This story will be updated.
Colgate University sophomore quarterback Michael Brescia was the Patriot League Rookie of the Year last season.
And he showed why on Saturday afternoon at Alfond Stadium in Orono.
Brescia burst up the middle for a decisive 68-yard touchdown run with 6:24 left in the game, his third TD run of the game, and the Raiders earned a 21-18 victory.
Brescia, who rushed for 100 yards, scored on touchdown runs of one and two yards in the second and third quarters to stake the Raiders to a 14–0 lead.
UMaine was finally able to score its first points of the season when Cole Baker hit a 33-yard field goal with 3:49 left in the third period to reduce the lead to 14-3.
That finished off a 10-play, 60-yard drive.
UMaine quarterback Joe Fagnano cut the lead to 14-10 with a six-yard run 1:19 into the fourth quarter.
Two passes to tight end Shawn Bowman for 39 yards set up the TD.
But UMaine failed to move the ball on its next two drives and Brescia made them play with his 68-yard scamper.
But UMaine wasn’t dead yet.
Fagnano tossed a seven-yard TD pass to Montigo Moss with 4:02 left and a two-point conversion pass to Zavier Scott to make it 21-18.
UMaine marched to the 29-yard line on its final possession but Cole Baker’s 47-yard field goal was short in the waning seconds..
After managing a meager 118 total yards in last weekend’s 41–0 loss to Football Bowl Subdivision team New Mexico, UMaine’s offensive woes continued in the first half against Colgate.
UMaine penetrated Colgate territory on two occasions but a fourth-and-one run by Barnwell at the Colgate 41 was stuffed by Raider linebacker Tyler Flick and a host of his teammates.
On their next series, UMaine marched to the Colgate-48, but the Black Bears’ third false start penalty of the half put them in a first-and-15 situation and UMaine managed only three yards on the next three plays before punting.
In between the two series, Colgate used the momentum from the fourth-down stop to manufacture an 11-play, 59-yard drive that produced the only points of the half.
UMaine again hurt itself with an offsides penalty on the first play of the drive to give Colgate a first-and-five.
A 12-yard run by Hurleman moved the ball to the UMaine-43 and, on the next play, Brescia completed his first pass of the half, an 11-yarder to Garrett Oakey.
The Raiders were facing a fourth-and-four situation at the UM-26 later in the drive, and Brescia was able to convert it with a keeper to the left side that gained just over four yards.
Later in the drive, Brescia rolled out and completed a 13-yard pass to an open Ryan Cekay down to the UM-4.
On third-and-goal from the four-yard line, Brendan Cassamajor was stacked up after a one-yard gain, but UMaine was called for an illegal substitution penalty and Brescia punched it in.