Dual-threat transfer QB wins starting job for UMaine in opener

Quarterback Carter Peevy led Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, to a berth in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs a year ago.

Now, University of Maine football head coach Jordan Stevens is trusting the transfer graduate student to help lead the Black Bears to success in the Coastal Athletic Association after back-to-back 2-9 seasons (3-13 combined in conference games).

Peevy has been named the starter for the Aug. 30 opener against Colgate in Orono after a prolonged battle with senior Anthony Harris for the starting job.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Peevy, a native of Lawrenceville, Georgia, piloted Mercer to a 9-4 record including a 17-7 FCS first round playoff win over Gardner-Webb in which he ran for both touchdowns. He ran 72 yards for one TD and two yards for another.

He is a dual-threat quarterback, having completed 66.3 percent of his passes a year ago (201-of-303) for 2,275 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also ran the ball 125 times for 324 yards and 12 TDs.

Drew Belcher was the last UMaine quarterback to rush for more than 300 yards and that occurred in 2015 when he gained 314 yards on 88 carries.

Peevy transferred to UMaine in January.

“Carter has shown an ability to throw the ball efficiently and accurately and his knowledge of the offense has really grown, especially since the spring,” Stevens said. “He has shown the ability to adapt quickly after coming from a much-different offense into our offense.”

Stevens said Peevy’s ability to run and pass is only going to help UMaine’s offense and the team.

Peevy’s experience as a starting quarterback was also a factor.

Harris has been a back-up and has never started a game at UMaine.

Harris appeared in seven games last fall, playing behind Derek Robertson. He completed 13 of 18 passes for 111 yards and one touchdown. He ran the ball eight times for minus-21 yards.

Redshirt freshman Caden Drezek and true freshman Eddie Buehler are also in the quarterback mix.

“Experience always helps. That’s going to help Carter compete within the games and the ups and downs of the game,” Stevens said.

Peevy said he is grateful to have the opportunity to lead the offense and that being appointed the starter “gives you the green light to take control of everything and start vocally challenging the guys that you are going to be playing with because you are going to need all 11 of them.”

“A quarterback has never had success without his teammates,” added Peevy. “You have to get everyone on the same page and start focusing on the one goal in front of you.”

Peevy said he feels confident about the season.

“We’ve had a great camp. Our guys have done a really good job of practicing hard and getting on the same page,” said Peevy. “I’m really proud of how the O line has come together. They are going to help us out a lot.”

The same goes for the receiving corps, he said.

“I feel really confident in our receivers. There are lots of guys from last year that played a lot of football. We just have to keep gelling together. Our ceiling is really high. We just have to keep climbing towards it,” he added.

Stevens said Harris, Drezek and Buehler have also performed well in preseason and he has confidence in all of them.

“This is a really strong quarterback group,” Stevens said. “Credit to Carter for competing and really working hard and being diligent all camp to earn that nod for game one. We will continue to help him along and put him in positions to be successful and put our team in positions to be successful.”

Stevens said the backup QBs must be ready to step in for Peevy if needed.

“Those other [quarterbacks] have to stay ready and have to continue to compete, which they will. It’s a great group. Those guys are very supportive. They all want what’s best for the team and that is for us to win. I expect them to bring a level of professionalism to work every day,” Stevens said.

Peevy will be the only one to depart after this season. Harris will have another year of eligibility; Drezek will have three years and Buehler will have four unless he appears in more than four games this season in which case he will have three remaining.

Stevens said the program is in really good shape at the quarterback position going forward.

“We have to continue to develop them and continue to work with them so they can understand the offense and make those right decisions,” Stevens said.

Peevy said the past two 2-9 seasons aren’t something he thinks about.

“Obviously I wasn’t here. All I know is we have a lot of talent in our locker room, offense and defense, and we have the ability to be much better than 2-9. There are valuable lessons that can be learned from those last two seasons that can help us in the future,” he said.

Peevy was the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year during the abbreviated eight-game 2021 spring campaign as he threw for 1,318 yards and eight touchdowns and led Mercer to wins over three nationally-ranked teams: No. 9 Chattanooga (35-28), 17th-ranked Furman (26-14) and No. 20 Eastern Tennessee State (21-13).

But he sustained a groin injury in the fall and Coastal Carolina transfer Fred Payton won the job and kept it for two seasons.

Peevy had sports hernia surgery after the fall season in 2021.