ORONO – The success of New Hampshire’s top-rated offense has been predicated on its ability to keep opponents off-balance by setting up the pass with the run.

Maine solved that puzzle Saturday by taking away the run. The Black Bears held Wildcats tailback Jerry Azumah, the leading rusher in the Yankee Conference, to 73 yards while laying the foundation for a 34-20 victory at Alumni Field.

Coach Jack Cosgrove’s Bears treated a Homecoming crowd of 6,396 to a solid two-way performance, beating a nationally ranked team for the second week in a row. Maine improved to 5-3, 4-3 in the conference. New Hampshire fell to 4-2 and 2-2, respectively.

“The key thing was to take them out of their offense. We accomplished that,” said senior linebacker Shawn Stephenson, who said Maine’s primary goal was “to keep Azumah under a hundred yards.”

Stephenson made seven tackles and recorded his first career interception for the Bears. Lateef O’Connor and Derek Carter had eight tackles each.

Maine’s passing game provided some thrills. Sophomore Mickey Fein completed five passes of 32 yards or more, one an 83-yarder to Rameek Wright. But the defense was the difference.

“Our defense is really impressing the heck out of me,” Cosgrove said. “I thought we played great pass defense. We didn’t give up any deep balls…. We tackled well.”

New Hampshire, which went in averaging a league-best 423 yards, was largely one-dimensional.

“They play all those people up at the line of scrimmage and they say, `you’ve got to throw the football,’ ” New Hampshire coach Bill Bowes said.

Maine, prone to second-half offensive lulls this fall, had stalled on five straight series when it came to life on the final play of the third quarter. On first down, Fein lofted a 35-yard pass to John Tennett to ignite a crucial drive.

Andre Pam and Bob Jameson ran steadily, but it was Fein who kept the march alive with a 22-yard scramble up the middle on a third-and-nine play from the UNH 39. Four plays later, Pam sliced into the end zone on a 1-yard run as Maine extended its lead to 27-13 with 10:08 to play.

“We just tried to play our game and make big plays here and there,” Fein said. “When they presented themselves to us, we took the opportunity.”

Turnovers also played a role. Cody Tatro knocked the ball away from UNH quarterback Chris Bresnahan, and Maine’s Todd Williamson recovered at the UNH 20, to set up the clinching score.

“Turnovers were a big key today,” Bowes said.

Maine needed four plays to cash in, as Fein dove over from two yards out with 7:00 left. Chris Binder’s PAT made it 34-13.

New Hampshire netted 25 percent of its total offense on a late scoring drive. The ‘Cats moved 83 yards on 13 plays, scoring on Azumah’s 6-yard run with 1:59 to play.

The Bears relied heavily on Jameson (92 yards) and Pam (70 yards), but exhibited a willingness to throw deep. Maine took the early lead when Wright beat UNH cornerback Reggie Kenon and ran under Fein’s perfectly thrown fade pass down the left sideline for an 83-yard TD.

“Actually, I thought he was going to catch me,” said Wright, who caught seven balls for a career-high 175 yards. “Mickey just threw a great pass.”

Sparked by a 29-yard pass from Bresnahan to Calvin Jones, the Wildcats responded with a 78-yard drive. Azumah capped it at 3:25 of the first quarter with a three-yard scoring scramble, but Jon Curry’s PAT hit the left upright.

Maine’s Jon Gallant forced Azumah to fumble at the Wildcats’ 40 late in the first quarter. Fein found Wright on a 32-yard, third-down pass, then hit Mitch Maury with a two-yard touchdown throw to put the Bears on top for good.

The run and pass games complemented each other perfectly on Maine’s ensuing possession. Wright hauled in a 35-yard pass from Fein to spark the 82-yard drive, then Pam carried seven times for 23 yards in the next eight plays, leaping over from the 1-yard line with 5:54 left in the half.

New Hampshire appeared to be on the comeback trail in the third quarter, racing 50 yards on six plays. Azumah peeled off a 25-yard run to set up a 14-yard TD pass from Bresnahan to Jones. Curry’s kick cut the deficit to 20-13 with 11:12 left in the quarter.

However, the ‘Cats couldn’t sustain their offense, which they had altered in an attempt to combat Maine’s strategy.

“We felt we needed an extra blocker in order to run the football,” Bowes said. “We just didn’t do a real effective job of getting our running game going.”

Black Bears 34, Wildcats 20

UNH (4-2) 6 0 7 7 – 20

Maine (5-3) 7 13 0 14 – 34

M – Wright 83 pass from Fein (Binder kick)

NH – Azumah 3 run (kick failed)

M – Maury 2 pass from Fein (kick failed)

M – Pam 1 run (Binder kick)

NH – Jones 14 pass from Bresnahan (Curry kick)

M – Pam 1 run (Binder kick)

M – Fein 2 run (Binder kick)

NH – Azumah 6 pass from Bresnahan (Curry kick)

UNH Maine

First downs 17 17 Rushing att. – yds 30-105 50-170 Passing cmp. – att. 25-43 11-22 Yards passing 229 246 Total yards 334 416 Intercepted by 1 2 Punts – avg. 7-45.1 7-33.9 Fumbles – lost 5-2 3-0 Penalties – yds 4-30 5-53

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – UNH: Azumah 17-73, Scohron 3-13, Bresnahan 8-9, Lopez 1-6, Curran 1-4; Maine: Jameson 21-92, Pam 21-70, Fein 8-8

PASSING – UNH: Bresnahan 25-43-2-229; Maine: Fein 11-22-1-246

RECEIVING – UNH: Jones 8-93, Azumah 6-40, Tamulski 3-18, Scohron 3-12, Tripp 2-36, Barrow 2-21, Washington 1-9; Maine: Wright 7-175, Tennett 2-63, Gangi 1-6, Maury 1-2