Bears Vs Cats For The 106th Time

UMaine and UNH will tee it up for the 106th time tonight but for the first time in a long time the game marks the start of the season instead of the season finale.

Somehow it feels like there is more than just the Brice-Cowell musket at stake.

The winner gets off to a great start in what will be another tough season of CAA conference play.

Some of the things to watch for tonight...

> UMaine returns 15 starters from last year's 6-5 team...UNH returns 15 starters from last year's 8-5 team.

> The Black Bears go with a redshirt freshman QB, Chris Ferguson, making his college debut...The Wildcats start QB Trevor Knight who threw for over 1,700 yards and 14 TDs last year while rushing for another 4 TDs.

> Maine's Josh Mack led the ground game a year ago with 712 yards, 6 rushing TDs and 2 receiving TDs as a freshman...New Hampshire's safety Pop Lacey led the team with 82 tackles as a freshman.

> The Bears in Durham, NH is the start of a grueling early season schedule with four of the first five games on the road...The Wildcats begin with three of their first five games at home.

> Joe Harasymiak begins his second season as head coach at Maine...Sean McDonnell begins his 19th year as head coach at UNH.