University of Maine football players react during a game against rival New Hampshire on Saturday in Orono. Photo provided by UMaine athletics

ORONO — Even the presence of a Pro Football Hall of Famer couldn’t spark the University of Maine football team Saturday afternoon against rival UNH.

Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss was at Alfond Stadium on Saturday as his son Montigo Moss was honored along with the rest of Maine’s seniors prior to kickoff. On a cold, windy and rainy afternoon, UNH earned its third straight win in this rivalry, 27-9.

The Black Bears finish the season 5-7.

The improvement made by the Black Bears this year was obvious. Coming off back-to-back seasons in which they went 2-9, Maine won five games, including victories over Albany and Villanova when each team was nationally ranked. Newcomer Carter Peevy, a graduate transfer, had a strong season, showing himself to be a quarterback who makes good decisions when he throws the ball, and one who can gain needed yards with his legs. Moss had the best season of his career.

Xavier Holmes was a disrupter on the defensive line. Linebacker Christian Thomas improved as the season wore on.

Aside from a strong first quarter, all that improvement was nowhere to be found Saturday. In the first quarter, Moss made a one-handed touchdown catch, getting a foot inbounds in the back of the end zone for the kind of play that makes his father gush on ESPN. Earlier, Peevy broke off a 29-yard run when the entire UNH defense bit on a fake handoff, setting up a 39-yard field goal by Joey Bryson that gave Maine a 3-0 lead.

Maine led 9-0 after a quarter, and it looked like the Black Bears had the formula to fend off their biggest rival and reclaim the Brice-Cowell musket, the trophy awarded annually to the winner of this game. Instead, the musket is going back to the south side of the Piscataqua River.

The problem, as it often was this season, was consistency. Whatever the Black Bears had working in the first quarter couldn’t be sustained. When asked what needs to happen for Maine to take the next step in improvement, Coach Jordan Stevens was clear. It’s that consistency.

“Staying consistent throughout those competitive games. I look back at the Rhode Island game (a 24-14 loss). I look back at the Elon game (a 31-25 loss). And then today. We’re in a position to win and continue to stay competitive,” Stevens said. “In those tight games, of course it’s going to be back and forth, but building that consistent belief, no matter up or down, we continue to play, and we’ll be in the position we want to be in at the end.”

While still holding its 9-0 lead in the second quarter, Maine blocked a 49-yard field-goal attempt and took over at midfield. The Black Bears went three and out, however, and UNH mounted a 13-play, 81-yard touchdown drive, scoring with 11 seconds left in the first half. Just like that, the momentum was on New Hampshire’s side.

Maine held the Wildcats to 16 yards rushing on 18 carries in the first half. Exceptional work. But on UNH’s first play of the third quarter, Caleb Mead broke free for a 57-yard touchdown run, giving the Wildcats the lead for good and snapping Maine’s defensive effort like a broken shoelace. Mead just moved from cornerback to running back last week as UNH battles injuries in the offensive backfield. He ran for 97 of his game-high 113 yards in the second half, looking like a savvy veteran running back instead of a senior making a late-career position change.

“That’s how you win. They were able to run the ball and control a lead in the second half,” Stevens said in his postgame press conference, and you got the feeling he’d already said as much to his team.

A running game that was Maine’s offensive strength in the first half of the season went flat down the stretch. As a team, Maine ran for at least 112 yards in six of the first seven games. The Black Bears gained more than 100 yards just twice in the last five games, finishing below 60 yards in each of the other three. Against UNH, Maine ran for a season-low 30 yards. It’s no surprise that was reflected in UNH’s massive advantage in time of possession. The Wildcats controlled the ball twice as long as the Black Bears, 39:11 to 20:43.

“I got here in January, and we’ve made tremendous strides since I got here. Obviously, we’ve got a lot to improve on,” Peevy said.

After the game, UNH Coach Rick Santos said something that many opposing coaches said throughout the season: Maine is a tough place to play. It’s not easy to get to Orono. The weather can be a factor, as it was Saturday afternoon. For many years, the University of Maine’s location has been seen as a negative in recruiting. It’s so far from population centers. When you step off campus, social opportunities are, to put in kindly, limited. To take the next step, Stevens and his assistants need to turn that into a positive. Remind recruits that opponents do not enjoy coming here. Remind them Orono is a place where they can focus on academics and football.

Remind them of the ongoing improvements being made to the school’s athletic facilities, including upcoming renovations to Alfond Stadium.

Five wins is an improvement. It’s up to Stevens now to ensure that’s a starting point, not a plateau.