TOUGH DAY WHEN when your quarterback passes for five touchdowns, your running game rolls up 389 yards on the ground with one tailback good for 201 and you pile up 61 points — and lose.

The University of New Hampshire football team ran into a buzz-saw and sophomore quarterback Taylor Heinicke in Norfolk, Va., on Saturday and dropped a wild 64-61 decision to No. 5-ranked Old Dominion.

UNH quarterback Andy Vailas, a sophomore out of Bedford and Bishop Guertin of Nashua, completed 23 of his 38 passes for 336 yards and the five scores.

Heinicke completed 55 of his 79 pass attempts for a Division I record 730 yards and five scores, too.

The Wildcats could not stop Heinicke at the end of the game, in particular, and the Monarchs won it with a 25-yard field goal with 41 seconds left in the game.

ODU improved to 4-0 overall.

UNH is 2-2 overall and dropped its Colonial Athletic Association opener.

The Wildcats must bounce back quickly from the gut-punch loss as they take on Delaware, another undefeated CAA powerhouse, on Saturday at noon in Cowell Stadium.

Delaware, ranked No. 12 last week, did a number on William & Mary on Saturday night.

The Blue Hens took to the road and routed the Tribe, 51-21. William & Mary dropped to 0-4 for the season.

Running back Andrew Pierce rushed for 112 yards and scored a couple of touchdowns and the defense added a couple of scores, one on an interception return and the other on a fumble return.

“I really like our team and I thought today we got better today,” said Delaware coach K.C. Keeler in a story on the Delaware website. “We had a little softer schedule coming in than they did so it wasn't a good indication of where we were.”

Winning on the road was especially gratifying.

“This was a really good effort and any time you can win on the road in this league ... That's pretty hard to do,” Keeler said. “Our kids really like to play and they are a fun group to coach. This win gives us a lot of confidence going into next week.”

UNH and Delaware have not played a regular season game since 2007.

Coincidentally, Delaware came into the Oct. 6 game undefeated at 5-0 and UNH was 2-2.

The Wildcats held off the Blue Hens, 35-30, that day.

Delaware got its revenge in the only meeting since then, a Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinal game in Delaware in 2010. The Blue Hens knocked UNH out of the tournament, 16-3.

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Fallout from the retirement of University of Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun hit the University of New Hampshire last week.

Jean Bain, a UNH assistant basketball coach for the past six seasons, is moving across the state to work as an assistant for Dartmouth coach Paul Cormier.

New UConn coach Kevin Ollie hired Dartmouth assistant Ricky Moore, who played at Dartmouth, as he put together his staff. That left Cormier, who played at UNH, in need of another assistant.

Cormier called UNH coach Bill Herrion early last week, then met with Bain and within a couple of days had hired him.

“It's obviously not great timing, but it's a great move for Jean for a couple of reasons,” Herrion said. “It expands his resume, being on an Ivy League staff is valuable experience to have, and he gets a substantial pay raise. It's a good professional move and everyone here told him it's a move he's got to make.”

The move adds a little spice to a basketball game in Hanover on Tuesday, Nov. 13: UNH plays at Dartmouth that night.

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The UNH field hockey team takes its 4-4 record into its first America East game at Fairfield on Friday. ... Next up for the 3-3-2 men's soccer team is a home game at Adelphi on Wednesday at 4.

Allen Lessels covers UNH athletics for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. He may be reached at alessels@unionleader.com.