PORTLAND – Winning is supposed to be fun, but the University of Maine football team found out Saturday night it can also be frustrating.

The 18th-ranked Black Bears engaged in a hard-hitting, trash-talking game with Florida International and overcame an uncharacteristic 145 yards in penalties while grinding out a 24-14 nonleague victory in front of 6,227 fans at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

UMaine (2-1) incurred 13 penalties while the Golden Panthers (0-2) were whistled for 17 infractions totaling 166 yards.

In spite of the frequent flags, UMaine tailback Marcus Williams carried 26 times for 159 yards and a touchdown while becoming the school’s eighth 2,000-yard rusher. He has 2,005 yards in 27 career games.

Williams said the Bears got caught up in FIU’s chippy style of play.

“We were getting baited into a lot of stuff,” Williams said. “It’s a tough situation for us because you’re having dirty things happen to you and you want to retaliate, but then again you have to be smart because you don’t want to get a 15-yard personal foul penalty.”

UMaine committed six personal fouls among its indiscretions, a statistic with which coach Jack Cosgrove isn’t pleased.

“We did some sloppy, undisciplined things and nearly paid dearly for it,” Cosgrove said.

“That’s part of some teams’ repertoire is to bait and run mouths and things,” he explained. “That doesn’t excuse us from what we did. You expect yourself to be above that.”

Florida International coach and former Miami Dolphins quarterback Don Strock admitted his team made some mistakes, but questioned whether it deserved all the penalties.

“They played hard; they’re not playing smart,” Strock said. “We had 65 yards in penalties on the last drive. I know maybe we weren’t supposed to win, but at least give us a chance.”

UMaine earned a 15-minute advantage in time of possession thanks to strong line play and Williams’ savvy running.

“I had to really be patient,” said Williams, who raced 36 yards on a third-and-36 play in the second quarter. “They were showing us a ton of different looks and some of the plays weren’t hitting where we kind of drew them up to hit, but then again we have a great offensive line.”

The Bears clung to a 21-14 lead after FIU scored 14 unanswered fourth-quarter points. Clutch plays by Pat Pa’u and Marcus Walton helped get the ball back with 6:20 left, then a 40-yard punt return by freshman Arel Gordon and a facemask penalty gave UMaine the ball at the FIU 10.

Three plays later, Mike Mellow kicked a 29-yard field goal that gave the Bears some wiggle room.

“It was a win and obviously that’s what you’re in the business for, to win on Saturday,” Cosgrove said. “Sometimes they don’t feel as good as others.”

UMaine established its offense with a 15-play, 86-yard drive that consumed 7 minutes, 24 seconds of the first quarter. Williams ran six times for 45 yards, setting up a leaping 7-yard TD catch by Kevin McMahan from Ron Whitcomb (15-for-26, 121 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs).

The march came after a fumble forced by Brian Mann was recovered by freshman cornerback Manauris Arias at the UM 14. Arias later intercepted a Josh Padrick pass in the end zone to snuff out an FIU threat.

The Bears made it 14-0 in the third quarter, moving 85 yards on 14 plays with the aid of a sliding, third-down reception by Ivi Nwosu on a 26-yard pass from Whitcomb. Williams carried nine times for 48 yards, capping the drive with a 5-yard scoring run.

Three plays later, John Baumgartner’s interception gave the Bears the ball at the FIU 24. Whitcomb lofted a 7-yard strike to Ryan Waller near the lefthand boundary of the end zone, pushing the advantage to 21-0.

The Panthers went to the air and made a game of it. Padrick’s 53-yard completion to Harold Leath (6 rec., 97 yds.) sparked a 90-yard drive capped by a 15-yard TD pass from Padrick to Chris Patullo with 14:53 to play.

Later, Nick Turnbull intercepted Whitcomb and returned it 28 yards to the UM 1, setting up a 1-yard scoring toss from Padrick (18-for-31, 192 yds., 2 TDs, 2 INTs) to Aston Wilson on a ball tipped by Arias.

Spearheaded by junior safety Brandon McGowan (10 tackles) and sophomore linebacker Jermaine Walker (9 tackles), the Bears’ defense stiffened in the late going.

“[The defensive line] just stepped it up and started getting after [Padrick],” Walker said. “Then he started getting a little uncomfortable in the pocket and started roaming out and that’s when the linebackers and the secondary started coming up and making plays.”

BLACK BEARS 24, PANTHERS 14

Florida International 0 0 0 14 ? 14

Maine 7 0 14 3 ? 24

M?McMahan 7 pass from Whitcomb (Mellow kick)

M?Williams 5 run (Mellow kick)

M?Waller 7 pass from Whitcomb (Mellow kick)

FIU?Patullo 21 pass from Padrick (Moss kick)

FIU?Wilson 1 pass from Padrick (Moss kick)

M?Mellow 29 field goal

FIU Maine

First downs 15 19

Rushing att.-yards 28-94 50-189

Passing comp.-att. 19-34 15-26

Passing yards 209 121

Total yards 303 310

Punts-avg. 5-39.0 5-35.0

Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1

Intercepted by 1 2

Penalties-yards 17-166 13-145

Rushing

Florida International: Demerritt 15-73, McKinney 1-20, Smith 5-13, Padrick 7-(-12); Maine: Williams 26-159, Momah 13-36, Whitcomb 8-(-3), team 3-(-3)

Passing

Florida International: Padrick 18-31-2-192, Tabor 1-3-0-17; Maine: Whitcomb 15-26-1-121

Receiving

Florida International: Leath 6-97, Struyf 4-27, McKinney 3-39, Patullo 2-29, S. Smith 1-17, R. Smith 1-5, Wilson 1-1, Demerritt 1-(-6); Maine: Nwosu 2-34, McMahan 4-29, Fusco 2-21, Williams 2-17, Waller 2-13, Ballantyne 3-7

A?6,227