Maine quarterback Joe Fagnano was named CAA Football’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week after throwing four touchdown passes and running for a TD in Maine’s 38-34 win over Albany on Saturday. Ronald Gillis photo
It’s a curious spring football season for the coaches in the Colonial Athletic Association.
The season is only six games long, the preseason was shorter than normal and rosters are smaller. What to do?
“This spring season is unique,” said Elon Coach Tony Trisciani in a CAA Zoom conference call Monday. “We want to win a football game on Saturday, that’s our absolute goal. But player development and growth and getting better is also important to us. We’re trying to play a lot of guys for multiple reasons. One is we want them to gain experience and develop. Another is that guys just can’t play 70, 80 snaps. They’re not built for it now with the shorter preseason and training foundation.”
Stony Brook Coach Chuck Priore agreed, saying you almost have to coach with an eye on the normal 2021 fall season.
“As coaches you’ve got to look at this as week to week, but also as a 17-game season,” he said. “One of the things I preached to my team even before we started, let’s try to be the best team we can be over 17 weeks, six now and 11 in the fall.”
Stony Brook (0-2) will host Maine (1-1) on Saturday. The Black Bears are a perfect example of how much can change in a week. In their season opener two weeks ago, they were humbled 37-0 at Delaware. Last Saturday in Orono, they overcame a poor first quarter to defeat Albany, 38-34, behind the passing (and running) of sophomore quarterback Joe Fagnano and the receiving of senior Andre Miller.
Fagnano, from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, completed 17 of 29 passes for 249 yards and four touchdowns. He also led the Black Bears with 51 rushing yards and another touchdown. He was honored as the CAA Co-Offensive Player of the Week.
“I don’t look for individual awards,” said Fagnano. “I look at it as a team thing and I think it speaks volumes to the team and the coaching staff. The coaches put me in a great place (last) week with the game plan.”
As a player, Fagnano said he’s not looking to the fall, but understands the need to get different players into the game.
“I mean, I take it one week at the time, ” said Fagnano. “The bottom line is, we don’t go out there to lose … Guys are getting playing time, but that just naturally happens. You play games to get ready for the next season.”
And, Fagnano added, it doesn’t matter to him who is on the field.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re a redshirt senior in their fifth year or they just got here last spring,” he said. “If they’re on the field, if our coaches have them on the field, I trust them.”
Maine Coach Nick Charlton said it’s important players realize the team has confidence in them being on the field.
“It’s more them understanding that players play and players win games,” said Charlton. “We have to put them in good positions. A lot of things that go on behind the scenes are instilling confidence in them and making sure they feel confident in the plan.”
And that confidence-building continues this week.
“We need to worry about us as much as possible and do the things we do well,” said Charlton. “That’s the big focus and that helped us last week. We have to continue down that path, to play Maine football and play up to our standards.”
NOTES: Charlton said junior linebacker Ori Jean-Charles will be out “indefinitely” with a leg injury he suffered while making a touchdown-saving tackle on Albany’s Dan Damico on a blocked field-goal return early in the third quarter. Jean-Charles had seven tackles in the first half. “It’s pretty impactful,” said Charlton. “Ori means a lot to us in this program.” Sophomore Myles Taylor will take his spot. In addition, left guard Matthias Staalsoe, who left with an injury in the third quarter, is “day to day” according to Charlton.
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