ORONO, Maine — Quarterback R.J. Toman passed for 127 yards and two touchdowns, both in the second half, on Saturday afternoon, lifting the University of New Hampshire to a 28-24 Colonial Athletic Association football victory over the University of Maine at wintry Alfond Stadium.
The Wildcats (9-2, 6-2 CAA) overcame a snow-covered Morse Field and cold, windy conditions to upend the Black Bears and almost assure themselves a spot in the 16-team NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
Coach Jack Cosgrove’s Maine team (8-4, 5-3 CAA) had its six-game winning streak halted, but still may have an outside shot at earning a postseason berth.
New Hampshire’s quick-strike offense did just that on a couple of occasions, but it was a methodical 11-play, 79-yard scoring drive late in the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference. The Wildcats took the lead when Mike Boyle (3 receptions, 55 yards, 2 touchdowns) took a short screen pass near the right sideline, eluded two potential tacklers and tiptoed into the end zone with 3 minutes, 27 seconds remaining.
Maine had two more possessions in the final 3½ minutes, but Terrence Klein intercepted quarterback Mike Brusko twice as New Hampshire sealed the victory in front of 5,719 frozen fans.
Toman (6-for-12) also threw a 29-yard scoring pass to Boyle in the third quarter that gave the Wildcats a 21-17 lead. Chad Kackert rushed for 89 yards, including first-half touchdowns of 46 and 18 yards.
Brusko paced Maine with 65 rushing yards, including a 1-yard scoring dive, and 98 yards passing on 6-for-15 accuracy.
Linebacker Matt Parent paced New Hampshire with 12 tackles, while linebackers Sean Wasson and Andrew Downey led the Maine defense with 17 and 12 tackles, respectively.
Pushaun Brown’s 3-yard touchdown run and Jordan Waxman’s 30-yard field goal had given the Black Bears a 10-7 lead late in the first quarter, but New Hampshire regained the upper hand on Kackert’s 18-yard run early in the second quarter.
On 11/22/08 at 4:45 PM,
mainebadger wrote:
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I understand it was cold and wintry outside today, but the Black Bears lost today because of the offensive play calling (in more than one sense). Whoever calls the offense needs to be fired. That was awful today. Maine should have won. The coordinator lost it for the Black Bears today.
On 11/22/08 at 10:51 PM,
imtheman wrote:
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i agree with mainebadger.
On 11/22/08 at 10:58 PM,
imtheman wrote:
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i mean, we have a 235 lb bulldozer named turcotte, why not run him more and let brusko play quarterback? running the qb up the middle over and over again was unimaginative play calling, it probably tired brusko out and as good as he is, one man cannot do it all. look at unh with their running plays. In particular, the reverse to #27. is our playbook limited to about five running plays, almost all up the gut? don't we have a quick pitch or a screen pass or a quick pass the the tight end, all of which brusko could easily do? please don't blame the qb mike brusko... hes done a great job ever since he replaced farkas and the team under him started winning. blame the oc kevin burgoin for losing this game.
also, lets say your a great highschool wide receiver. would you want to play for a team where the qb runs more than he throws, runs more times than the star fullback and your basically relegated to being a downfield blocker? this bad play calling not only lost the game for maine but it probably hurts the college's recruiting program.
On 11/23/08 at 8:48 PM,
oldtownfrank wrote:
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OC did a tremendous job re-tolling offense with new QB - they won six in a row and if not for a TD called back in fourth quarter could have beaten UNH. Field conditions actually favored UNH, they could run with small backs and their QB is outstanding. On dry field Turcotte would have been utilized as "bulldozer" much better and as they have in recent weeks, would have kept ball out of UNH's hands. Good job by Coach Cosgrove and his staff.
On 11/23/08 at 10:05 PM,
Dinosaur wrote:
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Check This link out. If I am reading correctly, The Black Bears are in the playoffs. Undoubtedly, their first game will be against one of the top seeds, which bodes darkly if Maine continues to play the one man offense scheme (Brusko Runs Brusko Runs Brusko Passes Once In A While).
The Bears can beat any of the play-off teams seeded 8 and below, but against a top seed with almost no passing game it looks like an 8-5 season for the Bears by a 27-14 score.
On 11/23/08 at 10:55 PM,
imtheman wrote:
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dinosaur, your right on. i think brusko is fine with short passes such as quick rollouts or screens. maybe triester can get in and throw long to stretch the field or a trick play something like randle el did for the steelers in the superbowl awhile back. turc will be big in this game too. i cant believe umaine was given this opportunity i was sooo depressed with yesterdays loss. this is a gift umaine should def take advatnage of. dont care how strong north iowa is they have not met anyone like jovan b.
great to hear. does anyone know if it will be on tv?
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