Maine and William & Mary enter Saturday’s Colonial Athletic Association contest at Maine’s Alfond Stadium with plenty in common. Both teams are 2-5 overall. Both are 0-3 in the CAA, and both have had to deal with a quarterback situation that, to some degree, has been in a state of flux.

Chris Ferguson, Maine’s starting quarterback when the season began, sustained a season-ending foot injury during a loss to Richmond on Oct. 12. True freshman Joe Fagnano got the start in last weekend’s game at Liberty and turned in a performance that few, if anyone, saw coming.

Fagnano completed 25 of 37 passes for 445 yards and five touchdowns (one interception) in a 59-44 loss. He’s completed 36 of 55 passes for 610 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions this season.

“Joe has a good knowledge of the offense,” Maine coach Nick Charlton said. “He’s very intelligent. He’s able to execute.

“(Ferguson and Fagnano are) different personalities. Joe’s a quieter guy who kind of just leads by example. Chris really leads out front. Some of that comes with age as well. Joe is a true freshman.”

True freshman Hollis Mathis was William & Mary’s No. 1 quarterback for the team’s first five games, but was injured during the Tribe’s fourth game — a loss to East Carolina. Mathis split time with sixth-year senior quarterback Kilton Anderson the following week against Albany, but did not play when William & Mary faced Villanova two weeks ago.

Mathis, who reportedly had an injury to his right (throwing) shoulder, lined up at wide receiver during last week’s loss to James Madison while Anderson made his second start. Anderson completed 11 of 17 passes in the 38-10 loss to JMU before he left the field with a head injury in the third. He did not return to the game, and Ted Hefter finished the game at QB. Mathis caught two passes for 13 yards in the loss.

William & Mary coach Mike London said he expects Mathis to be available to play QB on Saturday. Mathis has completed 28 of his 52 pass attempts for 367 yards and one touchdown (two interceptions) this season, and is the team’s No. 2 rusher with 315 yards and three TDs on 57 carries.

“Maine is obviously a team that in the past has been very, very good,” London said. “Like all of us having to deal with injuries and things like that, they’ve had to just put players out on the field to perform. We’re no different. They have a great surrounding cast of skill players.

“I know what having a freshman quarterback looks like — what it feels like. You want them to be surrounded by people who can win. I know they want to get (Fagnano) on track and get him going. Being at home is a positive and a plus for them.”

Passing Thoughts

Fans may want to pay extra attention to how the Tribe and Black Bears perform in the passing game Saturday. Fagnano’s 445 passing yards last week was the third time the Black Bears have surpassed 400 yards passing in a game this season. 

Maine owns the No. 2 pass offense in the 12-team CAA (329.3 yards per game) and may be able to take advantage of a William & Mary pass defense that’s 10th in the conference (240.6). Maine’s pass defense ranks second in the CAA (200.1) and will be up against a pass offense that ranks last (169.7).

“They’ve had some tough games this year, but they’re a good, hard-nosed football team,” Fagnano said. “It should be fun to play them up here for Homecoming.”

Too Much Turnover

Two of Maine’s biggest problems this season have been turnovers and penalties. The Black Bears are 12th among CAA teams in turnover margin at minus-11 and also 12th in average penalty yards per game (80.0). Maine has forced two turnovers in its seven games (one fumble and one interception) and has turned the ball over 13 times (11 interceptions). No other CAA team is worse than minus-3 in turnover margin.

“We have to look hard at some of the things we’re doing and fix some things because we’re about to go into a big stretch here starting with a great William & Mary team,” Charlton said. “Our No. 1 goal right now is to play a complete game against William & Mary. It’s going to be a great challenge for us.”

William & Mary was plus-7 in turnover margin through three games, after which the Tribe had a 2-1 record. William & Mary is minus-7 in turnover margin during its current four-game losing streak.

Of Note

• William & Mary and Maine rank 10th and 11th respectively in the CAA in scoring defense. William & Mary is allowing an average of 30.0 points per game. Maine is allowing 31.7.
• Maine wide receiver Earnest Edwards is second among FCS players in all-purpose yards per game (172.17).
• William & Mary ranks 12th in the conference in both time of possession (26:45 per game) and net punting average (32.8 yards).