ORONO – Initially, it had the makings of a blowout the likes of which had never been seen in the annals of University of Maine football.

Then, it nearly was transformed into one of the greatest comebacks in school history.

When all was said and done Saturday evening, fifth-ranked New Hampshire demonstrated why it is headed to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs for the first time since 1994.

Fullback John McCoy rambled 24 yards for a touchdown with 1:06 remaining as the Wildcats hung on for a 50-36 Atlantic 10 shootout victory over the Black Bears in front of 4,301 fans at Alfond Stadium.

New Hampshire, which staggered UMaine with 27 points in the first nine minutes, improved to 9-2 overall, 6-2 in conference play, and plays at Georgia Southern on Saturday in the first round of the 16-team playoffs.

“I never felt comfortable the whole game, until that last touchdown,” admitted coach Sean McDonnell, whose team retained the Brice-Cowell Musket, the spoils to the winner of the traditional rivalry.

Coach Jack Cosgrove’s UMaine squad wound up 5-6 (3-5 Atlantic 10), closing out the program’s first losing season since going 5-6 in 2000.

The Bears simply couldn’t overcome a UNH team that was firing on all cylinders early.

“We put ourselves in too [deep] of a hole for us to truly be able to recover,” Cosgrove said. “We did everything that we could to win that football game… made it a one-score game and got the ball back and just weren’t able to get that last score. They ended up breaking our hearts at the end with the drive and a big touchdown run [by McCoy].”

New Hampshire had its way with the UMaine defense while building a 40-14 halftime bulge. Freshman quarterback and A-10 Rookie of the Year shoo-in Ricky Santos finished the day with 249 passing yards and three touchdowns, including scoring tosses of 22, 33 and 45 yards to wide receiver David Ball (9 catches, 172 yards).

McCoy also piled up 129 yards on 25 carries as the Wildcats amassed 540 total yards.

However, UMaine took advantage in the second half with UNH trying to run the ball often and run valuable time off the clock. The Bears’ rally began with 4:14 left in the third quarter when Jermaine Walker stuffed Chris Ward in the end zone for a safety after Mike Mellow had pinned the ‘Cats at their own 5-yard line.

UMaine took the free kick and scored in eight plays on Montell Owens’ 3-yard run. Mellow’s PAT kick cut the deficit to 43-23 with 53 seconds left in the third.

James Henry recovered the ensuing onside kick, but the Bears were unable to cash in.

Even so, the defense, led by Brandon McGowan (14 tackles), Anthony Hicks (11) and Walker (10), came up with another stop.

Ron Whitcomb then engineered a 10-play, 81-yard march that culminated in his 37-yard TD strike to Christian Pereira (6 catches, 111 yards). The PAT was blocked, leaving UNH ahead 43-29 with 9:14 to play.

“It says a lot about us,” Pereira said of the Bears’ resilience. “I just felt so loose and relaxed and I tried to give my emotion off to everyone else just to let them know that it’s not over, we still have a chance to be in this game.”

UMaine made yet another stop, setting up a five-play touchdown drive capped by a 45-yard pass from Whitcomb to Ryan Waller. Mellow’s kick moved the hosts within seven points with 7:10 left.

“Offensively, we were just trying to play it drive by drive, not really look at it as we were behind by ‘X’ amount of points,” said Whitcomb, who completed a career-high 31 passes on 57 attempts, netting 422 yards and four touchdowns.

“We did a good job of playing our type of game and just playing within the offense for a while,” he added.

The Bears actually had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. However, end George Peterson sacked Whitcomb at the UM 34 on a first-down play and UMaine subsequently was forced to punt with 4:34 to go.

“They had been rolling all over us the second half, pretty much,” Peterson said. “It ended up being kind of a momentum-killer and really helped us out.”

UNH responded, moving 74 yards on eight plays while throwing only one pass. McCoy’s run off left tackle put the game out of reach.

“In the end, when it was all said and done, New Hampshire’s running attack in the second half took time off the clock and eventually wore us down,” Cosgrove said.

The Wildcats seized the momentum two plays into the contest when Corey Graham intercepted Whitcomb. UNH went 35 yards on eight plays, scoring on a 6-yard run by R.J. Harvey.

Shortly thereafter, a low snap resulted in Mellow’s punt being blocked by Sean Lynch (his third this season). It was recovered in the end zone by Keith LeVan, giving the visitors a 14-0 lead.

UNH scored again on its next possession, going 79 yards on six plays, capped by a 22-yard pass from Santos to Ball.

On the ensuing kickoff, UMaine’s Arel Gordon (9 catches, 157 yds., 2 TDs) fumbled at the 33-yard line. The Wildcats scored the very next play when Santos hit Ball on a 33-yard strike in the end zone, pushing the advantage to 27-0.

“That’s just a lot to overcome for our football team,” Cosgrove said of the early woes.

The Bears scored twice in the half on passes of 28 and 24 yards from Whitcomb to Gordon, but the Wildcats mixed in two Connor McCormick field goals and a 45-yard Santos-to-Ball scoring pass to take a commanding 40-14 lead into the locker room.

Tailback Marcus Williams, UMaine’s all-time rushing leader, was limited to 13 yards on nine carries.

WILDCATS 50, BLACK BEARS 36

New Hampshire (9-2) 27 13 3 7 – 50

Maine (5-6) 7 7 9 13 – 36

UNH – Harvey 6 run (McCormick kick)

UNH – LeVan blocked punt recovery in end zone (McCormick kick)

UNH – Ball 22 pass from Santos (McCormick kick)

UNH – Ball 33 pass from Santos (kick failed)

UM – Gordon 28 pass from Whitcomb (Mellow kick)

UNH – McCormick 32 field goal

UNH – McCormick 38 field goal

UM – Gordon 24 pass from Whitcomb (Mellow kick)

UNH – Ball 45 pass from Santos (McCormick kick)

UNH – McCormick 39 field goal

UM – Safety, Ward tackled in end zone

UM – Owens 3 run (Mellow kick)

UM – Pereira 37 pass from Whitcomb (kick blocked)

UM – Ry. Waller 45 pass from Whitcomb (Mellow kick)

UNH -McCoy 24 run (McCormick kick)

UNH Maine

First downs 23 23

Rushing att.-yards 50-291 28-66

Passing comp.-att. 18-33 31-57

Passing yards 249 422

Total yards 540 488

Punts-avg. 7-36.4 9-37.7

Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1

Intercepted by 2 0

Penalties-yards 5-43 5-63

Rushing

UNH: McCoy 25-129, Harvey 10-61, Santos 9-60, Diner 1-37, Ward 4-5; Team 1-(minus-1); Maine: Legree 6-33, Owens 7-22, M. Williams 9-13, Whitcomb 5-3, Gordon 1-(minus-5)

Passing

UNH: Santos 18-33-0-249; Maine: Whitcomb 31-57-2-422

Receiving

UNH: Ball 9-172, Williams 4-42, McCoy 4-21, Ward 1-14; Maine: Gordon 9-157, Pereira 6-111, Radulski 6-48, Owens 3-31, Ry. Waller 2-51, Nwosu 2-9, M. Williams 1-9, S. Williams 1-4, Henry 1-2

A-4,301