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UNH 42, Maine 41 (OT)

ORONO, Maine – Junior running back Dylan Laube (Westhampton, N.Y.) ran for 190 yards and three touchdowns and sophomore  quarterback Max Brosmer (Roswell, Ga.) passed for three scores to lead the No. 18-ranked University of New Hampshire football team to a wild and crucial 42-41 overtime win over Maine on Saturday at Alfond Stadium.

UNH hit the “trifecta” as first-year head coach Rick Santos put it.

The Wildcats grabbed a share of the Colonial Athletic Association championship for the first time since 2014, nailed down an all but certain spot in the NCAA FCS Division I tournament for the first time since 2017 and brought the coveted Brice-Cowell Musket back to Durham.

The field for the 24-team FCS playoffs will be announced Sunday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

The Wildcats qualified for the tournament for 14 straight seasons from 2004-2017.

UNH improved to 8-3 overall and finished 7-1 in the CAA. The Wildcats share the league championship with William & Mary. The Tribe earned their share of the title with a win over Richmond on Saturday.

Maine won the coin toss and deferred to start overtime. Five plays later, Brosmer’s third touchdown pass was a 4-yarder to junior tight end Kyle Lepkowski (Adamstown, Md.). Redshirt freshman Nick Mazzie (Boxford, Mass.) kicked the conversion for 42-35.

The Black Bears scored a touchdown on a razzle-dazzle play from 31 yards out on a 4th down and 16 yards to go play on their turn in OT. They elected to go for a two-point conversion and Joe Fagnano’s pass was intercepted by junior linebacker Bryce Shaw (Raynham, Mass.), ending the game.

Brosmer completed 14 of 23 passes for 247 yards and the three scores.

Laube carried 30 times for his 190 yards and had scores of 3, 15 and 48 yards.

Junior linebacker Ryan Toscano (Bedford, N.H.) led the Wildcats with 14 tackles and sophomore defensive end Dylan Ruiz (Kissimmee, Fla.) had 11 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss with a quarterback sack.

Maine’s Elijah Barnwell rushed 20 times for 143 yards and three touchdowns.  Fagnano completed 16 of 32 passes for 202 yards and a score. He also ran 12 time for 71 yards and a TD.

Maine closed the season with a 2-9 overall record, 2-6 in the CAA.

UP NEXT 

  • The Wildcats will find out where and whom they play next during the FCS Selection Show, which will be on ESPNU on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 12:30 p.m.
FIRST QUARTER 
  • Laube scored the only touchdown of the period on a 3-yard run with 6:50 left.
  • Mazzie kicked the conversion.
SECOND QUARTER 
  • Brosmer connected with freshman receiver D.J. Linkins (District Heights, Md.) for a 33-yard TD pass with 11:52 left in the quarter and UNH led 14-0.
  • Elijah Barnwell scored on a 2-yard run with 3:21 left for Maine’s first points.
  • Laube answered quickly with a 15-yard scoring run to push the lead back to 21-7 with 2:08 to play.
  • A Brosmer to senior Sean Coyne (Portsmouth, R.I.) 48-yard pass play set up the touchdown.
  • Barnwell scored again on a 1-yard run with 18 seconds left to leave UNH’s lead at 21-14 at the break.
THIRD QUARTER 
  • Laube scored his third touchdown of the day on a 48-yard run with 6:12 left in the period.
  • Zavier Scott ran for a 75-yard score on Maine’s next play from scrimmage to cut UNH’s lead to 28-21 and end the scoring in the quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER 
  • Fagnano rushed for an 11-yard TD on the second play of the quarter and with Cole Baker’s conversion kick the game was tied 28-28.
  • Brosmer found grad student tight end Adam Deese (Belmont, Mass.) for a 6-yard TD to put the ‘Cats back on top, 35-28, with 11:12 left in the period.
  • Barnwell’s 2-yard TD tied it again at 35-35 with 3:11 to go.
  • The defenses forced punts and the game headed to overtime.
OVERTIME
  • The Wildcats went first in overtime from the Maine 25-yard line
  • Four Laube runs later, UNH had a 3rd and 3 at the Maine 4-yard line.
  • Brosmer hit Lepkowski for a touchdown on the next play.
  • Mazzie made the conversion kick for 42-35.
  • The UNH defense stifled Maine on its first three plays of OT.
  • Facing 4th and 16 from the 31-yard line, the Black Bears worked a razzle-dazzle play that finished with tight end Rohan Jones running into the end zone.
  • Maine went for the two-point conversion for the win.
  • The Wildcats pressured Fagnano and his pass was picked off by Shaw, ending the game.
GAME NOTEBOOK 
  • UNH had a season-high 472 yards of offense.
  • Maine had 538 yards of offense.
  • The Wildcats balanced 225 yards rushing with 247 yards passing.
  • UNH did not turn the ball over in the game.
UNH NOTEBOOK
  • Laube has 12 rushing touchdowns this year.
  • His 190 yards Saturday put him at an even 1,000 yards rushing for the season.
  • He had 281 all-purpose yards in the game.
  • Laube came into the game second in FCS in all-purpose yards at 167.89 yards.
  • Three Wildcats caught touchdown passes.
  • Lepkowski had three catches for 20 yards and the final score.
  • Linkins had one catch for 33 yards and the TD.
  • It was Lepkowski’s first TD catch of the season and the fifth for Linkins.
  • Deese had one catch for six yards and his first Wildcat TD.
  • Coyne had three catches for a team-high 78 yards.
  • Brosmer has 22 touchdown passes for the season with five interceptions.
  • Mazzie made all seven of his conversion kicks.
  • Ruiz and grad student defensive tackle Niko Kvietkus (Southington, Conn.) each broke up a pair of passes.
SERIES NOTEBOOK 
  • New Hampshire has a 57-45-8 lifetime record against Maine.
  • Maine won last year’s contest, 33-20, in Durham.
  • The Brice-Cowell Musket has been awarded to the winner of the series since the late 1940s.
  • This was the 110th game in the series.
  • UNH has won 17 of the last 21 contests.

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