We would call it “The House That Kurt Warner Built” if it hadn’t preceded Northern Iowa’s most famous alumnus by about two decades. It just doesn’t feel right to call the UNI Dome, seating capacity 16,324, a dome.

It seemed more like an arena, really, especially with the University of Maine’s defense resembling an arena football defense during too much of Saturday’s NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoff (a moniker only an entity as self-important as the NCAA could consider appropriate). UNI binged on Maine’s “Black Hole” defense, collecting more than 300 total yards on offense, including a couple of long pass plays for touchdowns, in the first half. QB Pat Grace carved up Maine via air and ground, but thanks to two missed field goals, the Black Bears were fortunate to be down 23-7 at the half. A 40-15 Northern Iowa triumph ultimately seemed merciful.

It never got any better for Maine fans than early in the second quarter, when a blocked punt by Tyrell Jones gave the Bears prime field position. Jared Turcotte made arguably the key play of the ensuing offensive series, willing what looked to be a 2-yard loss into a 6-yard gain and turning a potential third-and-long into third-and-4. Three plays later, Turcotte led fellow redshirt freshman Derek Session into the end zone, and the game was tied, 7-7.

But penalties, poor pass protection and a head-scratching unwillingness to give Turcotte, their leading rusher this year, the ball hamstrung the Bears’ offense. That offense was already facing an uphill battle against perhaps the toughest defense they had faced since the last time they were in Iowa, to face the D-1 Iowa Hawkeyes, in August.

Hopefully, on their way home, the Black Bears drove by a corn field or something else that would jog their collective memory back to August.

They should remember that the CAA coaches picked them to finish fourth in the North Division. Maine had 15 starters returning from a 4-7 season and a stacked schedule that included five opponents that had reached the FCS playoffs the year before.

Coach Jack Cosgrove thought his team could do better, a lot better. He told everyone who would listen that this team reminded him of the 2002 squad, the last to make the postseason, and the 2006 Black Bears, who missed out on a playoff bid because of some tough luck.

“I think this team understands that it’s more than just the talent that we bring to the field on game day. It’s more than just the game plan we bring to the field on game day,” Cosgrove said early in training camp. “It’s about them as young men and some of those intangible qualities.”

Intangible qualities such as battling through adversity, which the Black Bears did in overcoming injuries to the two focal points of the offense, running back Jhamal Fluellen and QB Adam Farkes. The defense, with seniors Jovan Belcher, Andrew Downey and Turner’s Jonathan Pirruccello leading the way, turned dominant. Michael Brusko took over at quarterback, while Turcotte went from rarely touching the ball at H-back to a battering ram as Fluellen’s replacement, and Maine went on a six-game winning streak.

Turcotte had a breakout season, unlike any that a Maine native had enjoyed at our state university in a long time. After an 11-carry, 82-yard game against James Madison, there seemed to be no turning back. Turcotte earned superlatives from the Comcast broadcasters in the huge win over UMass, then ran roughshod over Rhode Island in a three-touchdown epic before inexplicably seeing his role diminished in the losses to New Hampshire and UNI. He was named all-CAA, and by season’s end, even the Maine radio broadcasters were begging Cosgrove to give him the ball.

As Turcotte’s imprint on the team becomes deeper, and make no mistake, it will over the next three years, more success will follow. If you know Turcotte or have talked to Cosgrove about him, you know his leadership skills. If you’ve seen him run this year, you know his determination. In due time, both will rub off on the Black Bears. And Cosgrove thinks his team has intangibles now?

Not that they didn’t already know, but Saturday’s drubbing in the “Dome” had to at least remind Cosgrove and the Black Bears that it does eventually come down to talent and what Maine brings to the field on game day. In that regard, they have to feel pretty good about the future.

The Bears were young on offense this year, with just two seniors – linemen Ryan Canary and Chris Arnao – in the starting lineup. The continued development of Turcotte, Farkes, Brusko, Session and freshman Pushaun Brown, plus a cadre of big receivers and linemen, means they could be tough to stop starting next year.

The defense is losing a pro-caliber talent in Belcher and one of the ultimate leaders by example in Pirruccello, as well as half its secondary. The fact is, though, they’ll be more stocked with seniors next year. A repeat of this year’s stinginess may not be out of the question. Some suggested this week that Maine didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs. The carnage in the UNI Dome did little to refute that argument.

But the best is yet to come, for both the local kid made good and the program that is thanking its lucky stars that some football factory didn’t scoop him up first. Maine will be back in the playoffs again before you can say NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision.