2023 Maine Black Bears football team

2023 Maine Black Bears football
Conference	CAA Football Conference
Record	2–9 (1–7 CAA)
Head coach	Jordan Stevens (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Steve Cooper (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Jeff Comissiong (1st season)
Base defense	4-3
Home stadium	Alfond Stadium

2023 Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 5 Albany ^		7	–	1					11	–	4
No. 6 Villanova ^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 15 Richmond ^		7	–	1					9	–	4
No. 10 Delaware ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
Elon		6	–	2					6	–	5
New Hampshire		4	–	4					6	–	5
Rhode Island		4	–	4					6	–	5
William & Mary		4	–	4					6	–	5
Campbell		4	–	4					5	–	6
Towson		4	–	4					5	–	6
Hampton		3	–	5					5	–	6
Monmouth		3	–	5					4	–	7
Maine		1	–	7					2	–	9
North Carolina A&T		0	–	8					1	–	10
Stony Brook		0	–	8					0	–	10
– Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2023 Maine Black Bears football team represented the University of Maine as a member of the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference (CAA) in the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Black Bears were led by second-year head coach Jordan Stevens and played home games at Alfond Stadium in Orono, Maine.

The CAA, formerly known as the Colonial Athletic Association from 2007 through 2022, changed its name in July 2023 to accommodate future membership expansion outside of the Thirteen Colonies.

Transfers

Outgoing

Over the off-season, Maine lost sixteen players through the transfer portal. Twelve are currently committed while the remainder are still actively pursuing new schools.

Name	Pos.	New school
Elijah Alexander	DE	Unknown
Austin Ambush	S	Jacksonville State
Tyrese Baptiste	WR	Unknown
Navonn Barrett	CB	Lackawanna C.C.
Shawn Bowman	TE	Rutgers
Freddie Brock	RB	Georgia State
Brian Cooey	P	Charleston Southern
Antonio Corsi	TE	St. Francis Xavier
Jamond DuBose	S	The Citadel
Jabari Echols	CB	Merrimack
Charles Eberle	LS/LB	New Mexico State
Joe Fagnano	QB	UConn
Jaylen Long	LB	Monroe J.C.
Khairi Manns	DE	Colorado
Xavier Nurse	LB	Samford
Justin Sambu	DT	Baylor

Incoming

Over the off-season, Maine added thirteen players through the transfer portal.

Name	Pos.	Class	Previous school
Alex Berrouet	RB	So	Colorado State
Amir Byrd	S	Sr	Rutgers
Aidan Cadogan	P	Jr	New Hampshire
Joe Gillette	WR	Sr	Lafayette
Justyn Haynesworth	DL	Jr	East Carolina
Izaiah Henderson	DL	R-Sr	Boston College
Joe Horn	IOL	So	UMass
Alhaji Kamara	CB	So	Old Dominion
Damon Matthews	S	Sr	Rutgers
Daniel Plascencia	IOL	So	Southwestern College
Brian Santana-Fis	RB	So	El Camino College
Rayshad Wallace	DL	Gr	Sacred Heart
Zachary Zoglio	LS	Jr	Eastern Michigan

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:30 p.m.	at FIU*	Riccardo Silva Stadium Miami, FL	ESPN	L 12–14	16,878
September 9	3:30 p.m.	at No. 2 North Dakota State*	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN	L 7–44	15,044
September 16	3:30 p.m.	No. 21 Rhode Island	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME	FloSports	L 17–34	4,813
September 23	3:30 p.m.	at No. 5 William & Mary	Zable Stadium Williamsburg, VA	FloSports	L 3–28	7,365
September 30	3:30 p.m.	Stony Brook	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME	FloSports	W 56–28	5,243
October 7	3:30 p.m.	at Richmond	E. Claiborne Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	FloSports	L 31–42	6,099
October 14	1:00 p.m.	LIU*	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME	FloSports/WFVX	W 24–13	8,588
October 21	4:00 p.m.	at Campbell	Barker-Lane Stadium Buies Creek, NC	FloSports	L 28–34	5,357
October 28	1:00 p.m.	Albany	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME	FloSports/WVII	L 21–37	3,932
November 4	1:00 p.m.	Hampton	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME	WVII/FloSports	L 35–42	3,115
November 18	1:00 p.m.	at New Hampshire	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	FloSports	L 25-44	6,727
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

At FIU

See also: 2023 FIU Panthers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Black Bears	3	3	6	0	12
Panthers	7	7	0	0	14

Statistics	Maine	FIU
First downs	27	13
Total yards	378	305
Rushing yards	165	13
Passing yards	213	292
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	39:05	20:00

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Maine	Passing	Derek Robertson	21-43, 213 yards
	Rushing	Tristen Kenan	24 rushes, 110 yards, TD
	Receiving	Montigo Moss	3 receptions, 50 yards
FIU	Passing	Keyone Jenkins	15-30, 292 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Shomari Lawrence	7 rushes, 26 yards
	Receiving	Kris Mitchell	9 receptions, 201 yards, 2 TD

At No. 2 North Dakota State

See also: 2023 North Dakota State Bison football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Black Bears	0	0	0	7	7
Bison	6	10	14	14	44

Statistics	Maine	NDSU
First downs	13	25
Total yards	223	456
Rushing yards	106	264
Passing yards	117	192
Turnovers	4	0
Time of possession	25:00	35:00

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Maine	Passing	Derek Robertson	18-29, 117 yards, 3 INT
	Rushing	Tristen Kenan	14 rushes, 55 yards
	Receiving	Jamie Lamson	6 receptions, 42 yards
NDSU	Passing	Cam Miller	14-19, 152 yards
	Rushing	Cole Payton	8 rushes, 105 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Zach Mathis	4 receptions, 62 yards

Vs No. 21 Rhode Island

See also: 2023 Rhode Island Rams football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	3	21	3	7	34
Black Bears	7	10	0	0	17

Statistics	Rhode Island	Maine
First downs	25	17
Total yards	440	271
Rushing yards	206	84
Passing yards	234	187
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	32:14	27:46

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Rhode Island	Passing	Kasim Hill	18-32, 234 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Ja'Den McKenzie	17 rushes, 124 yards, TD
	Receiving	Kahtero Summers	6 receptions, 130 yds, 2 TD
Maine	Passing	Derek Robertson	21-31, 187 yards, INT
	Rushing	Tristen Kenan	18 rushes, 84 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Joe Gillette	6 receptions, 42 yards

At No. 5 William & Mary

See also: 2023 William & Mary Tribe football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Black Bears	0	3	0	0	3
Tribe	0	7	14	7	28

Statistics	Maine	William & Mary
First downs	7	18
Total yards	138	390
Rushing yards	53	331
Passing yards	85	59
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	23:08	36:52

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Maine	Passing	Derek Robertson	10-22, 85 yards, INT
	Rushing	Tristen Kenan	12 rushes, 30 yards
	Receiving	Rohan Jones	3 receptions, 33 yards
William & Mary	Passing	Darius Wilson	8-13, 59 yards, TD
	Rushing	Bronson Yoder	25 rushes, 163 yards, TD
	Receiving	JT Mayo	3 receptions, 29 yards, TD

Vs Stony Brook

See also: 2023 Stony Brook Seawolves football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seawolves	0	14	7	7	28
Black Bears	28	14	14	0	56

Statistics	Stony Brook	Maine
First downs	19	25
Total yards	479	512
Rushing yards	131	87
Passing yards	348	425
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	29:25	30:35

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Stony Brook	Passing	Casey Case	22-37, 348 yards, 4 TD, INT
	Rushing	Shakhi Carson	9 rushes, 64 yards
	Receiving	Jayden Cook	7 receptions, 117 yards, 2 TD
Maine	Passing	Derek Robertson	25-30, 394 yards, 5 TD
	Rushing	Trevin Ewing	1 rush, 30 yards, TD
	Receiving	Montigo Moss	5 receptions, 108 yards, 2 TD

At Richmond

See also: 2023 Richmond Spiders football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Black Bears	17	7	0	7	31
Spiders	14	21	7	0	42

Statistics	Maine	Richmond
First downs	17	23
Total yards	421	487
Rushing yards	11	96
Passing yards	410	391
Turnovers	2	2
Time of possession	26:14	33:46

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Maine	Passing	Derek Robertson	18-25, 315 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Tristen Kenan	1 rush, 15 yards
	Receiving	Joe Gillette	8 receptions, 169 yards, 3 TD
Richmond	Passing	Camden Coleman	25-36, 365 yards, 6 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Savon Smith	12 rushes, 53 yards
	Receiving	Nick DeGennaro	8 receptions, 113 yards, 3 TD

Vs LIU (Homecoming)

See also: 2023 LIU Sharks football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sharks	7	3	3	0	13
Black Bears	7	0	7	10	24

Statistics	Long Island	Maine
First downs	15	21
Total yards	357	339
Rushing yards	164	104
Passing yards	193	235
Turnovers	3	0
Time of possession	24:19	35:41

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Long Island	Passing	Ethan Greenwood	12-17, 186 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Ethan Greenwood	19 rushes, 100 yards
	Receiving	Michael Love	3 receptions, 109 yards, TD
Maine	Passing	Derek Robertson	20-32, 235 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Tavion Banks	21 rushes, 87 yards
	Receiving	Joe Gillette	8 receptions, 102 yards

At Campbell

See also: 2023 Campbell Fighting Camels football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Black Bears	7	0	7	14	28
Fighting Camels	7	21	6	0	34

Statistics	Maine	Campbell
First downs	21	25
Total yards	492	410
Rushing yards	-7	168
Passing yards	499	242
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	27:36	32:24

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Maine	Passing	Derek Robertson	36-52, 503 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Tavion Banks	4 rushes, 6 yards
	Receiving	Joe Gillette	6 receptions, 135 yards
Campbell	Passing	Hajj-Malik Williams	26-33, 242 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Lamagea McDowell	26 rushes, 114 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	VJ Wilkins	8 receptions, 79 yards

Vs Albany

See also: 2023 Albany Great Danes football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	10	14	13	0	37
Black Bears	7	7	0	7	21

Statistics	Albany	Maine
First downs	21	21
Total yards	473	312
Rushing yards	149	92
Passing yards	324	220
Turnovers	0	3
Time of possession	29:07	30:53

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Albany	Passing	Reese Poffenbarger	18-30, 324 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Faysal Aden	22 rushes, 142 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	MarQeese Dietz	7 receptions, 150 yards
Maine	Passing	Derek Robertson	29-43, 220 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Brian Santana-Fis	3 rushes, 35 yards
	Receiving	Michael Monios	10 receptions, 96 yards, TD

Vs Hampton

See also: 2023 Hampton Pirates football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	7	7	14	14	42
Black Bears	7	21	7	0	35

Statistics	Hampton	Maine
First downs	14	30
Total yards	409	526
Rushing yards	323	151
Passing yards	86	375
Turnovers	0	3
Time of possession	22:53	37:07

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Hampton	Passing	Christopher Zellous	7-16, 86 yards, TD
	Rushing	Elijah Burris	14 rushes, 177 yards, 4 TD
	Receiving	Romon Copeland	3 receptions, 60 yards, TD
Maine	Passing	Derek Robertson	28-46, 349 yards, 5 TD, INT
	Rushing	Tristen Kenan	16 rushes, 88 yards
	Receiving	Jamie Lamson	8 receptions, 180 yards, TD

At New Hampshire

See also: 2023 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Black Bears	0	17	0	8	25
Wildcats	13	21	7	3	44

Statistics	Maine	New Hampshire
First downs	22	20
Total yards	346	373
Rushing yards	31	102
Passing yards	315	271
Turnovers	2	0
Time of possession	33:10	26:50

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Maine	Passing	Derek Robertson	32-51, 315 yards, 3 TD, INT
	Rushing	Tristen Kenan	11 rushes, 50 yards
	Receiving	Trevin Ewing	7 receptions, 79 yards, TD
New Hampshire	Passing	Max Brosmer	16-26, 271 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Myles Thomason	16 rushes, 60 yards
	Receiving	Logan Tomlinson	8 receptions, 121 yards, TD

Roster

2023 Maine Black Bears football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 2 Trevin Ewing So QB 10 Caden Drezek Fr QB 11 Ayden Pereira  Fr WR 12 Braeden Heald GS QB 13 Derek Robertson Sr QB 14 Anthony Harris Sr WR 15 Zaheem Crawford-Patterson  Fr TE 16 Eli Mahan So QB 17 Keegan Andrews Fr WR 18 Joe Gillette GS QB 19 Jack Kelley Sr RB 19 Brian Santana-Fis So WR 20 Nick Laughlin Fr RB 22 Tristen Kenan Fr RB 25 Tavion Banks Sr RB 28 Evan Wallace  Fr RB 32 Alex Berrouet So RB 35 Stone Compton So RB 36 Symon Sathler  Fr WR 41 Aaron Arteaga  Fr RB 46 John Gay GS TE 48 Declan McKevitt So TE 49 Elijah Smalls Fr OL 55 Darius Bell So OL 57 David Gross So OL 62 Pius Ejindu Fr OL 63 Jack Webb GS OL 64 Jack Boutaugh  Fr OL 65 Nicolas Cruji  Fr OL 67 Jaykob Dow Fr OL 68 Max Gregor  Fr OL 70 Joe Horn So OL 71 Daniel Plascencia So OL 72 Tyler Williams  Fr OL 73 Nicholas Kaptein Fr OL 74 Anthony Iliano Fr OL 75 Sean Pozniak  Fr OL 76 Xavier Lozowicki Fr OL 77 Kevin Jones GS OL 78 Jack Lillie Fr OL 79 Max Lövblad GS WR 80 Jamie Lamson Sr WR 81 Montigo Moss Jr TE 82 Cooper Heisey  Sr WR 83 Michael Monios Jr WR 84 Kevin Jackson Fr WR 85 Blake Thomas Fr TE 86 Jake Kucera Fr TE 87 Francisco Pratts  Fr TE 88 Rohan Jones So WR 89 Gianni Rossitto So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 0 Vince Thomas Jr CB 1 Kahzir Brown Jr S 3 Shakur Smalls Jr DT 5 Josh Lezin GS LB 6 Darius McKenzie So LB 7 Latrell Couchman So S 8 Robby Riobe Sr LB 11 Christian Thomas Jr CB 13 Dede Doegan So S 20 Jylun Spence So LB 21 Jayden Platt Fr S 21 Amir Byrd Sr CB 23 Alhaji Kamara  So CB 24 Aaron Gethers GS DB 25 Sheaquan Walters Fr S 26 Damon Matthews GS CB 27 Jamaree Gibson  Fr CB 29 Nassir Young So CB 30 Na'Cire Christmas Fr LB 31 Terrence Ganyi GS LB 33 Jabari Odoemenem Fr CB 34 Daren Omoregie  Fr LB 35 Devin Hairston  Fr CB 37 Devin Vaught Fr S 38 Sherrod Hudson  Fr S 39 Amari Mack Fr LB 40 Tyshawn Stewart So S 42 Abdul Stewart Jr LB 43 BJ Mayes Fr DT 44 Rayshad Wallace GS DL 45 Ta'Kai Chisolm Fr DL 47 Jared Tynes Fr DB 48 Nic Swanson  Fr DT 52 John Costanza Jr LB 53 Isaac Ofielu So LB 54 Zion Cheeks  Fr DE 56 Jacob Tuiasosopo Sr DT 58 Jaxon Gross Fr DE 90 Xavier Holmes So DT 91 Shymell Davis So DL 92 Izaiah Henderson  Sr DT 93 Kye Pressley Fr DE 94 Chris Bacon Fr DT 95 Mike Hamilton  Fr DT 96 Dorian Royal Jr DT 97 Justyn Haynesworth Jr DE 99 Nicolas Kalume  Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 14 Aidan Cadogan Jr K 45 Joey Bryson  Fr K/P 50 Michael Lewinski Fr P 58 Charles Rulon Sr K 59 Cody Williams GS LS 81 Zach Zoglio Jr LS 94 Clayton Ritter So P 95 Bailey Timms GS	Head coach Jordan Stevens (Maine) Coordinators/assistant coaches Steve Cooper (Portland State) Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Jeff Comissiong (Maine) Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Mikahael Waters (Nevada) Wide Receivers/Special Teams Coord./Pro Liaison Pushaun Brown (Maine) Running backs Tom McEntire (Thiel) Defensive Pass Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs Spencer Carey (Maine) Outside Linebackers/Recruiting Coordinator Umberto di Meo (Springfield) Defensive Line Dave Bucar (Washington & Jefferson) Offensive Line John Gardner (Washington) Tight Ends Mike DeVito (Maine) Director of Player Development & Alumni Relations Justin Karriem (Towson) Cornerbacks Thomas Hanscom (Maine) Director of Football Operations Trey Hall (Edinboro) Head Football Sports Performance Coach Jessica Bishop Athletic Academic Counselor – Tutor/Mentor Coordinator Kristin Gilmour Athletic Academic Counselor Muralee Das Faculty Liaison Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: September 17, 2023