Another fourth-quarter collapse proved costly for the University of Maine football team.
The Black Bears missed an opportunity to build a two-score lead when it had to settle for a field goal after having a first-and-goal opportunity at William and Mary’s seven-yard line midway through the fourth quarter.
And the Pride responded with a game-winning touchdown and extra point, followed by an interception, to earn a 28-27 victory on Saturday night in Williamsburg, Virginia.
UMaine was previously outscored 21-0 in the fourth quarter of its season-opening 28-7 loss to Liberty University.
Saturday night’s game against William and Mary started two hours late due to two, one-hour lightning delays.
UMaine, which led 14-0, later erased a 21-17 deficit on Carter Peevy’s two-yard touchdown pass to Scott Woods with 1:18 left in the third period. And the Black Bears could have gone up by 10 in the fourth period when it moved the ball to the William and Mary seven.
But two runs by Peevy netted two yards to the five-yard line and his third down pass fell incomplete. So UMaine had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Sean Tremblay with 7:09 remaining to make it 27-21.
The Pride promptly strung together a game-winning seven-play drive, with all 65 yards coming on the ground.
William and Mary quarterback Tyler Hughes rattled off runs of 25 and 20 yards, and Rashad Raymond carried the ball five times for 24 yards including a one-yard TD plunge with 3:11 remaining.
Following the kickoff, quarterback Peevy ran for 10 yards to the UMaine 35-yard line, but on the next play, his pass was tipped by Luke Banbury and intercepted by Jalen Jones.
The Pride then ran out the clock to improve to 1-1 while UMaine fell to 0-2.
The Black Bears took a 17-7 lead into the intermission but the Pride took its first lead of the game in the third period.
Stephon Hicks blocked an Anthony Pecorella punt and David Rouley returned it 10 yards to the Maine-17 yard line.
Three plays later, Hughes tossed a six-yard TD pass to Sean McElwain.
Following a short UMaine punt, the Pride marched 55 yards and Josh Miller plunged into the end zone from the two-yard line to make it 21-17.
Following a botched William and Mary field goal attempt on the game’s first possession, the Black Bears marched 66 yards on 15 plays to take a 7-0 lead when Peevy flipped a one-yard TD pass to Sincere Baines on a fourth down play.
A 14-yard pass from Peevy to Woods on a third-and-12 play extended the drive as did a facemask penalty on William and Mary later in the drive.
Early in the second period, Jake Hall, a transfer linebacker from the University of Texas El Paso, tackled Garrett Robertson a yard shy of a first down on a fourth-down reception and UMaine took over on downs.
Four plays later, Peevy sprinted 45 yards for a TD to extend the lead to 14-0.
William and Mary responded with a five-play, 70-yard drive capped by Hughes’ 23-yard TD pass to Deven Thompson.
The Black Bears followed by moving the ball 55 yards on 13 plays but the drive stalled at the William and Mary 10-yard line and UMaine had to settle for Tremblay’s 27-yard field goal.
Hughes completed 13 of 19 passes for 129 yards and finished with 73 rushing yards on 10 carries. Raymond had 18 carries for 69 yards. Linebacker Banbury finished with a game-high 16 tackles.
Peevy completed 13 of 27 passes for 97 yards and led all rushers in the game with 98 yards on 12 carries. Baines had 17 carries for 87 yards. Woods led all receivers with six catches for 48 yards.
Linebacker Christian Thomas had 13 tackles for UMaine and Elias Sherman had seven.
UMaine will host Stonehill for its home opener on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 6 p.m.
