ORONO – Five weeks earlier at James Madison, the University of Maine had first-and-goal at the 1-yard line and failed to score – but never tried a quarterback sneak.

“That was terrible!” exclaimed 10-year-old Matthew Cosgrove on Saturday evening while sitting alongside his dad, Black Bears football coach Jack Cosgrove, in Dexter Lounge.

UMaine didn’t make the same mistake Saturday, in overtime, against Rhode Island.

On fourth-and-the-game from inside the 1, junior quarterback Ron Whitcomb powered his way into the end zone behind center Ben Lazarski and left guard Ryan Canary to give the Bears a dramatic 27-24 Atlantic 10 victory in front of an estimated 4,000 fans at chilly Alfond Stadium.

“Words can’t really explain how it felt to get in there – last drive, fourth-and-one, everyone screaming ‘go for it,’ – even little man [Matthew Cosgrove] over here,” said UMaine senior safety Jarrod Gomes, one of 16 seniors playing their last home game.

“It was big,” added Gomes, a sixth-year player who made 11 tackles, had an interception and recovered a fumble as UMaine won its third straight game for the first time since 2002.

The victory enabled Jack Cosgrove to celebrate his record-breaking 147th game as the Bears’ head coach. UMaine takes a 5-5 record (3-4 A-10) into Saturday’s season finale at top-ranked New Hampshire.

The Bears, their kicking game struggling, didn’t think twice about the final play call.

“They were yelling the [QB sneak] play out right from the get-go,” Whitcomb said. “The thing I wanted to do most was get it off as fast as we could without them [URI] being ready.”

“I jabbed to the right with my head, then I went to the left,” he added.

It was a day of superlatives for UMaine, which was led by its seniors. Senior tailback Montell Owens ran with the swagger of predecessor Marcus Williams, powering his way to a career-best 160 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.

“The O-line did a wonderful job today,” Owens said. “Pretty much they opened up the holes where they were supposed to be, just like practice.”

Whitcomb completed 23 of 43 passes for a season-high 286 yards and a TD and was not intercepted. Senior wide receiver Kevin McMahan caught 9 balls, his top effort this year, for 93 yards while classmate Ryan Waller had four receptions for a career-best 138 yards.

The Bears’ 468 total yards and 286 passing yards both were season highs.

“I’m just so proud of the seniors and the young guys that followed us and the way we led them,” McMahan said. “I wouldn’t have wanted it to end any other way.”

Rhode Island (4-6, 2-5 A-10), ranked third in Division I-AA rushing, piled up 322 yards with its versatile option attack. However, the Rams did so in fits and starts.

Senior linebacker Jermaine Walker bid farewell to Morse Field with a 15-tackle performance, while Jovan Belcher made 13 stops and John Wormuth 12. The Bears forced two fumbles and made three interceptions.

“The big difference you’ll see today is they had five turnovers; we had one,” Cosgrove said.

UMaine appeared headed for an easier victory after taking a 21-10 lead on a 5-yard scoring toss from Whitcomb to McMahan with 10:15 to play.

The Bears had a chance to clinch it after Lamir Whetstone’s interception and return to the URI-10 only 21 seconds later. But Matt Voliva’s ensuing 32-yard field-goal try was blocked.

The Rams charged back, racing 80 yards on eight plays for a 5-yard TD run by Jerell Jones (79 yards) to make it 21-18 with 5:55 left.

After the Bears went three-and-out, URI sped 47 yards to set up Colin Gallagher’s 30-yard field goal that tied it with 1:17 remaining.

In overtime, where each team gets the ball at the opponent’s 25 and continues until it scores, is stopped on downs, or commits a turnover, the Bears won the coin toss and elected to play defense.

URI, limited by knee and rib injuries to QB Jayson Davis (64 yards), couldn’t earn a first down. Gallagher’s 36-yard field goal gave the Rams the lead.

“They did a good job stopping us and we had to kick the field goal,” said URI coach Tim Stowers. “They made one more play than we did.”

During its turn, UMaine picked up a first down on a 10-yard, third-down run by Owens. Three plays later, after Arel Gordon nearly scored on a 4-yard pass, UMaine opted to have Whitcomb punch it in.

“The bottom line is we still stayed in the football game, were persistent, stayed together, and won at the end,” Cosgrove said.

URI took a 3-0 lead on Gallagher’s 42-yard field goal in the first quarter, but UMaine answered with a 64-yard scoring drive. Owens’ inspired running (seven carries, 44 yards) included a 3-yard TD run with 3:46 left in the quarter.

“He took some hits and actually ran people over,” Cosgrove said. “A lot of his yards were after a missed tackle.”

After the Bears failed to capitalize on two good scoring chances inside the URI-22, the Rams went ahead 10-7 on a 6-yard scoring run by Joe Casey (26 carries, 98 yards) with 1:52 left in the third.

UMaine struck back with a three-play flurry that featured a 17-yard completion from Whitcomb to McMahan, a 48-yard strike from Whitcomb to Waller, and Owens’ 15-yard scoring scamper.

BLACK BEARS 27, RAMS 24 (OT)

Rhode Island (4-6) 0 3 7 11 3 – 24

Maine (5-5) 0 7 7 7 6 – 27

RI – Gallagher 42 field goal

ME – Owens 3 run (Voliva kick)

RI – Casey 6 run (Gallagher kick)

ME – Owens 15 run (Voliva kick)

ME – McMahan 5 pass from Whitcomb (Voliva kick)

RI – Jones 5 run (Davis rush)

RI – Gallagher 30 field goal

RI – Gallagher 36 field goal

ME – Whitcomb 1 run

Rhode Island Maine

First downs 20 21

Rushing att.-yards 64-322 44-182

Passing comp.-att. 6-19 23-43

Passing yards 107 286

Total yards 429 468

Punts-avg. 4-41.2 6-28.3

Fumbles-lost 4-2 5-1

Intercepted by 0 3

Penalties-yards 5-44 6-75

Rushing

Rhode Island: Casey 26-98, Jones 13-79, Poole 7-76, Davis 17-64, Brown 1-5; Maine: Owens 26-160, Gordon 7-21, Pearson 2-5, Whitcomb 9-(minus 4)

Passing

Rhode Island: Davis 6-19-3-107; Maine: Whitcomb 23-43-0-286

Receiving

Rhode Island: Brown 3-64, Jones 2-33, Edwards 1-10; Maine: McMahan 9-93, Gordon 8-49, Waller 4-138, Fersner 1-3, Salomon 1-3