WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The University of Maine’s quest for a postseason berth became considerably more difficult Saturday as William & Mary posted a convincing 42-20 Atlantic 10 victory over the Black Bears at Zable Stadium.

Junior quarterback David Corley Jr. passed for 211 yards and two scores and rushed for 69 yards and two more touchdowns as The Tribe further complicated the conference playoff chase.

William & Mary improves to 5-3 while UMaine is 5-2. The two are tied for fourth place in the A-10 at 4-2.

Coach Jack Cosgrove’s Bears turned in a sluggish overall performance.

“We just got beat by a team that just outplayed us, hats off to them,” Cosgrove said. “They outplayed us, outcoached us, out-everythinged us.”

UMaine controlled the clock well in the last three quarters, but failed to put points on the scoreboard during a key stretch late in the first half that might have helped them snatch the momentum.

Trailing 21-7, UMaine caught a break when Dennis Dottin-Carter recovered a Corley fumble at the W&M 43-yard line. The Bears later attempted a 32-yard field goal, which was blocked by Matt Mills.

However, the ball was fumbled and John Gelsomino recovered, giving UMaine the ball at the 15.

This time, the Tribe’s defense held, stopping the Bears on a fourth-and-goal pass play.

UMaine forced the hosts to punt and took over at the W&M 44. This time, the Bears moved to the 21 before Mike Toal intercepted Jake Eaton and returned it 53 yards to the UM 39.

Corley’s 30-yard toss to Rich Musinski (8 catches, 144 yards) and a 9-yard scoring hookup between the two gave the Tribe a 28-7 halftime advantage.

“We ended up getting it going late, but by the time we got it going, it was too late,” Eaton said.

Eaton had one of his less-productive days, completing only 14 of 31 passes for 177 yards while throwing two interceptions. He did pass UMaine offensive coordinator Bob Wilder (4,493 yards) for fourth place on the school’s all-time passing yardage list with 4,646 yards.

The Bears got within 28-14, putting together a 13-play, 80-yard scoring march to open the second half. Royston English carried six times for 29 yards on the drive, which included a 24-yard pass from Eaton to Paris Minor and lasted nearly eight minutes.

William & Mary responded with a 67-yard TD drive, one aided by three UMaine penalties. Corley’s 1-yard scoring run pushed the lead back to three touchdowns.

The Bears were led offensively by English, who netted 113 yards on 21 carries while passing Rudy DiPietro for sixth place on the UMaine all-time rushing list with 2,300 yards.

Stefan Gomes shook off a sore ankle to make six receptions for 81 yards.

Freshman linebacker Lofa Tatupu paced the UMaine defense with nine tackles, while ‘backer Stephen Cooper made eight.

The Tribe jumped out to a 21-0 lead, then kept the Bears from mounting a serious comeback. The hosts marched 75 yards on five plays to open the contest, with Corley finding Musinski on a key 32-yard completion.

The hosts struck again late in the quarter after a 10-play, 68-yard drive capped by Corley’s 7-yard scamper.

Then, after UMaine’s third straight punt, The Tribe went 82 yards on only eight plays. Corley had an 18-yard keeper to help set up his 14-yard scoring toss to Brandon Johnson.

W&M led 21-0 with only 90 seconds gone in the second quarter.

THE TRIBE 42, BLACK BEARS 20

Maine (5-2) 0 7 7 6?20

William & Mary (5-3) 14 14 7 7?42

WM ?Smith 20 run (Nagelin kick)

WM ? Corley 7 run (Nagelin kick)

WM ? Johnson 14 pass from Corley (Nagelin kick)

UM ? Williams 23 run (Mellow kick)

WM ? Musinski 9 pass from Corley (Nagelin kick)

UM ? English 4 run (DeVinney kick)

WM ? Corley 1 run (Nagelin kick)

WM ? Howard 27 run (Nagelin kick)

UM ? Hayes 14 pass from Eaton (kick blocked)

Maine Wm. & Mary

First downs 24 20

Rushing att.-yards 42-191 36-228

Passing comp.-att. 14-31 12-1

Passing yards 177 211

Total yards 368 439

Punts-avg. 5-43.0 4-43.5

Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-2

Intercepted by 0 2

Penalties-yards 8-63 4-55

Rushing

Maine: English 21-113, Williams 3-29, Gelsomino 4-24, Eaton 10-17, Henry 4-8; Wm. & Mary: Smith 15-98, Corley 8-69, Howard 6-40, Rogers 7-21

Passing

Maine: Eaton 14-31-2-177; Wm. & Mary: Corley 12-18-0-211

Receiving

Maine: S. Gomes 6-81, Minor 4-55, Nwosu 2-20, Hayes 1-14, Gelsomino 1-7; Wm. & Mary: Musinski 8-144, Smith 2-14, Lee 1-39, Johnson 1-14

A?9,359