DURHAM, N.H. – Quarterbacks Brian Scott of Maine and Tim Cramsey of New Hampshire made their first collegiate starts Saturday at Cowell Stadium.

While both performed admirably, the Wildcats’ offensive line made Cramsey’s job a lot easier.

New Hampshire pushed Maine’s defense around, paving the way for 381 yards rushing and a 24-7 Atlantic 10 victory in front of 3,946 fans at rainy, raw Mooradian Field.

Tailback Jerry Azumah burned the Black Bears for 189 yards on 28 carries. Azumah netted 109 yards in the second half as 3-5 UNH held the ball for nearly 20 minutes.

“[UNH] did a great job of keeping possession of the football and playing smash-mouth,” said Maine coach Jack Cosgrove, who saw Azumah slip tackles all day.

“He’s got great ability, but a lot of guys with great ability don’t give effort after a hit,” he said. “In my opinion, he’s in a class by himself in this conference.”

Cramsey, filling in for injured starter Matt Cassano, economically completed 12 of 16 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. He also ran 35 yards for a score.

“Our coaches put me in a good position the whole game,” Cramsey said. “This program needed a win very bad today.”

Maine, which dropped to 4-4 and out of postseason contention, managed only 42 yards on the ground. It was their lowest rushing output since they netted 42 in a 10-3 loss to Massachusetts on Sept. 21, 1991.

Maine was conservative, despite its lack of run success. It ran the ball 11 times on first down, averaging a mere 2.8 yards per rush.

That meant Scott faced numerous long-yardage passing situations. The Bears converted only three of 13 third down plays.

“I thought we protected [the quarterback] real well today, but we couldn’t run the football,” Cosgrove said. “We didn’t run it, and we missed some real close [passing] plays and let the thing get away from us.”

Scott was solid filling in for junior Mickey Fein, who was suspended for a game last week after an Oct. 18 drunken driving arrest. The sophomore from Waterville completed 16 of 33 throws for 215 yards and was intercepted once.

Scott completed three passes for 46 yards, directing Maine to a touchdown on its first possession. Bert Rich ran 16 yards for what would be the Bears’ lone TD.

Maine never found a similar groove after that drive.

“We could just never get in a rhythm that we needed to be in,” Scott said. “There’s a couple key times in a game where you just need drives, and we could never get that drive.”

The ‘Cats scored on their first two possessions. UNH balanced the run and pass during a 60-yard march capped by a 5-yard toss from Cramsey to Ryan Scottron.

UNH followed that up with a 56-yard drive. On a third-and-six play, Cramsey faked a handoff to Azumah, hid the ball on his left hip, and rolled to his left.

No one followed Cramsey, who chugged 35 yards untouched down the left sideline.

The Bears couldn’t score again despite penetraing the 40-yard line twice. John Tennett was ruled out of bounds inside the 10-yard line on a long pass from Scott on a key play in the second quarter.

New Hampshire’s offense owned the second half, punching holes in Maine’s weary, injury-depleted defensive line. Maine had the ball for 3 1/2 minutes in the third quarter.

The Wildcats opened the second half with a 10-play, 65-yard scoring drive. Cramsey’s 3-yard TD pass to Jermaine Washington was the only completion of the possession.

Azumah added a 1-yard scoring run to cap a 51-yard march late in the third quarter.

“The main part of that was we just didn’t make plays,” said UMaine defensive tackle Jon Gallant. “That’s why were on the field so long.”

Maine threatened late as Scott completed five straight throws to move the Bears to the UNH 3. However, Scott threw three incomplete passes and was sacked on the other play as the ‘Cats held.

Safety Derek Carter and end Jojo Oliphant had career games for Maine, making 20 and 18 tackles, respectively.

Wildcats 24, Black Bears 7

Maine (4-4) 7 0 0 0 – 7

UNH (3-5) 14 0 10 0 – 24

UM – Rich 16 run (Jagoutz kick)

UNH – Scottron 5 pass from Cramsey (Curry kick)

UNH – Cramsey 35 run (Curry kick)

UNH – Curry 24 FG

UNH – Azumah 1 run (Curry kick)

Maine UNH

First downs 15 28 Rushing att. – yds 19-42 66-381 Passing cmp. – att. 16-33 12-16 Yards passing 215 68 Total yards 257 449 Intercepted by 1 1 Punts – avg. 7-32.6 3-36.3 Fumbles – lost 0-0 1-1 Penalties – yds 3-63 6-49

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Maine: Rich 15-39, Fellows 2-4, Smith 1-1, Scott 1-(-2); UNH: Azumah 28-189, Lopez 12-95, Cramsey 11-46, Kreider 12-42, Scottron 2-5, Curran 1-4

PASSING – Maine: Scott 16-33-215-1; UNH: Cramsey 12-16-68-1

RECEIVING – Maine: Wright 9-162, D. O’Connor 3-34, Gangi 1-10, Tennett 1-7, Rich 1-4, Petteway 1-(-2); UNH: Washington 3-11, Randall 2-23, Azumah 2-5, Lopez 2-(-1), Peterson 1-18, Kreider 1-7, Scottron 1-5