STORRS, Conn. – As Chad Martin chugged 36 yards for a touchdown with 1:13 left Saturday, Connecticut coach Skip Holtz couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy.

The quick score meant UMaine would get the ball back one more time. Unable to forget the Black Bears’ last-minute heroics a year ago, and in recent meetings, Holtz pulled his defense aside.

“I said, `hey, it’s an eight-point game; it’s a touchdown and a two-point play away now,’ ” said a relieved Holtz. “We couldn’t rest until the very end when we got to fall on the ball.”

UConn’s Jordan Younger intercepted a Mickey Fein pass with 57 seconds remaining as the Huskies clinched a 35-27 Atlantic 10 victory at Memorial Stadium.

Bidding to go 3-0 for the first time since 1989, coach Jack Cosgrove’s Bears nearly erased a 14-point deficit, but couldn’t overcome a lackluster first half and some critical second-half mistakes.

“We did a bunch of things that would come back and haunt us, individual breakdown kinds of things,” Cosgrove said. “I didn’t think we came into the fight in the first half with the kind of energy we had early in the year.”

UMaine appeared to seize the momentum midway through the fourth quarter when Jojo Oliphant blocked Jim McManus’ 39-yard field goal try and Lateef O’Connor returned it to the UConn 41.

Fein (24-for-39, 282 yards) completed three straight passes, including a 23-yarder to Ben Christopher, who scored on a spinning 6-yard run with 4:57 to play.

“We knew if we could get our offense rolling and our defense would just settle down, it was going to be a shootout and it would come down to the end,” Oliphant said.

The Huskies clung to a 28-27 lead after Steve Gangi rolled the PAT snap past holder Brian Scott to kicker Todd Jagoutz, who was swarmed by the UConn defense.

Gangi was forced into action after long-snapper Billy Cole, the starting fullback, injured his shoulder in the third quarter. Gangi is recovering from torn tendons in his right wrist.

“It could have been anybody,” Cosgrove said. “We did a lot of things wrong.”

Undaunted, UMaine forced UConn to punt and got the ball back at its own 33 with 2:33 to play. The Bears got to the UConn 42, but Fein was intercepted on a second-down play by Kevin Foster with 1:25 left.

“I just tried to force one in there, and it didn’t work,” said Fein, who was picked off on the previous series. “Unfortunately, things didn’t work out, but I was proud of the way we played in the second half.”

UMaine shrugged off its poor first half, during which the defense surrendered 308 yards and 21 points, and the offense sputtered. The Bears held UConn to 122 second-half yards.

The Bears scored on their first possession of the second half, sparked by consecutive throws of 23 and 16 yards from Fein to Phil McGeoghan. Cole’s 8-yard scoring run cut the deficit to 21-14.

UConn answered, immediately. Tory Taylor raced 89 yards for a score with the ensuing kickoff, relighting the fire under the Huskies.

“Tory Taylor came up big. That kickoff return was huge from a momentum standpoint,” Holtz said.

The resilient Bears bounced back with a 75-yard march. It took only five plays before Fein lofted a 37-yard touchdown pass to Drew O’Connor. Jagoutz’ kick made it 28-21 with 9:34 left in the third.

After the defense held UConn on its first offensive series of the half, UMaine embarked on a 10-play, 90-yard drive starting at its own 9-yard line. Christopher’s 31-yard scamper provided a spark.

On fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, the diminutive Christopher tried to leap over the middle of the line, but came up short.

“You’d think on a fourth-and-1, [when] you drive 89 yards, you finish the thing off,” Cosgrove said. “We don’t have a jump play…. I don’t know why that happened.”

The Huskies dominated the first half, effectively mixing the run and the pass behind tailback Barry Chandler, who finished with 120 yards, and quarterback Shane Stafford (16-for-26, 222 yards).

UConn took a 7-0 lead when Stafford’s 2-yard scoring toss to Dan Deignan capped a 13-play, 80-yard march. The Huskies followed it up with another 80-yard drive, keyed by a 38-yard completion from Stafford to Taylor, and culminating in Martin’s 1-yard plunge.

“We were excited for this game, but I don’t think we were ready,” said UMaine’s Darrick Brown. “They hit some big plays on us and they had the momentum.”

The Bears regained some confidence after Aaron Dashiell’s superb, one-handed interception at 8:38 of the second quarter. It set up UMaine’s only consistent offensive series of the half.

On third-and-goal from the UConn 2, Fein threw to a wide-open Oliphant – a defensive end – for a TD. Jagoutz’ PAT made it 14-7 with 5:00 left in the half.

UConn quickly re-established its 14-point lead, going 70 yards on seven plays, scoring on a 21-yard toss from Stafford to John Fitzsimmons.

UMaine’s Dwayne Wilmot made a career-best 10 catches for 85 yards, while safety Dashiell registered 10 tackles and cornerback Mike Harvey had eight.

Huskies 35, Black Bears 27

Maine (2-1) 0 7 14 6 – 27

Connecticut (2-0) 7 14 7 7 – 35

C – Diegnan 2 pass from Stafford (McManus kick)

C – Martin 1 run (McManus kick)

M – Oliphant 2 pass from Fein (Jagoutz kick)

C – Fitzsimmons 21 pass from Stafford (McManus kick)

M – Cole 8 run (Jagoutz kick)

C – Taylor 89 kickoff return (McManus kick)

M – D. O’Connor 37 pass from Fein (Jagoutz kick)

M – Christopher 6 run (kick failed)

C – Martin 36 run (McManus kick)

Maine Connecticut

First downs 23 24 Rushing att. – yds 31-152 44-208 Passing cmp. – att. 24-39 16-26 Yards passing 282 222 Total yards 434 430 Intercepted by 1 2 Punts – avg. 5-31.0 4-43.8 Fumbles – lost 0-0 0-0 Penalties – yds 6-66 8-56

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Maine: Christopher 16-95, Rich 7-46, Cole 2-10, Sisay 2-7, Fein 4-(-6); UConn: Chandler 22-120, Jumpp 12-52, Martin 3-41, Taylor 1-8, Stafford 6-(-13)

PASSING – Maine: Fein 24-39-2-282; UConn: Stafford 16-26-1-222

RECEIVING – Maine: Wilmot 10-85, D. O’Connor 6-83, McGeoghan 2-39, Christopher 1-23, Brown 1-17, Hayes 1-17, Rich 1-9, Gangi 1-7, Oliphant 1-2; UConn: Taylor 4-80, Fitzsimmons 4-61, Bond 3-43, Yodis 1-16, Martin 1-14, Burton 1-4, Diegnan 1-2, Chandler 1-2