DURHAM — Redshirt freshman Sean Goldrich will start at quarterback for the No. 12-ranked University of New Hampshire football team when it takes on a desperate University of Maine at noon today in Orono.

Goldrich gets the nod as the healthier of the two quarterbacks who have started for UNH this year, said head coach Sean McDonnell on Friday afternoon. Andy Vailas, a sophomore out of Bedford and Bishop Guertin of Nashua, has started the last five games for the Wildcats. He had a hip pointer and assorted other bruises coming out of last week's 44-40 win over Richmond and was limited in practice early in the week and will be able to play today, too.

“Sean Goldrich will start the game unless something strange happens in practice today,” McDonnell said Friday. “He's a little healthier.”

Goldrich earned the starting job coming out of fall camp and led UNH to a season-opening win at Holy Cross. He hurt his shoulder on the second play of the game at Minnesota the next week and Vailas came on in relief.

Vailas has put up impressive numbers, passing for 16 touchdowns and running for four. He has thrown three interceptions.

Goldrich came in for a few plays and helped spark UNH to its game-winning touchdown against Richmond.

“I don't think we'll skip a beat whoever is back there,” said senior offensive lineman Chris Zarkoskie on Wednesday. “We'd love for Andy to be healthy and throw the ball around. If Goldy needs to play, he needs to play, and that's awesome for us. If Brady needs to play, that's good for us, too.”

Senior James Brady was the leading candidate for the starting job coming out of spring football but was held back by tendinitis in the fall as the two young quarterbacks came on strong.

The quarterbacks will direct an offense that is averaging 38.7 points and a well-balanced 499.4 yards per game, both totals that are second-best in the CAA.

UNH is 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the CAA.

Maine allows 22.2 points a game and averages the same number on offense.

To have any chance of reaching the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision tournament, the Black Bears must win the rest of their games. They play at William & Mary next week, followed by home games against James Madison and Georgia State and finally closing out at Rhode Island.

The Black Bears need to get a first home win to start.

“I'm surprised and shocked they lost their first two games at home,” said UNH coach Sean McDonnell. “They've played very well on the road.”

Maine is 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association.

The wins came at Bryant, 51-7, and at Delaware, 26-3, two weeks ago.

“They really, really, really manhandled Delaware,” McDonnell said.

The Saturday before, UNH teed off on the Blue Hens in the second half on the way to a 34-14 win at Cowell.

“What we did to Delaware in the second half, they did for four quarters against them,” McDonnell said. “They ran, they threw, they tackled, they sacked the quarterback. They smoked Delaware.”

The Black Bears then went to Towson and dropped a 24-19 decision last week.

“They don't fumble the ball on the 1-yard line going in, it's a different story down there,” McDonnell said. “And that's one of the best teams in the country.”

The Delaware game ended up being costly: Junior defensive end Michael Cole had five sacks in the contest but tore his quadriceps tendon in the game and had season-ending surgery last week.

----------------------------------

UNH has won eight of its last nine games with Maine and each of the last three games has been decided by three points ... Maine beat UNH, 16-13 in overtime, in the last game in Orono two years ago ... The coveted Brice-Cowell Musket goes to the winner ... Sophomore Nico Steriti is has rushed 87 times for 672 yards, averaging 96 yards rushing a game and 7.7 yards a carry for UNH ... Senior linebacker Matt Evans had 15 solo tackles and assisted on another and had a couple of pass breakups in last week's win over Richmond. He leads the CAA with 70 tackles and has moved within 30 of Steve Doig's UNH career-high (1978-81) total of 434 tackles.