ORONO – The final game of the football season can often come as a relief, particularly when your team is not headed for postseason play.

University of Maine coach Jack Cosgrove didn’t want the 2000 season to end, especially after his Black Bears won three of their last four games to finish 5-6.

While UMaine didn’t achieve quite the level of success Cosgrove had hoped, the Bears appear to have generated some momentum heading into 2001.

“Maybe I’m nuts, but I think a lot of the guys … probably wish we were practicing again [this week],” Cosgrove said.

“I have this feeling myself that we’ve kind of made such strides, sometimes you don’t want the season to end,” he added. “[But] you are what you are [5-6] and there’s no getting away from that.”

New Hampshire coach Sean McDonnell predicted great things from UMaine in the future.

“They’re a young football team. They’re going to be a force to be reckoned with in this league the next couple of years if they continue to improve the way that they have,” McDonnell said.

The Bears performed pretty much as advertised, starting the season with a defense lacking experience. It took some time to pull things together, especially with injuries sidelining mainstays Dave Cusano, Mickey Donovan and Randy Smith.

After surrendering an average of 36.6 points and 391.5 yards in the first six games, the Bears held opponents to 13.8 ppg and 304 ypg over the last five contests.

Sophomore linebacker Stephen Cooper led the defense and ranked 19th in the Atlantic 10 with 84 tackles, including 51/2 sacks. He recovered four fumbles and blocked two kicks.

UMaine returns 13 of its top 15 tacklers next year, including linebacker Rob Kierstead of South Portland (58 tackles), freshman cornerback standout Devon Goree (54 tackles, 3 interceptions), ‘backer Ernie Svolto (53) and Smith (49).

“You think back to the start of it and we knew we had some guys who were going to be learning on the run, especially on the defensive side of the ball,” Cosgrove said. “Then we had some injuries. Since we got people healthy back on defense, we’ve vastly improved defensively.

“That’s what this team has been about all year long is making progress,” he said.

The Bears lose only two regulars, versatile defensive back Jason Betts and tackle Ufuoma Pela. UMaine forced 27 turnovers, including a league-best 20 fumbles, and was third with 30 sacks.

Other key returnees include Brendan Curry, Lennard Byrd, Dennis Dottin-Carter and Andrew Gervais of Buxton.

“We have a lot of young players within our defense on the two-deep,” Betts said. “I think it just took some time for everyone to gel together, especially with some injuries to key players.”

UMaine’s offense struggled with consistency and turnovers at times, but exhibited a mix of quick-striking ability with its passing game and a knack for grinding it out on the ground.

The critical element in the emergence of the offense was the offensive line, which experienced a setback when starting sophomore tackle Peter Richardson of Millinocket went down with a season-ending knee injury in Game 2.

Anchored by senior center Paul Paradis, senior guard Chris McLaughlin and freshman tackle Matt Hammond, the Bears ranked third in the A-10 with 29 points per game and wound up sixth in total offense with 378 yards per game.

UMaine ran the ball more effectively behind junior tailback Royston English, who netted 666 yards, Marquisse Silva (372 yds.) and slippery sophomore quarterback Jake Eaton, who carried 107 times for 296 yards.

“The foundation’s been laid for how we want to play,” Cosgrove said. “We had some success running the football, far greater than the past few years, but I still think we can do a better job.”

However, injuries to Justin Szwejkowski, Paradis and McLaughlin forced the Bears, and Eaton, to do some scrambling.

Eaton finished the season with the highest completion percentage in the league and in school history at .696, completing 184 of 279 passes for 2,265 yards and 17 touchdowns.

The Bears’ offensive leader can only get better.

“He gives us a guy who’s as complete a performer at that position as we could want,” Cosgrove said. “He’s smart, instinctive. He was born to be a quarterback.”

UMaine returns tailbacks English, Silva and Calvin Hunter of Auburn, along with tight end Chad Hayes of Old Town and fullback John Gelsomino. The line should be deeper with the experience provided by tackles Zack Magliaro, Richardson and Hammond, guards Szwejkowski and John Kmety, and center Brian Williams.

However, the Bears lose a potent receiving trio in Dwayne Wilmot, Phil McGeoghan and Ben Christopher. Wilmot caught a pass in his last 34 games and finished fourth all-time at UMaine with 169 catches and seventh with 1,981 receiving yards.

“Dwayne Wilmot I thought was the best receiver in the league this year and impacted our team throughout the course of the year with big plays,” Cosgrove said.

McGeoghan ranks fourth in school history with 2,343 yards and is fifth with 161 receptions. Christopher amassed 1,273 rushing yards and caught 50 passes in his career.

The returnees who must pick up the slack include promising freshman Stefan Gomes and Paris Minor.

The other obvious void is created by the departure of senior punter and place-kicker Todd Jagoutz, who became UMaine’s all-time leader with 219 points and 35 field goals. Backup Todd Elwell also graduates.

Armed with a full complement of scholarship dollars for the third straight season, Cosgrove seeks further improvement after leading UMaine to a 27-28 record (18-22 in A-10 games) in the last five years.

“We have a lot of progress to make to get up into the eight-win, nine-win category,” he said. “There’s still a lot in front of us, but we certainly finished on as high a note as we possibly could.”