Northern Iowa ends Black Bears' season
11/29/08 | 4 comments
football final

Northern Iowa ends Black Bears' season


By Pete Warner
BDN Staff
(Jonathan D. Woods/The Gazette)
Maine running back Pushaun Brown (31) makes it through a hole cleared by the defensive line during the first quarter of their game against University of Northern Iowa at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The season came to a screeching halt for the University of Maine football team on Saturday.

Host Northern Iowa dismantled the Black Bears defense and shut down the UMaine offense while cruising to a 40-15 NCAA first-round playoff victory at the UNI-Dome.

Fourth-ranked Northern Iowa (11-2) advances to host UMaine rival New Hampshire in Saturday's national quarterfinals.

Coach Jack Cosgrove's 20th-ranked UMaine squad closed out the season at 8-5.

The Bears, who earned an at-large bid to the 16-team tournament out of the Colonial Athletic Association, found themselves having to play from behind after a second-quarter offensive outburst by the Panthers.

UMaine's offense had only sporadic success while trying to throw often and quarterback Mike Brusko was intercepted four times.

Northern Iowa turned in a well-balanced offensive effort, gaining yards on the ground and through the air.

Pat Grace completed 15 of 24 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed 15 times for 54 yards. Tailbacks Corey Lewis abd Derrick Law added 75 and 64 yards,respectively, UNI amassed 422 yards of total offense.

UMaine accounted for only 264 yards, including a 31-yard reverse run by Landis Williams. Brusko completed 15 of 23 throws for 180 yards. Derek Session made five receptions for 70 yards.

Not registered? Click here
E-mail this
Print this
Guidelines for posting on bangordailynews.com

Bangordailynews.com is pleased to offer a forum for readers to react to our stories, discuss them and provide additional information. We are reluctant to delete comments, but do reserve that right for those who abuse our forum. For more on using this site, please see our terms of service.

The primary rule here is pretty simple: Treat others with the same respect you'd want for yourself. What does that mean specifically? Here are some guidelines (see more):

Comments
4 comments on this item
On 11/29/08 at 11:16 PM, imtheman wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

UNI was very good and very prepared.

Report abuse
On 11/29/08 at 11:20 PM, imtheman wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Was Maine?

I mean, this past week we learn that Jared Turcotte makes first team running back in the CAA. That's fantastic. So why isn't he used more? The first half, he only carried the ball 2x. (He still contributed. It was his block that opened the hole for Session's TD.) Why does the QB run more times than the top ranked runner in the entire league? If you listened to the game on the radio, as I did, you could hear the frustration in the commentator's voice. At one point he stated that Turcotte was the inviisible man. Does anyone else feel as frustrated as I do?

Report abuse
On 11/30/08 at 2:20 AM, mainejeff wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
On 11/30/08 at 4:56 PM, Weatherman wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Another disapointment. The black hole defense has always been just that, a big hole. They are not that good.

Report abuse
You must be logged in to post a comment. click here to log in.

Powered by: Creative Circle Advertising Solutions, Inc.