PORTLAND – One year seems to have made all the difference for Florida International.

After suffering a defeat on their home field last season, the Golden Panthers nearly pulled off a monumental upset Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Maine’s second visit to the Portland venue in as many years.

The Black Bears held off Florida International’s late charge and used 176 yards of total offense by Marcus Williams to slip away from the Golden Panthers 24-14 in front of 6,227 fans.

The game was marred by 30 penalties for 311 yards between the two teams. Maine finished with 13 for 145 yards, while Florida International lost 166 yards on 17 penalties.

“We’re in business to win on Saturdays,” said Maine coach Jack Cosgrove. “We did some sloppy, undisciplined things tonight and nearly paid for it against a much-improved team from last year.”

“Maybe we weren’t supposed to win against this team,” added a frustrated Florida International coach Don Strock, “but at least give us a chance.”

With an 8-yard run in the fourth quarter, Williams surpassed the 2,000-yard plateau for his career, putting him in eighth all-time at Maine. He, too, saw a lot of frustration on the field.

“Maybe that’s their style,” said Williams. “They tried to bait us into a lot of penalties, and it worked a couple of times.”

Maine has won two games in a row since dropping its opening day contest to No. 3-ranked Montana.

Maine’s defense held up fine until the fourth quarter. In the final frame, Florida International managed two quick touchdown to nearly erase Maine’s 21-0 cushion.

On the first play of the quarter, Golden Panthers’ quarterback Josh Padrick, playing in his first collegiate game, tossed a 21-yard lob to Chris Patullo to pull his team within 14.

After both teams went three-and-out on their next possessions, Nick Turnbull picked off a Ron Whitcomb pass to set up the Golden Panthers’ second touchdown, a 1-yard pass that hit two players before coming to rest in Aston Wilson’s hands.

“We have one of the best defensive lines in the country,” said Maine linebacker Jermaine Walker. “Once they got to the quarterback later in the game, we pressured him and he wasn’t as comfortable back there. He started making mistakes.”

Maine padded its lead later in the quarter when Mike Mellow booted a 29-yard field goal with 5:07 to play, giving the Black Bears a 24-14 lead.

Maine had scored first on what ended up being the only scoring drive of the first half.

Starting from their own 14-yard line, the Black Bears mixed several schemes into a 15-play, 86-yard drive that culminated in a 7-yard toss from Whitcomb to Kevin McMahan in the right corner of the end zone.

From there, neither offense could muster any charge. Maine had the best chance late in the second quarter, but Whitcomb fumbled on the 14th play of a drive with the ball on the Florida International 31-yard line to hand the ball back over to the Golden Panthers.

“Turnovers weren’t a problem last year,” said Cosgrove. “We had 20 all season. We’re more than halfway there already. If we don’t address that, we’re going to have problems down the road.”

Williams did manage to gain 98 yards on the ground while sitting out the third series of the game. Cosgrove has made a habit of letting Williams enjoy a breather on the third series of each game this season.

Whitcomb finished the first half with 11 completions on 16 attempts for 79 yards and the one touchdown.

In the second half, Maine’s offense grinded out another long drive, this one in the middle of third quarter, to go up 14-0. Williams capped that drve with a 5-yard plunge.

Maine made it 21-0 just seven plays later after turning a John Baumgartner interception into good field position and eventually into a Whitcomb-to-Ryan Waller touchdown pass for 7 yards.

Maine heads back to Orono next weekend to face a Massachusetts team ranked in the top 15 in the country. Game time for tht contest is at 6 p.m.

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