#24 UNH Defeats Maine, 27-9, to Retain Brice-Cowell Musket; Awaits Nov. 24 Playoff Announcement

Saturday, November 23

Orono, Maine

1 PM

University of New Hampshire

8-4 , 6-2

Maine

5-7 , 3-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

New Hampshire

Maine

#24 UNH Defeats Maine, 27-9, to Retain Brice-Cowell Musket; Awaits Nov. 24 Playoff Announcement

11/23/2024 6:28:00 PM | Football

Box Score

ORONO, Maine – Senior Caleb Mead (Willow Grove, Pa.) ran for 113 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown, to propel the No. 24 University of New Hampshire football team to Saturday afternoon's 27-9 victory against the University of Maine at Alfond Stadium.

With the win, the Wildcats retain the Brice-Cowell Musket – which is presented annually to the winner of the Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle – and end the regular season on a four-game winning streak to improve to 8-4 overall and 6-2 in the CAA.

New Hampshire's playoff fate will be announced Nov. 24 (12:30 p.m.), when the NCAA FCS tournament bracket is revealed on ESPNU.

Mead, in just his second game taking snaps on offense, finished with game highs of 19 rushes and 113 yards. His 57-yard scamper gave UNH its first lead of the game, 14-9, on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter.

Senior quarterback Seth Morgan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) completed 22 of 34 passes for 164 yards and ran for a 7-yard touchdown.

UNH's defense limited Maine to 92 yards of offense through three quarters. The Black Bears finished with 198 yards and eight first downs.

Grad student linebacker Ryan Toscano (Bedford, N.H.) made a team-high 11 tackles, including one tackle-for-loss. Flex Ruiz (Orlando, Fla.) finished with four tackles, including three stops behind the line of scrimmage, one of which was a sack.

Maine finishes the 2024 season at 5-7, 3-5.

FIRST QUARTER

Joey Bryson's 39-yard field goal capped a 9-play, 59-yard drive to give Maine a 3-0 lead at 3:56.
The Black Bears converted an interception and excellent field position – 1^st-and-10 at the UNH 16 to start the drive – into an 8-yard touchdown pass from Carter Peevy to Montigo Moss with 40 seconds on the clock. Anthony Harris' pass on the two-point PAT was incomplete to keep the score 9-0.

SECOND QUARTER

On 4^th-and-5 from the Maine 31, a 49-yard field goal attempt by Nick Mazzie (Boxford, Mass.) was blocked to set up 1^st-and-10 for the Black Bears at the 50 yard line at 7:45.
On the ensuing drive, UNH's defense did not allow a first down as Ruiz and Neil Politano (Jacksonville, Fla.) flushed Peevy out of the pocket and forced him to throw the ball out of bounds on third down.
On the next drive, UNH marched 81 yards on 13 plays to trim the deficit to 9-7 with 11 seconds left in the half.
The Wildcats converted a pair of third downs, including a Logan Tomlinson (Manchester, Conn.) 13-yard, toe-dragging catch on the right sideline on 3^rd-and-1 that set up 1^st-and-goal at the Maine 4.
On third down, Morgan was stopped inches short of the goal line, but Denzell Gibson (Bellwood, Ill,) took the handoff on fourth down and bulled up the middle into the end zone. Mazzie kicked the PAT.

THIRD QUARTER

Mead took the handoff on the first play of the second half and raced down the left side for a 57-yard touchdown to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game, 14-9, at 14:44.
Mazzie's 21-yard field goal capped a 15-play, 52-yard drive to extend UNH's advantage to 17-9 at 2:02. The Wildcats converted four third downs on the drive but were stopped at the Maine 3.

FOURTH QUARTER

On 4^th-and-9 from the Maine 32, Zachary Kim (Monterey Park, Calif.) made a leaping catch for a 20-yard gain to extend the drive. Four plays later, Mazzie connected on a 22-yard field goal to give the 'Cats a 20-9 lead at 11:45.
Bryson's 29-yard field goal attempt hit the left post to keep Maine's deficit at 11 points with 9:11 on the clock.
Maine got the ball back, 1^st-and-10 at the M 15, with 3:25 remaining. On 4^th-and-10, Ruiz and Brandon Perkins (Williamstown, N.J.) combined to drop Peevy for an eight-yard loss to give possession to UNH.
On 1^st-and-goal from the Maine 7, Morgan ran the ball into the end zone and Mazzie's PAT gave the Wildcats a 27-9 lead at 2:03.
Maine advanced the ball to the UNH 45 but threw incompletions on third and fourth down to lose possession on downs with 61 seconds remaining.

UNH NOTEBOOK

Mead also had a 25-yard kickoff return to finish with 138 all-purpose yards.
Toscano's 11 tackles increased his career total to 313, which ranks eighth on the program's all-time list. Ahead of Toscano on the list is Chris McGrath (1987-91) at No. 7 with 322.
Toscano has 100 tackles this season.
Wande Owens (Cooksville, Md.) finished with four tackles to increase his season total to 101.
Toscano and Owens both became the first Wildcats to record 100+ tackles in a season since 2017, when Quinlen Dean had 124 in 14 games.
This is the first time that multiple 'Cats have recorded 100+ tackles in the same season since 2013, when Akil Anderson (124), Shane McNeely (120) and Manny Asam (101) did it.
Tomlinson had three catches for 21 yards to increase his season total to 76 catches, which is tied at No. 8 with R.J. Harris (76 in 2013) on UNH's list of single-season superlatives.
Morgan surpassed 10,000 career passing yards with his 164 total Saturday that increased his total to 10,128 with 2,311 at UNH, 2,970 at Sheherd and 4,847 at VMI.
Morgan has 230 completions this season to inch closer to UNH's Top 10 list of single-season superlatives. No. 10 is Mike Granieri (237 in 2003).
Caleb Burke (Johnstown, Pa.) had a team-high six catches for 32 yards. He has 98 career receptions.
Logan Perez (Sewell, N.J.) had a team- and career-high 41 yards on three catches, which matched his personal best.
Sean Lehane (Milford, Mass.) averaged 46.0 yards on three punts with a long of 57.

SERIES NOTEBOOK

UNH's lifetime record against Maine improves to 59-45-8.
The Wildcats have won 18 of the last 21 battles for the Brice-Cowell Musket, including each of the past three.
UNH has won six of the last seven matchups at Alfond Stadium.

GAME NOTEBOOK