ORONO – Resilience is a quality the University of Maine football team has shown while winning back-to-back Atlantic 10 football championships.

In 2001, coach Jack Cosgrove’s Black Bears suffered their second loss on Oct. 27 and were forced to win four straight games to earn a spot in the NCAA playoffs. They did so.

UMaine faces a similar scenario this season, but must win its last five. The Bears are 5-3 overall, 4-2 in Atlantic 10 play, coming off Saturday’s 20-13 victory over James Madison.

To make a third consecutive trip to postseason, UMaine will have to win its final four contests, three of which are on the road. That includes Saturday’s crucial game at second-ranked and unbeaten Delaware (8-0, 5-0 A-10).

“We’re still in it,” said senior captain Dennis Dottin-Carter. “We got a team like Villanova last year that goes to the playoffs at 9-3 and goes one game away from the national championship. We’ve got three losses. We’ve got to just continue to keep playing hard like we did [against JMU] and win out… ”

The Bears’ performance Saturday showed some signs they might be able to do that. UMaine committed only one penalty, its best effort of the season, and had one turnover for the second week in a row.

Cosgrove hopes those statistics are signs the team is successfully focusing on the job it needs to do.

“I think we’ve just got a lot of guys with a lot of pride, a lot of toughness, and [who] know where we’ve been and want to win,” Cosgrove said. “We’ve just got to worry about a game-to-game operation.”

One of the areas hampering the Bears’ efforts of late is the weather. Last week’s rain, snow and cold limited how much the team could accomplish on the practice field.

Rain early this week certainly isn’t helping as UMaine prepares for its most important and most difficult game to date. The team and staff must overcome the elements both physically and mentally.

“We may have to turn [the intensity] up a little bit more this week,” Cosgrove said. “We’ve got a big one in front of us.”

UMaine hockey ranked No. 1

The UMaine men’s hockey team, which went into the season with numerous unknowns and lots of new personnel, has made an early statement about how they might fit into the big picture this season.

Coach Tim Whitehead’s Bears, who are off to a perfect 5-0 start, are ranked No. 1 this week in both the national college hockey polls.

UMaine, coming off two victories at St. Lawrence last weekend, received 20 first-place votes and tallied 482 points in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll. The Bears also top the U.S. College Hockey Online Poll, claiming 23 first-place votes and 568 points.

It marks the first time since Jan. 20, 2002, that the Bears have been ranked atop both national polls. UMaine will defend its ranking in Thursday’s Hockey East opener against Merrimack at Alfond Arena. The Bears face No. 7 Boston University on Saturday.

Whitcomb among top frosh QBs

UMaine quarterback Ron Whitcomb, who has helped direct the Bears to a 5-3 record this season, continues to be among the top freshman signal-callers in Division I-AA.

Whitcomb, a 6-foot-2, 212-pounder from East Rochester, N.Y., has completed 110 of 191 passes for 1,333 yards. He has thrown for 13 touchdowns with six interceptions.

In his last three games, Whitcomb is 49-for-79 (.620) for 611 yards with four TDs and no interceptions.

“I think Whitcomb is really special at quarterback,” said Northeastern coach Don Brown.

In the big picture, Whitcomb ranks 29th overall in I-AA passing efficiency with a 132.39 rating. That is the best among freshman QBs, of whom there are 10 appearing in NCAA statistical rankings.

Whitcomb is 40th overall and fourth among first-year quarterbacks with 15.7 completions per game and his 1,333 passing yards place him fifth among I-AA freshmen.

MAINE’S FINAL FOUR

November

1 ? at Delaware, 1 p.m.

8 ? at Morgan State, 1 p.m.

15 ? Villanova, 3 p.m.

22 ? at New Hampshire, noon

????

THE PAST EIGHT

August

30 ? Montana 30, Maine 20

September

6 ? Maine 44, Hofstra 21

13 ? Maine 24, Florida International 14

20 ? UMass 24, Maine 16

27 ? Maine def. William & Mary by forfeit

October

4 ? Maine 20, Richmond 10

18 ? Northeastern 20, Maine 14

25 ? Maine 20, Jas. Madison 13

Current record ? 5-3 (overall), 4-2 (Atlantic 10)