STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi State struggled – and failed – three times to score deep in Maine territory Saturday night and that, says coach Sylvester Croom, was key the 9-7 loss to the Division I-AA Black Bears.

Croom’s Bulldogs (1-2, 0-1 in the Southeastern Conference) were handed their second loss in three games.

Maine quarterback Ron Whitcomb threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Kevin McMahan with 2:55 left for the victory.

Maine (2-1) was playing a Division I-A opponent for the first time since 1991.

A play before the winning touchdown pass, Whitcomb completed a 25-yard pass across the middle to Ryan Walker on third-and-15.

“We had big performances from a lot of people … defensively, offensively, when we needed it,” said Maine coach Jack Cosgrove. “We came down here to win a football game, but sometimes it’s a little bit tougher doing it than when you take about it.”

Mississippi State, which committed three turnovers deep in Maine territory, blocked the extra point attempt, but the Bulldogs failed to reach field-goal range on their two last drives.

“I thought we were in good shape,” Croom said, “but when you don’t put points up in the red zone, that’s a dangerous things.”

One of those turnovers came when Fred Reid fumbled at the 1-yard line and the ball rolled out of the end zone for a touchback.

Faced with a fourth and 28 with 1:08 left and two time-outs, Croom decided to punt amid some boos from the crowd.

“It was extremely hard for me to make the call,” Croom said, “but it was the only logical choice at that time. We got the ball back and had a shot at the end. It was really hard to give up the ball … but I could not go on emotion.”

Whitcomb threw for 124 yards and the lone touchdown, and Marcus Williams ran for 58 yards on 17 carries for the Black Bears.

Mississippi State’s Omarr Connor passed for 250 yards, including a 19-yard first-quarter scoring pass to Eric Butler. Fred Reid ran for 72 yards on 18 carries for the Bulldogs, and Will Prosser had four catches for 117 yards.

Maine is ranked 15th in NCAA Division I-AA, and the Black Bears were Mississippi State’s first I-AA opponent since the Bulldogs beat Jacksonville State two years ago.