ORONO – Despite committing five turnovers, three inside the 20-yard line, against James Madison a week earlier, the members of the University of Maine offensive unit remained confident in their ability to put points on the scoreboard.

The Black Bears’ resolve was rewarded Saturday afternoon.

With the aid of a stingy and opportunistic defense, UMaine scored 28 unanswered first-half points to post a 42-17 Atlantic 10 football victory over Northeastern in front of 2,578 fans at Alfond Stadium.

Junior tailback Royston English pounded his way to 157 yards on 29 carries, while sophomore quarterback Jake Eaton passed for 262 yards and four touchdowns as the Bears improved to 4-6, 2-5 in league play.

Northeastern (3-7, 0-7 A-10) scored first on an 86-yard punt return by Andy Alsup, but UMaine piled up 495 yards with an effective run-pass mix, netting 233 yards on the ground and 262 through the air.

“It was a good win for us,” said UMaine coach Jack Cosgrove. “We obviously performed real well on offense and I was pleased to see the mix, run and pass.”

Eaton, who threw three interceptions and fumbled once at JMU, demonstrated his resilience – even after being intercepted by NU’s Steve Anzalone at the Huskies’ 13-yard line on his first pass of the game.

“We had a lot of confidence. I think we only ran four or five run plays and we were hitting them big-time,” Eaton said. “Luckily, we came back and played well.”

Eaton completed 16 of 23 throws, including TD passes of 36, 3 and 59 yards to Dwayne Wilmot and a 20-yard scoring toss to Phil McGeoghan. Eaton became the third quarterback in UMaine history to pass for 2,000 yards in a season, while Wilmot (6 catches, 125 yards) tied a single-season school mark with three TD receptions.

“We pressed to be positive,” Eaton said. “[JMU] was like the No. 1 [or] No. 2 defense in the league and we were moving the ball up and down the field on them. We just wanted to carry it over to this game and be mistake-free.”

Senior placekicker Todd Jagoutz booted six PATs to become UMaine’s all-time scoring leader with 213 points.

Northeastern had difficulty defending Wilmot and McGeoghan (3 rec., 95 yds.), especially with English finding plenty of running room behind an improving line.

“I was excited because this week we went more to our three-step passing game,” Wilmot said. “Going one-on-one, we feel like we can exploit some things offensively.”

Meanwhile, the Bears’ defense held the Huskies to 279 total yards.

Freshman cornerback Devon Goree gave UMaine a huge lift with the game tied 7-7 late in the first quarter. He made a leaping interception of a Logan Galli pass in the back of the end zone, ending a 74-yard drive.

“That’s a big stop, not only for us but for the defense, for our confidence,” Eaton said.

The Bears took advantage as Eaton hit McGeoghan down the right sideline for a 60-yard bomb that led to Wilmot’s lunging grab of a 3-yard Eaton pass in the end zone.

The defense chimed in on NU’s next possession when tackle Amos Hall picked off a Galli pass at the NU-19 and rambled in for a touchdown. That pushed the lead to 21-7.

“I just dropped back into coverage and the quarterback threw it right to me,” Hall said. “It doesn’t get much better than that for a defensive lineman.”

Later in the second quarter, Lennard Byrd’s 20-yard punt return to the NU-16 set up a one-yard scoring plunge by English.

Black Bears 42, Huskies 17

Northeastern (3-7) 7 0 3 7 – 17

Maine (4-6) 7 21 7 7 – 42

NU – Alsup 86 punt return (Connolly kick)

UM – Wilmot 36 pass from Eaton (Jagoutz kick)

UM – Wilmot 3 pass from Eaton (Jagoutz kick)

UM – Hall 19 interception return (Jagoutz kick)

UM – English 1 run (Jagoutz kick)

NU – Connolly 27 field goal

UM – McGeoghan 20 pass from Eaton (Jagoutz kick)

UM – Wilmot 59 pass from Eaton (Jagoutz kick)

NU – Klemic 48 pass from Browne (Connolly kick)

Northeastern Maine

First downs 17 22 Rushing att. – yds 33-111 45-233 Passing cmp. – att. 15-31 16-23 Yards passing 168 262 Total yards 279 495 Intercepted by 1 2 Punts – avg. 7-39.4 4-36.5 Fumbles – lost 4-0 0-0 Penalties – yds 5-27 9-96

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – NU: McKanas 18-83, Klemic 1-24, Gale 2-10, Browne 1-2, Connor 3-1, Galli 8-(-9); Maine: English 29-157, Silva 8-70, Eaton 6-6, Christopher 1-1, Hunter 1-0

PASSING – NU: Galli 11-20-2-98, Browne 4-11-0-70; Maine: Eaton 16-23-1-262

RECEIVING – NU: Klemic 6-118, McKanas 5-28, Alsup 3-17, Connor 1-5; Maine: Wilmot 6-125, McGeoghan 3-95, Christopher 3-10, Minor 2-20, Hayes 2-12