SMITHFIELD, R.I. — The second half of Saturday’s football game between Maine and Bryant was played at a virtual standstill. Both offenses were punchless, and both team’s punters were getting a workout.
That all changed in a disastrous 63-second sequence for the Black Bears. Bryant unleashed a trick play that gained 41 yards and scored the winning touchdown three plays later to stun Maine 13-10 before a homecoming crowd announced at 3,291 at Bulldog Stadium.
It was the only touchdown Maine’s defense has allowed this season. And it came at the worst possible moment.
“They had that one big play, but that shouldn’t faze us. We should have shut it down after that,” Maine linebacker Randy Samuels said. “One missed tackle, two missed tackles, is too much. He scored. That’s it. Now it’s back to the drawing board.”
No. 23 Maine (1-1) took a 10-6 lead into intermission, then opened the second half by breezing quickly to the Bryant 4-yard line. Tight end Jeremy Salmon stretched to his limit to make a one-handed catch for 45 yards to put the Black Bears on the brink of their biggest lead of the season. But Nigel Jones lost four yards on first down, Collins ran for no gain on second, and then rifled a pass through the hands of Jordan Dunn on third down. Fourth down was an omen of what was to come. Salmon’s snap to holder John Hardy was errant and Sean Decloux never got a chance to attempt his second field goal.
After that, it was just a sequence of punts for Maine, whose offense was held to 10 points for a second consecutive game.
“You get what you deserve,” Maine Coach Jack Cosgrove said. “We didn’t produce anything in the second half on offense. We didn’t help our defense. It almost looked like our defense was going to steal one again.”
Almost.
Bryant (3-0) took over at its 26-yard line with 3:07 left, lining up quarterback Dalton Easton at a wide receiver spot. He took a pitch and fired a 41-yard strike to Chad Ward to stoke the home crowd. Maine was called for pass interference on the play.
Cosgrove thought the call should have gone against Bryant.
Nevertheless, an incomplete pass was followed by a 19-yard pickup by running back Ricardo McCray, who took a short pass and bulled over several would-be tacklers along the Maine sideline. Easton then found Ward in the right flat. Ward danced away from two tacklers and dived just across the goal line for the 13-10 lead.
Maine’s final possession was a microcosm of its offensive futility thus far this season. Collins was sacked for a 1-yard loss, threw a 7-yard pass to Damarr Aultman and then couldn’t connect with Dunn in heavy traffic. On fourth-and-4, the sophomore went back to pass, saw no one open and belatedly tried to run off left tackle. He never had a chance, gaining just 2 yards, and sealing the loss.
“I thought I had room to run. Once I took off, the kid got off a block and wrapped me up,” Collins said.
“I think if I were to do it again I’d give a wide receiver a chance to catch the ball. It was a poor decision by me.”
Collins finished 10 of 21 passing for 151 yards and one touchdown, to Carlton Charles. Maine was able to run for only 35 yards in the second half. It was enough to enable Bryant to win for the first time in four meetings with the Black Bears.
Maine held the Bulldogs to 29 yards rushing, clogging up the middle and forcing Bryant to throw the ball wide.
The Bulldogs gained 301 yards through the air.
“They went outside of their comfort zone,” Maine nose tackle Matthew Wilson said. “It clicked for them that one drive, and that was enough.”
Cosgrove exonerated his defense, placing the blame for the loss on a balky offense.
“We didn’t support the ‘D’ with any kind of offensive continuity. When you don’t do that, your guys are on the field too much (32:20),” he said.
“We thought Bryant was a good team coming in and we found out they are. They got a good win for themselves.”
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