EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — With Ohio State looming on the schedule, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald had hoped Saturday’s game against Maine would serve as sort of a tune-up for his highpowered offense to start running smoothly.

Instead, the offensive inconsistencies lingered and only a pair of defensive scores — interception returns for touchdowns by linebacker Damien Proby and Sean Lowry — prevented a possible upset in as the 18th-ranked Wildcats held on for a 35-21 victory.

“When we’re in position, we have to make plays,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s similar to last week when we couldn’t get out of our own way.”

Following two impressive victories over California and Syracuse, Northwestern (4-0) has had a couple of ho-hum performances against Western Michigan and Maine.

“It’s obviously great to win the ballgame, but we know that we have so much more left in the tank,” wide receiver Tony Jones said. “At the same time, it’s pretty exciting to know we’re winning ballgames. This is the second straight week we came back knowing we could have played a lot better.”

Led by quarterback Marcus Wasilewski, Maine (3-1) actually outgained Northwestern in total offense (379-373). The Black Bears also were left thinking what might have been if they executed a couple of plays better.

“I thought maybe if we don’t throw two interceptions they run back for touchdowns, we’re still playing,” Maine coach Jack Cosgrove said. “I think we played real hard. I liked the way we finished the football game offensively, because we had some rough goes — we didn’t finish some drives in the first half of the football game.”