# 2018 Maine Black Bears football team

The 2018 Maine Black Bears football team represented the University of Maine in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They played their home games at Alfond Stadium. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. They were led by third-year head coach Joe Harasymiak. They finished the season 10–4, 7–1 in CAA play to be crowned CAA champions. They received the CAA's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where, after a first round bye, they defeated Jacksonville State in the second round, and Weber State in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to Eastern Washington.

## Preseason
### CAA Poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 24, 2018, the Black Bears were predicted to finish in eighth place.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | James Madison | 241 (21) |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 206 (2) |
| 3 | Delaware | 182 |
| 4 | Stony Brook | 169 |
| 5 | Elon | 168 (1) |
| 6 | Villanova | 164 |
| 7 | Richmond | 127 |
| 8 | Maine | 81 |
| 9 | Albany | 78 |
| 10 | Towson | 74 |
| 11 | William & Mary | 55 |
| 12 | Rhode Island | 39 |

### Preseason All-CAA Team

The Black Bears had three players selected to the preseason all-CAA team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 7 New Hampshire | | Alfond StadiumOrono, ME (Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket) | FCS/FSGO | W 35–7 | 6,597 |
| September 8 | 7:30 p.m. | at Western Kentucky* | No. 22 | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY | ESPN+ | W 31–28 | 15,178 |
| September 22 | 3:00 p.m. | at Central Michigan* | No. 13 | Kelly/Shorts StadiumMount Pleasant, MI | ESPN+ | L 5–17 | 16,474 |
| September 29 | 1:00 p.m. | at Yale* | No. 16 | Yale BowlNew Haven, CT | ESPN+ | L 14–35 | 7,889 |
| October 6 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 19 Villanova | No. 25 | Alfond StadiumOrono, ME | FCS/WVII/WIPL | W 13–10 | 6,894 |
| October 13 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 16 Rhode Island | No. 21 | Meade StadiumKingston, RI | CAA.tv | W 38–36 | 7,301 |
| October 20 | 3:30 p.m. | at William & Mary | No. 16 | Zable StadiumWilliamsburg, VA | Cox Yurview | L 20–27 | 10,462 |
| October 27 | 1:00 p.m. | Albany | No. 24 | Alfond StadiumOrono, ME | FCS/WVII/WIPL | W 28–9 | 9,248 |
| November 3 | 4:00 p.m. | at No. 15 Towson | No. 23 | Johnny Unitas StadiumTowson, MD | CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive | W 35–28 | 7,356 |
| November 10 | 3:00 p.m. | at Richmond | No. 16 | Robins StadiumRichmond, VA | NBCS WA+ | W 28–9 | 7,820 |
| November 17 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 14 Elon | No. 16 | Alfond StadiumOrono, ME | FCS/WVII/WIPL | W 27–26 | 6,584 |
| December 1 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 8 Jacksonville State | No. 12 | Alfond StadiumOrono, ME (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 55–27 | 6,145 |
| December 7 | 8:00 p.m. | at No. 3 Weber State | No. 12 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | ESPN2 | W 23–18 | 7,726 |
| December 15 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 4 Eastern Washington | No. 12 | Roos FieldCheney, WA (NCAA Division I Semifinal) | ESPN2 | L 19–50 | 7,529 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### New Hampshire

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 7 Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Black Bears | 0 | 22 | 7 | 6 | 35 |

### At Western Kentucky

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 22 Black Bears | 0 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 31 |
| Hilltoppers | 21 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 28 |

### At Central Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 13 Black Bears | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Chippewas | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

### At Yale

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 16 Black Bears | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Bulldogs | 7 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 35 |

### Villanova

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 19 Wildcats | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| No. 25 Black Bears | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 13 |

### At Rhode Island

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 21 Black Bears | 7 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 38 |
| No. 16 Rams | 10 | 6 | 14 | 6 | 36 |

### At William & Mary

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 16 Black Bears | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 20 |
| Tribe | 7 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 27 |

### Albany

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Great Danes | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| No. 24 Black Bears | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 28 |

### At Towson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 23 Black Bears | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| No. 15 Tigers | 0 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 |

### At Richmond

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 16 Black Bears | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
| Spiders | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 |

### Elon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 14 Phoenix | 0 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 26 |
| No. 16 Black Bears | 0 | 14 | 13 | 0 | 27 |

## FCS Playoffs

Maine received a bye in the first round. Box scores:

### Jacksonville State–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 8 Gamecocks | 7 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 27 |
| No. 12 Black Bears | 21 | 21 | 7 | 6 | 55 |

### At Weber State–Quarterfinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 12 Black Bears | 0 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 23 |
| No. 3 Wildcats | 0 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 18 |

### At Eastern Washington–Semifinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 12 Black Bears | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 19 |
| No. 4 Eagles | 21 | 7 | 15 | 7 | 50 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | — | 22 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 25 | 21 | 16 | 24 | 23 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 4 |
| Coaches | — | 25 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 25 | 22 | 20 | RV | RV | 21 | 19 | 14 | 5 |