WHERE: Bob Ford Field, Albany, N.Y.

WHEN: 3:30 p.m. Saturday

STREAMING: FloFootball

ALL-TIME SERIES: Maine leads, 10-7. The Great Danes won at Maine last season, 37-21.

KEY STAT: 4, the number of games the Black Bears rushed for more than 100 yards last season. With at least 100 yards on the ground in each game this season, Maine has already matched that.

OUTLOOK: After struggling in two straight games, the Black Bears got the defensive effort they were searching for in last week’s 26-15 win at Merrimack. Maine held the Warriors to 195 yards of offense, and the defense surrendered just six of Merrimack’s 15 points on a pair of field goals. Now the goal is repeating that effort game after game. Coach Jordan Stevens said he liked how his team responded to tough practices and executed fundamentals in the game. In Albany, the Black Bears face an opponent coming off a bye week after a pair of tough losses to FBS West Virginia and Idaho, the No. 4 team in the FCS coaches’ poll. The Great Danes lost one of the top quarterbacks in the FCS when Reese Poffenbarger transferred to Miami, but Coach Grag Gattuso thinks Myles Burkett (761 yards passing with three touchdowns) has improved in each game. Burkett’s favorite target is Seven McGee, who has 14 catches for 265 yards and a touchdown. The Great Danes are last in the Coastal Athletic Association in rushing, averaging just 73 yards per game. Linebacker Kesean Dyson, a graduate transfer from Saint Francis, is emerging as a defensive leader for the Black Bears. Dyson had 10 tackles last week, including a sack and a forced fumble, and leads the Black Bears with 25 tackles on the season. Alhaji Kamara has two of Maine’s three interceptions. … Albany allowed at least 247 yards on the ground in each of its last two games, but the quality of those opponents has to be taken into account. That said, Maine’s run game is greatly improved, and averaging nearly 130 yards per game, 50 more per game than it did at the end of last season. Jaharie Martin (174 yards) and Tavion Banks (155 yards) lead the Black Bears’ running game behind a line led by center Joe Horn. Quarterback Carter Peevy averages just under 200 yards per game in the air and has four touchdown passes with one interception. Linebacker Dontae Lunan leads Albany with 34 tackles. Getting off to a fast start will be a key for Maine. The Black Bears have not scored first in a game yet this season.

OF NOTE: If this is a close one, Maine’s return game could be a key. Trevin Ewing leads the CAA in kick return average at 34 yards per return, while Mo Irefin is third in punt returns at 10.4 yards per return… Maine’s Montigo Moss is fifth in the CAA with 21 receptions. … The Great Danes advanced to the FCS semifinals last season, before losing to eventual national champion South Dakota State. … A win would be Maine’s first over a ranked opponent since the spring season held in 2021. The Black Bears’ opponent in that game, a 38-34 win, was also Albany. … This is the second of three straight road games for Maine. After a bye next week, Maine will be at Delaware on Oct. 12.