired.xdrunkyx

[Anthony215]

I think Maine will shock a lot of people. Their R-Fr QB Chris Fergurson was a gamer in high school a tough kid with a strong arm and great pocket presence. I thought he would have at least garnered some MAC or AAC offers but they never came and I think he'll end up a good to great 4 year starter for the Bears.

[UNHWildcat18]

This game is going to be the best atmosphere UNH has ever seen. I think Maine will be a good team but I don't see them beating us at home.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

It's a travesty these two are playing so early in the year! Maine should be tough but UNH will be brutally tough to beat at home...

[dunbar]

According to the powers at be, the game vs. Massachusetts at Fenway on Veterans Day wreaked havoc on the conference schedule, which caused this game to be pushed to Week 1. Although, the fact that Week 12 is UM-SBU and UNH-UA makes me call BS on that one. The Musket should always be Week 12, unless Maine and New Hampshire get in as cupcakes on the FBS Week 12 schedule.

[UNHWildcat18]

According to the powers at be, the game vs. Massachusetts at Fenway on Veterans Day wreaked havoc on the conference schedule, which caused this game to be pushed to Week 1. Although, the fact that Week 12 is UM-SBU and UNH-UA makes me call BS on that one. The Musket should always be Week 12, unless Maine and New Hampshire get in as cupcakes on the FBS Week 12 schedule.

it had to do with the bye week schedule. I believe it was either UNH and Maine play now or both have a bye week in the first 3 weeks of the season. Now they both get to have one right in the middle. If someone could check that for me that'd be great.

[DallasSpider]

If it was a couple games in allowing the freshman qb some reps and in Orono, I'd go with Maine.

[dunbar]

it had to do with the bye week schedule. I believe it was either UNH and Maine play now or both have a bye week in the first 3 weeks of the season. Now they both get to have one right in the middle. If someone could check that for me that'd be great.

Maine's bye is Week 3.

[UNHWildcat18]

Maine's bye is Week 3.

lol looks like Just UNH got their bye week mid season

[CenMEBlackBearFan]

Question for UNH fans. I see online there is only 88 spots for Boulder tailgating. Do you recommend getting these ahead of time, I won't be there till 4pm or so???

[yorkcountyUNHfan]

Question for UNH fans. I see online there is only 88 spots for Boulder tailgating. Do you recommend getting these ahead of time, I won't be there till 4pm or so???

You should try to get the space ahead of time. They will go quickly.

[Mattymc727]

Someone on the UNH board mentioned over 15k tickets were sold last week. Not sure if that's true but I'd imagine a packed house considering seating capacity is only 12k

[dunbar]

Someone on the UNH board mentioned over 15k tickets were sold last week. Not sure if that's true but I'd imagine a packed house considering seating capacity is only 12k

Does New Hampshire still do the "ticket to enter tailgate" thing? Because that inflates attendance figures like crazy.

[jmufan999]

i like UNH in this one, but I wouldn't be stunned to see Maine win. surprised, not stunned. UNH is just too tough out of the gate and at home. I think my prediction was 34-17.

[NHwildEcat]

Someone on the UNH board mentioned over 15k tickets were sold last week. Not sure if that's true but I'd imagine a packed house considering seating capacity is only 12k

At Homecoming last year they SOLD over 22K tickets...

If 15 have been sold, then I will be purchasing a GA ticket at the door... :) I prefer to stand over on top of the old seats anyways.

[CenMEBlackBearFan]

Overview of the game from the UMaine website.
http://goblackbears.com/news/2017/8/29/thursday-night-throwdown-football-opens-season-at-new-hampshire.aspx

[KPSUL]

They have thousands of seats left to sell.

[KPSUL]

Does Maine have any chance of breaking the dominance that UNH has had over Maine? the team seems confident to try to get the Brice-Cowell musket back to Orono.


Yes, but not today. Although I said the same thing last year about Dartmouth and look how that one turned out.

What musket?

[jmufan999]

am I going to be able to get this game on any type of TV or streaming site?

[Mattymc727]

Streamed for free here: http://www.collegesportslive.com/index_ie.html?media=560184

- - - Updated - - -

5 Maine players suspended for tonight...

https://bangordailynews.com/2017/08/31/sports/key-players-missing-as-umaine-football-team-battles-rival-unh-in-opener/

[ASU33]

Streamed for free here: http://www.collegesportslive.com/index_ie.html?media=560184

- - - Updated - - -

5 Maine players suspended for tonight...

https://bangordailynews.com/2017/08/31/sports/key-players-missing-as-umaine-football-team-battles-rival-unh-in-opener/

I'll be tuned in.

[jmufan999]

Streamed for free here: http://www.collegesportslive.com/index_ie.html?media=560184

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5 Maine players suspended for tonight...

https://bangordailynews.com/2017/08/31/sports/key-players-missing-as-umaine-football-team-battles-rival-unh-in-opener/

thanks, Matty. on the suspensions, anyone suspended from "late last fall" is probably drugs. speculation, of course. but my guess would be the usual 5.5 games.

[dwtime]

Lorden with the TD reception, UNH up 7-0

[CaryNCDuke]

Both teams giving up big yards against the run.

[jmufan999]

beautiful back shoulder TD throw by the Maine QB. UNH 7, Maine 7

[dwtime]

Maine TD pass 7-7.

[CaryNCDuke]

And turnover

[dwtime]

That was a pass not a fumble.

[jmufan999]

That was a pass not a fumble.

clearly. an awful call. got it wrong on the field, got it wrong on the replay which i thought was quite obvious.

[RootinFerDukes]

How wasn't it a fumble. his knee may have been down simultaneously with the ball coming loose from his grasp. isn't that a referee judgement call?

[ccd494]

clearly. an awful call. got it wrong on the field, got it wrong on the replay which i thought was quite obvious.

Arm doesn't come back and move forward. He meant to pass it, but trying to flip it like that he made his own bed.

[CaryNCDuke]

I think that falls in judgement call timing. No real right call from the outside.

[dwtime]

How wasn't it a fumble. his knee may have been down simultaneously with the ball coming loose from his grasp. isn't that a referee judgement call?

Agreed if that was a fumble then every shovel pass is a fumble.

[RootinFerDukes]

Agreed if that was a fumble then every shovel pass is a fumble.

Well it's a moot point now as maine punts it away.

[jmufan999]

Arm doesn't come back and move forward. He meant to pass it, but trying to flip it like that he made his own bed.

there is no rule that your arm must come backward. as dwtime said, shovel passes are forward passes. it was clear that it was an attempted forward pass. nonbiased observer talking to a biased observer.

[jmufan999]

interception for Maine... flag pending

- - - Updated - - -

interception wiped away by penalty. first down UNH.

[dwtime]

Terrible throw by Knight.

[dwtime]

Guess Maine didn't see the UNH Blue and White game as they scored then too!

- - - Updated - - -

14-7 UNH

[jmufan999]

when you play UNH, you HAVE to expect tricks. it is as inevitable as the sun rising.

[dwtime]

Wow clear hold on the Maine running play, no call.

[jmufan999]

really nice throw by Ferguson on 3rd and long for Maine. 1st down Maine.

UNH 14
Maine 7
end of the 1st

[dwtime]

Our strength this year was supposed to be defense, oh wait Lyons is the coordinator what was I thinking?

[dwtime]

Crap nice punt, really nice punt by Maine.

[jmufan999]

Goode is really special.

[dwtime]

Nice D by Maine on that throw, he doesn't get his hand in there its a TD.

[dwtime]

Why aren't the refs looking at the replay? That was a catch!!!

[dwtime]

UNH and Maine trade FG's, UNH up 17-10

[jmufan999]

what was UNH doing on that run? that was awful.

[jmufan999]

Mack already has 82 yards on 14 carries. Abdullah's (JMU) best game of two last year against UNH was 87 yards. and it's not halftime yet.

scratch that, he just went backward a few yards.

[dwtime]

what was UNH doing on that run? that was awful.

That's our great defensive coordinator.

[jmufan999]

good lord, Maine. blocked kick, missed kick. i didn't see enough to know if the blocked kick was a bad kick or just a great block, but bottom line is that this is how you lose really crucial conference games.

[jmufan999]

INT for Maine

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FANTASTIC throw by Ferguson. TD Maine, will tie it up at 17, pending the PAT. which will probably be missed.

[dwtime]

Tie game our QB is playing terrible, Maine QB is pretty good.

[dwtime]

Maine gets away with a nice face mask

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UNH is playing mediocre but these refs suck.

[jmufan999]

Maine gets away with a nice face mask

- - - Updated - - -

UNH is playing mediocre but these refs suck.

every year i forget how bad the officiating is at this level.

- - - Updated - - -

blown coverage by Maine leads to a UNH TD.

[dwtime]

He touched that in bounds who are these bozo's?

[RootinFerDukes]

Wasn't that a safety? He touched it in bounds so it's a live ball, right? He had to advance it out of the endzone and did not.

[dwtime]

Late hit? Jesus who are these refs?

[jmufan999]

8 penalties for Maine so far. shooting themselves in the foot.

[dwtime]

Christ these refs..................That was good defence!

[jmufan999]

in a rivalry game (sort of), i'd expect nothing less than the game to come down to the last 10 minutes.... and as soon as i type that, he misses the extra point.

so that's
1 blocked FG
1 missed FG
1 missed PAT

that's pretty pathetic.

[RootinFerDukes]

Maine is finding ways to lose this football game.

[The Pud]

Boring game. Yaaaawwwwnn.

[jmufan999]

if i'm a UNH fan, and my team loses tonight, i think i'd be sick to my stomach.

[jmufan999]

looking good for UNH. one more play.

[dwtime]

What the hell the UNH guy came out with the ball!!!!!!! Jesus these guys are clowns!

[jmufan999]

hey, 2001 posts for me! a real space odyssey.

[The Pud]

Maine really looks bad.

[jmufan999]

Maine really looks bad.

you just said the game is boring, why are you still watching?

[jmufan999]

that'll do it. UNH hangs on for the win.

[The Pud]

you just said the game is boring, why are you still watching?


because I just woke up you idiot

[dwtime]

The announcer said what a football game, really? Both teams have a long way to go. UNH needs to develop another QB Knight is not a D1 QB.

[dwtime]

Boring game. Yaaaawwwwnn.

No that would be the game last December 9th..........xnodx

[jmufan999]

UNH needs to develop another QB Knight is not a D1 QB.

idk, i thought he was fine. he was your leading rusher, that's the problem. the running game wasn't there and your pass coverage looked pretty bad at times. think you might get carved up by the better QBs in the league.

[Mattymc727]

Whole lot of ugly there. Woof on both teams. I miss the good ol days of CAA football...

[The Pud]

No that would be the game last December 9th..........xnodx


yaaawnnn.

[dwtime]

idk, i thought he was fine. he was your leading rusher, that's the problem. the running game wasn't there and your pass coverage looked pretty bad at times. think you might get carved up by the better QBs in the league.

Well we have a redshirt freshman that is bigger at 6-2 (Knight is 5-11), also can run (maybe not quite as well), doesn't panic in the pocket and can find open receivers. He is the backup and I think he has a bigger upside.

[dwtime]

Rhody may be back, taking Central Michigan into overtime.

[jmufan999]

Well we have a redshirt freshman that is bigger at 6-2 (Knight is 5-11), also can run (maybe not quite as well), doesn't panic in the pocket and can find open receivers. He is the backup and I think he has a bigger upside.

you know what they say, the most popular person on the team is the backup QB. careful what you wish for. if he's the best guy, Sean will put him in. he's probably not ready yet.

[dwtime]

you know what they say, the most popular person on the team is the backup QB. careful what you wish for. if he's the best guy, Sean will put him in. he's probably not ready yet.

As a long time UNH fan I have to say Sean stays with his starter to a fault. History doesn't agree with you.

[KPSUL]

Just got back from the game and read through the thread.

Here's some comments in random order:

Maine has a good find in Freshman QB Chris Ferguson.

UNH's run defense is not bad - Josh Mack is going to be hard for every opponent. He's extremely quick and elusively, and amazingly hard to put on the ground.

Officiating was as bad as I've seen in the CAA - and I've seen some pretty bad conference officiating. Bad call went both ways, maybe more against UNH in the last 10+ minutes.

The 3rd Qtr was stifling boring. Both offenses were completely predictable and it turned into a punting duel which Maine clearly won. Must have been when The Pod fell asleep.

Who's the better team? I have no idea. UNH won without looking very sharp; however, no opponent should take Maine lightly in future games.

With the personnel UNH played in the backfield tonight, they'd be better off playing with a tailback and a wing back on most plays. The read option with Evan Gray standing next to Knight just doesn't utilize the best skills of either guy. Gray is a power back who requires a couple steps to get rolling and Knight runs better when he is improvising - he really doesn't "read" all that well. UNH has an excellent cadre of receivers; however, playing Knight is not maximizing their potential. As the season grinds on, I'd like to see UNH platoon Knight and his #1 backup Lupuli who is more of a pure passer.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

So Maine is 0-1 in a sloppy mistake-filled game (because it's the first week), they've lost to their Rival, and they now need to be basically perfect the rest of the way in CAA play in order to have a chance at the CAA champonship - and even if they are, they've still got this loss to their rival hanging over their heads the entire season. Tell me again - why was playing this game in Week 1 a good idea?

[CenMEBlackBearFan]

So Maine is 0-1 in a sloppy mistake-filled game (because it's the first week), they've lost to their Rival, and they now need to be basically perfect the rest of the way in CAA play in order to have a chance at the CAA champonship - and even if they are, they've still got this loss to their rival hanging over their heads the entire season. Tell me again - why was playing this game in Week 1 a good idea?

Attendance being the reason, had over 15K according to UNH? What is the capacity of your place as the visitors side was only 1/2 full and your side was full on first tier but had open seats in the upper tier. Overall great job with the stadium, beautiful job with a great replay screen. Might be nice to have some concession on the visitors side although we don't have any either;)

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

So Maine is 0-1 in a sloppy mistake-filled game (because it's the first week), they've lost to their Rival, and they now need to be basically perfect the rest of the way in CAA play in order to have a chance at the CAA champonship - and even if they are, they've still got this loss to their rival hanging over their heads the entire season. Tell me again - why was playing this game in Week 1 a good idea?

According to what I've read, Maine playing UMass in Fenway Park in November required them to move one conference game. Maine and UNH then agreed to play Week One. Did no one else in the CAA offer to help Maine out? I have no idea. Once I saw UNH's OOC schedule, I knew they had to open with a conference game. Maybe once that happened, UNH figured why not make the most out of it and have an opener that could be marketed for a big crowd while helping their neighbor? I read one article in a NH newspaper that stated it is a two year series to open the season. Looking at what I know for the UNH OOC season in 2018, that is quite likely.

I will say it was bizarre being at the game and grasping that it was really Maine for the opponent. Even for an old fart like me ingrained with UMass being the season ending game and Maine being a Homecoming opponent (well until Vermont dropped football), I had gotten used to Maine as the season ending game. I could evolve into Albany being our season ending game but frankly they should be playing Stony Brook. That's the other fallout from this early Maine-UNH game. Please return to the final regular season Saturday having Maine-UNH, Stony Brook-Albany as well as the continuing Villanova-Delaware, Richmond-William & Mary games as soon as possible. Is it possible to create two rivalry games out of Rhode Island, Towson, JMU and Elon? Towson-JMU is the probably the only candidate, at least that's a border rivalry.

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Attendance being the reason, had over 15K according to UNH? What is the capacity of your place as the visitors side was only 1/2 full and your side was full on first tier but had open seats in the upper tier. Overall great job with the stadium, beautiful job with a great replay screen. Might be nice to have some concession on the visitors side although we don't have any either;)

The UNH website says the capacity is 11,015. There was a significant overflow of the student section standing along the fence of that end zone, many standing in the new beer garden at the video board end of the new grandstand, the usual number standing at the top of the old grandstand, many sitting/standing on the berm at the video board end zone and no doubt some who never came into the game from Boulder Field tailgating. Most likely the 15,854 was the tickets sold count, a legal measure for attendance by the NCAA. The grass field below Bremner Field was packed with cars just like at Homecoming. Sure, I wish they filled all the seats, but getting the revenue from those tickets sold is important too.