ORONO — It took Andre Miller a while, but the former Old Town High standout finally arrived Saturday for the University of Maine.
Playing for the injured Micah Wright, the sophomore wide receiver caught three passes for 64 yards in the 28-9 win over Albany at Alfond Stadium. All of his catches helped set up touchdowns.
“It’s great to get out there,” Miller said. “We’ve got something special here, so it’s just great to be a part of it. Now we’ve got to keep it rolling.”
Wright has an ankle injury and Miller said once he saw him in a boot earlier this week, he figured he might get more playing time.
Miller was recruited by the Black Bears but didn’t qualify academically. He went to Husson for a year, playing football in 2016, but withdrew and went to Eastern Maine Community College, where he got his grades up.
“Certainly, as a staff, we’ve known ’Dre for a while. We knew he was very talented coming out of Old Town,” Maine coach Joe Harasymiak said. “He had to do some things to get here and I want to credit him for that. To do that as a young man, when you don’t make it initially, shows you everything you need to know about him, about how much this place means to him.”
“It means so much to me to finally be here playing,” Miller said.
The catches were his first at UMaine, but quarterback Chris Ferguson said, “What he did today gives me a lot of confidence in him. If I put the ball in his area, he’s going to get it.”
Miller’s first catch was a back-shoulder lob to the right sideline, which he caught for 15 yards to the Albany 1, setting up Ferguson’s touchdown. His second was a spectacular one-handed, left-handed catch for 33 yards while being tightly covered. That was followed by a 16-yard catch setting up the final TD.
“Just trying to make a play,” he said. “That’s what they make me try to do.”
ALBANY QUARTERBACK Vincent Testaverde was knocked out of the game on the first play of the second quarter when he suffered a leg injury on a sack by Sterling Sheffield. Testaverde completed only 3 of 7 passes for 12 yards with an interception. He is the son of former NFL quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who had a 21-year career, including a season with the New England Patriots in 2006.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE Charles Mitchell was out for Maine, recovering from a concussion he suffered in last week’s loss at William & Mary.
MAINE LINEBACKER Deshawn Stevens was penalized for targeting for a hit that knocked Albany backup quarterback Will Brunson out of the game in the fourth quarter. He was ejected and will sit out the first half next week at Towson. Harasymiak also didn’t agree with the call and hoped to make a case to the CAA.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
