University of Maine football coach Kirk Ferentz said he and his staff could watch video tape of the University of New Hampshire team the Black Bears visit Saturday for a week straight and “not find a weakness.”

Wildcat coach Bill Bowes offered one off the top of his head.

“We’ve had several dropped passes,” said the 20th-year UNH coach, whose team will carry a 2-1 record (1-0 Yankee Conference) into the 12:30 p.m. contest in Durham. “When we get against Yankee Conference teams, we can’t let that type of thing happen.”

If the Wildcats, the hands-down preseason favorite to win the YC title, are dropping a lot of passes it’s hard to tell by their statistics. They rank second in the league in passing offense (301.3 yards per game). Junior flanker John Perry tied a school record with 3 TD grabs amid 9 catches for 205 yards in last week’s 48-28 annihilation of Division III Hofstra.

The receiving crew has been steady enough to enable senior quarterback Matt Griffin to rank second in the conference in passing efficiency with a 59 percent completion rate, good for a league-leading 904 yards, 8 TDs, and 4 interceptions.

“We still have some improvement to make in that area,” insisted Bowes, sounding like a guy downplaying his expensive car so as not to embarrass the neighbors.

Ferentz said the Wildcats would be tough enough for his 0-3 team to defend against with just their passing game playing behind their senior-dominated offensive line. But 5-foot-7, 175-pound junior tailback Barry Bourassa gives them a game-breaking run capacity as well.

After last week’s 136-yard rushing performance vs. Hofstra, Bourassa has amassed six career 100-yard games. He is averaging 79.7 yards a game this season and has scored 4 TDs. A dangerous kick returner (34.4 yards per return), Bourassa is currently averaging 185 all-purpose yards as well.

“We remember what he did last year,” said Ferentz, recalling the 329 all-purpose yards Bourassa rang up in UNH’s 28-20 win over Maine in Orono.

If there is a legitimate concern area for the 20th-ranked Wildcats, who edged UConn 21-16 after falling to top-20 Marshall 24-23 in the season-opener, it is their pass defense. They rank dead last in the conference, yielding 327 air yards per game.

The veteran defensive front, led by All-YC end Dwayne Sabb and senior tackles Geoff Aleva and Doug Ruggles, has amassed 10 quarterback sacks, so that’s not the problem. It’s when opposing QBs have had time the young UNH secondary has been exposed as porous.

Maine QB Emilio Colon will try to exploit UNH freshman safety Jim Concannon and sophomore cornerback Nathan Bryan.

Against the run, UNH has been much stronger. Led by Sabb and inside linebacker Chris McGrath (31 tackles), the Wildcats are yielding only 80.3 ground yards per contest.

Bowes, the winningest coach in YC history (124-71-4), will be coaching in his 200th game for the Wildcats Saturday.