ORONO — Winning streaks always end in shatters, like a glass hitting the floor.

The University of Maine football team ran into Alfond Stadium for Saturday’s game against the University of Rhode Island on a six-game winning streak, a run that put the Black Bears in the mix for the Coastal Athletic Association title and a bid to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

The Black Bears walked out of Alfond Stadium a few hours later, heads and shoulders slumped after a 45-13 loss that felt like it splintered all the progress the team had made since an 0-4 start into a thousand jagged pieces.

“I think we’ve come a long way, but we did not handle that moment very well,” a disappointed Maine coach Jordan Stevens said after the game. “I didn’t recognize who that was today.”

Maine was whistled for a false start on its first play from scrimmage. Nerves in a big game? A lack of attention to detail? Maybe one led to the other. The mistakes that the Black Bears (6-5) avoided during their winning streak were back Saturday.

Scoring chances were missed. A short field-goal try in the first quarter. A failed fourth down, and then another turnover on downs on fourth-and-1 at the URI 2 in the second quarter.

There were penalties, and they were costly, none more so than offsides on a blocked punt that allowed URI to keep possession and led to a touchdown.

And the explosive plays. The Rams packed a month’s worth of big gains into one Saturday afternoon. After limiting chunk plays for six straight games, the Black Bears couldn’t stop anything. URI finished the game with 13 plays of 10 yards or more, a baker’s dozen of big, stick-moving plays. The Rams gained 497 yards, split nearly evenly on the ground (264) and in the air (233).

“They won some 1-on-1s in the pass game, and I don’t think we tackled very well. And that’s something we’ve been doing well,” Stevens said.

The lopsided loss in the biggest home game since Maine hosted a playoff game in 2018 obscures the improvement this team has made. After back-to-back two-win seasons, the Black Bears won five games last season. A victory next week at New Hampshire would give the Black Bears their first winning season since 2021, when Maine went 6-5.

As the Black Bears look to continue improving, they could do worse than emulating Rhode Island. Even in its worst stretches, Maine football wasn’t as down as Rhode Island.

Prior to last season, URI had not been to the FCS playoffs since 1985. In those four decades, the Rams had a dozen seasons in which they won two or fewer games. They had just seven seasons with a winning record, not including a 2-1 effort in a three-game mini-season in the spring of 2021.

This season, though, is URI’s fifth straight winning campaign, and the Rams (9-2) are certainly heading back to the FCS playoffs. As Stevens wraps up his fourth season as head coach of his alma mater, he’s noticed URI’s ascension to the top of the CAA. That’s what he envisions for his team.

“Seeing how they’ve come to where they are now, the size, the physicality was real. We didn’t help ourselves out,” Stevens said.

Getting there takes not letting the moment become too big, like it did Saturday. A win next week against a UNH team still in the postseason hunt would be a huge step in that direction.