Maine (1-0) at Western Kentucky (0-1)

6:30 p.m. Saturday

Houchens-Smith Stadium

Bowling Green

Broadcast: ESPN+

Radio: 100.7 FM, 1450 AM

Statistical breakdown

Maine

Points per game: 35

Points per game allowed: 7

Yards per rush: 5.3

Yards per rush allowed: -0.5

Yards per pass attempt: 7.8

Yards per pass attempt allowed: 5.6

Yards per play: 6.5

Yards per play allowed: 2

Western Kentucky

Points per game: 3, t-126th

Points per game allowed: 34, t-95th

Yards per rush: 3.65, t-88th

Yards per rush allowed: 6, 112th

Yards per pass attempt: 6, t-96th

Yards per pass attempt allowed: 8.3, t-97th

Yards per play: 4.77, t-100th

Yards per play allowed: 7.01, t-108th

Starting lineups

BLACK BEARS

OFFENSE

Ht. Wt. Yr.

QUARTERBACK

14 Chris Ferguson 6-4 220 So.

TAILBACK

8 Ramon Jefferson 5-10 205 r-Fr.

-or- 27 Joe Fitzpatrick 5-11 230 r-Jr.

WIDE RECEIVERS

81 Earnest Edwards 5-10 175 Jr.

11 Jaquan Blair 6-2 205 Jr.

10 Micah Wright 6-0 195 Sr.

TIGHT END

12 Drew Belcher 6-4 220 r-Sr.

LEFT TACKLE

71 Gunnar Docos 6-5 300 So.

LEFT GUARD

70 Migel Garcia 6-4 290 Jr.

CENTER

75 Chris Mulvey 6-2 300 So.

RIGHT GUARD

69 Liam Dobson 6-2 310 So.

RIGHT TACKLE

60 Cody Levy 6-6 300 Sr.

KICKER

31 Kenny Doak 5-10 200 So.

DEFENSE

DEFENSIVE ENDS

9 Kayon Whitaker 6-2 255 Jr.

52 Jamehl Wiley 6-2 250 r-Fr.

NOSE TACKLE

5 Charles Mitchell 6-1 280 Jr.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

18 Alejandro Oregon 6-2 270 Jr.

ROVER

6 Sterling Sheffield 6-2 240 Sr.

MIKE

47 Deshawn Stevens 6-1 250 So.

WILL

50 Taji Lowe 6-1 240 Jr.

FIELD CORNERBACK

28 Shaquille St-Lot 6-0 195 r-Fr.

STRONG SAFETY

21 Jeff DeVaughn 5-11 200 Sr.

FREE SAFETY

3 Darrius Hart 6-2 200 r-Sr.

BOUNDARY CORNERBACK

1 Manny Patterson 5-10 180 Jr.

PUNTER

19 David Gelb 5-11 180 Fr.

HILLTOPPERS

OFFENSE

Ht. Wt. Yr.

QUARTERBACK

4 Drew Eckels 6-3 220 r-Sr.

RUNNING BACK

5 Marquez Trigg 6-0 220 r-Jr.

-or- 32 D’Andre Ferby 6-1 230 r-Sr.

-or- 25 Joshua Samuel 5-11 205 r-Fr.

-or- 14 Garland LaFrance 5-10 175 Fr.

-or- 28 Gino Appleberry Jr. 5-9 210 Fr.

WIDE RECEIVER

16 Quin Jernighan 6-3 210 r-Jr.

11 Lucky Jackson 6-1 185 r-Jr.

9 Xavier Lane 6-4 200 r-So.

TIGHT END

85 Mik’Quan Deane 6-4 240 r-Sr.

LEFT TACKLE

70 Cole Spencer 6-4 290 So.

LEFT GUARD

74 Tyler Witt 6-2 300 r-So.

CENTER

67 Seth Joest 6-2 300 r-So.

RIGHT GUARD

61 Jordan Meredith 6-2 285 r-So.

RIGHT TACKLE

63 Miles Pate 6-2 320 r-Jr.

KICKER

37 Ryan Nuss 5-9 200 r-Sr.

DEFENSE

DEFENSIVE ENDS

10 DeAngelo Malone 6-4 230 So.

43 Carson Jordan 6-2 255 r-Jr.

DEFENSIVE TACKLES

53 Jeremy Darvin 6-1 300 r-So.

55 Evan Sayner 6-3 300 r-Sr.

LINEBACKERS

25 Masai Whyte 6-0 225 r-Sr.

-or- 32 Eli Brown 6-2 215 r-Jr.

44 Ben Holt 5-10 220 r-Jr.

NICKELBACK

15 Ta’Corian Darden 5-9 190 r-Jr.

CORNERBACKS

22 DeAndre Farris 5-10 190 r-Sr.

24 Roger Cray 5-10 170 So.

-or- 26 Dionte Ruffin 5-11 190 So.

SAFETIES

9 Drell Greene 5-11 200 Sr.

2 Devon Key 6-1 205 r-So.

PUNTER

39 Alex Rinella 6-1 220 r-Jr.

*Starting lineups subject to change

Position-by-position breakdown

QUARTERBACK: Drew Eckels showed poise in his first college start Aug. 31 at Wisconsin, avoiding any turnovers and leading Western Kentucky in rushing. The Hilltoppers’ Steven Duncan returns from a one-game suspension and could see his first action of the season Saturday as a backup. ADVANTAGE: WKU

RUNNING BACK: Marquez Trigg got the start against the Badgers, but WKU coach Mike Sanford stuck to his promise that all five running backs listed on the depth chart would play. This would be a good game for a Topper RB to establish himself as a leader for the group. WKU

WIDE RECEIVERS: Jacquez Sloan leads WKU in receiving after making one catch for 48 yards last week. Maine tight end Drew Belcher is a former quarterback who threw a 52-yard touchdown pass last week in a win over New Hampshire. WKU

OFFENSIVE LINE: Hilltopper center Seth Joest made his first college start at Wisconsin and graded out as the sixth-best run-blocking center across the FBS in Week 1, per Pro Football Focus. WKU gave up just one sack against the Badgers. WKU

DEFENSIVE LINE: Defensive tackles Jeremy Darvin and Julien Lewis both tallied sacks in the Tops’ season opener. Carson Jordan and Evan Sayner also started after suffering season-ending injuries in 2017. Black Bears D-end Kayon Whitaker collected 8 1/2 sacks last year, second-most in the Colonial Athletic Association. WKU

LINEBACKERS: WKU’s Masai Whyte started the year strong last week with a team-high and career-best 11 tackles, including his first sack since 2016. Kentucky transfer Eli Brown had a pair of stops in his Hilltopper debut. WKU

SECONDARY: Ta’Corian Darden and Drell Greene combined for WKU’s first takeaway of the season, with the nickelback Darden forcing a Wisconsin fumble the safety Greene returned 10 yards. Safety Devon Key’s 10 tackles were second only to Whyte’s 11. WKU

SPECIAL TEAMS: Alex Rinella got a workout in his first game as the Toppers’ punter. He punted six times for an average of 35.2 yards with three fair catches. Maine boasts a special teams weapon in Earnest Edwards, who was a First Team All-CAA kick returner in 2017. He returned a kickoff 95 yards on the opening play of a loss last year to Massachusetts. Maine

Brad’s pick

Western Kentucky went to Madison, Wis., for its season opener and faced a Wisconsin squad expected to compete for a College Football Playoff spot. Now comes a completely different type of test against FCS program Maine.

The Hilltoppers must lock in and avoid a home slip-up against a lower-division squad. Here’s guessing WKU takes care of business.

Western Kentucky 42, Maine 14

Season record: 1-0