The University of New Hampshire’s dominance in its football series against the University of Maine continued on Saturday afternoon.
Junior quarterback Max Brosmer of UNH, the Football Championship Subdivision leader in passing yards, threw three touchdown passes and ran for another, and sophomore running back Myles Thomason returned a third-quarter punt 89 yards for a touchdown as UNH thumped the Black Bears 44-25 at Wildcat Stadium in Durham, N.H.
It was UNH’s 18th win in the last 21 meetings with the Black Bears and the Wildcats retained the Brice-Cowell Musket which goes to the winner.
UNH, picked to finish second in the Coastal Athletic Association preseason poll, wound up 6-5 overall and 4-4 in the conference. It will not earn a FCS playoff spot.
UMaine lost its fourth in a row and wound up 2-9 overall and 1-7 in the CAA.
The Black Bears went 0-6 on the road.
UMaine went 2-9 last season and the 18 losses in back-to-back seasons is the most in school history.
UNH scored on its first possession and led the whole way. Two UMaine second-quarter turnovers were turned into 14 points as UNH took a 34-17 lead into the intermission.
That gave UMaine 11 turnovers over its final four games.
“We didn’t get it done,” said UMaine head coach Jordan Stevens. “We didn’t get stops early and then we didn’t respond. We got behind, and we weren’t able to find our way back in consistently. We had some runs at them, but then we’d turn the ball over, and you can’t do those things when you’re trying to get back into the game.”
UNH’s Brosmer threw a two-yard TD pass to graduate student wide receiver Logan Tomlinson to open the scoring with 8:57 left in the first period. The Wildcats converted four third downs on the drive.
UNH extended the lead to 13-0 when Brosmer tossed a 56-yard TD pass to senior tight end Kyle Lepkowski 3:32 later.
UMaine senior quarterback Derek Robertson threw a two-yard TD pass to Jamie Lamson early in the second period to cut the lead to 13-7 and, after Brosmer responded with a 10-yard strike to Thomason, Robertson fired a 14-yard TD pass to Trevin Ewing to make it 20-14.
Then the turnovers occurred..
UMaine recovered a surprise onsides kick but, on its ensuing drive, UNH junior linebacker Ryan Toscano sacked Robertson and forced a fumble, which he recovered at the UMaine 35 yard line.
Brosmer capitalized with a 10-yard TD run.
On UMaine’s next possession, Robertson was intercepted by senior safety Joe Eichman at the UMaine-37, and the Wildcats cashed in when junior running back Isaac Seide burst into the end zone from the one.
UMaine put together a drive to close out the half, but had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Cody Williams, and UNH took a 34-17 lead into the intermission.
Thomason’s punt return sealed the win as the Black Bears’ recent second-half struggles continued.
Nick Mazzie kicked a 35-yard field goal to make it 44-17 with 9:04 left.
The Black Bears failed to convert a pair of fourth downs in UNH territory before they scored a consolation TD with 3:54 remaining on Robertson’s 12-yard TD pass to graduate student tight end Cooper Heisey.
Eli Mahan caught a two-point conversion pass from Robertson after the TD.
UMaine scored only 22 points in the second half of its last three games.
Brosmer completed 16 of 26 passes for 271 yards and the three TDs. Tomlinson caught eight passes for 121 yards. He threw 29 TD passes this fall.
Thomason carried the ball 16 times for 55 yards.
Eichman’s six tackles and five apiece by senior cornerback Randall Harris and junior cornerback Noah Stansbury paced the UNH defense.
Robertson completed 32 of 51 passes for 315 yards and three TDs, giving him 25 over his last seven games. Lamson tied a career-high with his second consecutive eight-catch game. His receptions were good for 50 yards. Ewing had a career-high seven catches for 79 yards.
Rohan Jones had five catches for 54 yards and Tristen Kenan had five for 28 yards.
Among Black Bears sidelined by injuries were wide receivers Joe Gillette and Montigo Moss.
UNH was without injured running back Dylan Laube, who leads the FCS in all-purpose yards (2,095).
Kenan was UMaine’s leading rusher with 48 yards on 11 carries.
Junior cornerback Kahzir ‘Buggs’ Brown had a game-high seven tackles for the Black Bears and redshirt senior tackle Izaiah Henderson had five including three for lost yardage.