MAINE Vs Towson arrives Thursday with the Black Bears leaning on their most proven unit: an offensive line that returns four of five starters and gives Jordan Stevens a foundation he can trust in the first game of the season. The kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at Towson University in Maryland, and for Maine the opener is less about mystery than about whether a veteran front can set the tone on the road.
That front includes tackles Anthony Iliano and Andrew Kocan, both of whom were picked to the Phil Steele preseason All-CAA first team and also landed on the league coaches’ preseason team. Iliano was an All-CAA second teamer last season and a Phil Steele preseason All-American this year, a sign of how highly the line is regarded before a snap is played. Stevens called it a strong group and said he thinks highly of Iliano and Kocan’s leadership.
The rest of the line looks familiar, too. Noah Stanley and Jack Boutaugh are back as starting guards, while Boutaugh has shifted to center to replace Nicolas Cruji. Ian Erickson moves into Boutaugh’s old right guard spot, and Tyler Williams and Liam Reamer give Maine interior depth after serving as backups a year ago. The interior group averages 315.4 pounds per man, which matters because weight alone does not win a game, but mass plus continuity usually gives a line a better chance to hold its shape against a defensive front.
That is where the opener starts to matter. A line can protect a new quarterback and help a run game survive when the rest of the offense is still settling in, and Maine has both of those issues. Eddie Buehler is the new starting quarterback, the wide receiver corps is inexperienced, and the Black Bears are likely to ask the line to do more early than they may later in the season. Stevens, in his fifth year with the University of Maine football team, knows that if the front holds up, the rest of the offense has a cleaner path.
Rashawn Marshall is the clearest reason to believe Maine will try to make the line carry the evening. He ran for 684 yards on 128 carries last season, averaged 5.3 yards per carry and was named a Steele All-CAA first team pick. Marshall has bulked up to gain more yards after contact, which fits the way an experienced line can turn a narrow crease into a longer gain if it gets the first push. Nick Loughlin, who had 164 yards on 31 carries in five games before a season-ending knee injury, and Daniel Batch, who had 11 carries for 65 yards, add depth behind him.
Maine’s 2025 finish showed what happens when the season settles in. The Black Bears started 0-4, then won six straight games and finished 6-6, including a 5-3 mark in conference play. They also closed with losses to Rhode Island and New Hampshire, a reminder that the line can look dominant in stretches and still be tested when opponents make them chase a game. Thursday’s opener will show whether this version of Maine can use its veteran front to avoid that kind of catch-up football from the start.
For Stevens, the simple case is the strongest one: the big men are back, they have earned recognition, and they have brought the energy all through practice and workouts. If that holds against Towson, Maine’s season opener may look less like a test of an offense in transition and more like a first answer to how far a veteran offensive line can carry the Black Bears before the rest of the pieces catch up.
