At first they didn’t succeed, so the Black Bears tried, tried and tried again Saturday.

Five times they faced fourth downs in a tightly contested game at Towson. Each time, Maine converted.

Ultimately, it was a fourth-and-7 heave from quarterback Dan Collins to wide receiver Jordan Dunn that produced a 37-yard touchdown and an improbable 27-24 Black Bears victory.

Maine Coach Jack Cosgrove said Monday he’d never seen his team go 5 for 5 on fourth down, joking: “We were 2 for 14 (actually 12) on third down, so we thought we’d try fourth.”

Three of those fourth-down conversions came on Maine’s final drive, which covered 72 yards in 1:47 and may prove to be a defining moment for a struggling offense.

The Black Bears (2-2) foreshadowed that late success on their initial possession. Facing a fourth-and-3 at Towson’s 33-yard line, Cosgrove felt it was too far for a Sean Decloux field-goal attempt, but too close to punt the ball away. Collins found Darmarr Aultman in heavy traffic for a tumbling catch at the 2-yard line. Two plays later, he connected on his first touchdown pass to Dunn.

Similarly, on Maine’s second scoring drive, this one in the second quarter, Collins and Aultman hooked up for an 11-yard gain on fourth-and-1 from Towson’s 34.

But that was nothing compared to Maine’s grand finale.

Taking over at its 28-yard line after Towson missed a field goal, Collins misfired on three consecutive passes to quickly bring up a fourth-and-10. The result was a 21-yard strike to wide receiver Jared Osumah.

Maine tempted fate again with a fourth-and-9 at midfield. This time, Collins hit tight end Jeremy Salmon for 10 yards along the sideline.

All that was a prelude to the second Collins-Dunn touchdown and a raucous celebration for an offense in desperate need of one.

“When we protected, he hung in there tough in the pocket and was much better at his reads, getting his eyes down the field and not panicking,” Cosgrove said after Collins went 19 of 29 for 225 yards in by far the best of his four starts.

“When you’re backed up like that, you’ve got to produce or you’re off the field. Certainly, I think there was more confidence in us throwing and catching the football Saturday than there’s been this year, which was how we came through in those situations. I don’t know that you develop confidence in fourth downs. You develop a strategy. But that’s a risky endeavor most of the time, especially in the situation we were in on that last drive.”

OK, so it probably won’t be a pattern for Maine. But what a once-in-a-lifetime moment it was.

ELON GETS ITS welcome to the Colonial Athletic Association this week when No. 4 New Hampshire comes calling. It could be a bumpy league debut for the Phoenix, who are 1-3 and coming off a 31-3 loss at No. 3 Coastal Carolina.

Coach Rich Skrosky claimed to be stoked about the matchup, calling it an “historic occasion.”

“I think it’s going to be a great, great day for Elon and the athletic history,” Skrosky said, anticipating a large crowd at Rhodes Stadium, which has a capacity of 11,250.

“I think that energy is something we’ve embraced. We want it. I think our guys enjoy it. I think they play off it. I think it’s an advantage more than a distraction.”

New Hampshire will test that, even without starting quarterback Sean Goldrich and with tailback Nico Steriti day to day with an ankle injury.

Goldrich is out for another 3 to 6 weeks with a sprained MCL in his right knee. All backup quarterback Andy Vailas did last week was throw for 219 yards and two touchdowns and run for 112 and two more scores in a 52-19 win over Dartmouth. Vailas was named the CAA’s offensive player of the week.

“It’s going to be a tremendous challenge for our guys,” Skrosky said. “With every challenge, it’s a great opportunity for our program.”

ANOTHER FIRST-YEAR COACH is having a more enjoyable time in the CAA. Greg Gattuso has Albany off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 2001. Albany is the lone remaining unbeaten team in the conference. The Great Danes were rewarded with a No. 23 ranking this week.

Defense and a rugged running game have been the hallmarks for Albany, which walloped Columbia 42-7 Saturday.

Albany has allowed only 40 points this season.

“I keep telling everybody that our defense is probably more scrappy than imposing looking. They play really hard,” Gattuso said.

“The biggest thing right now is we’ve cut down on big plays and on the other side we’re turning the ball over.”

Albany forced five turnovers against Columbia, a week after throttling Rhode Island with three takeaways in the first half.

“We kind of have to play a team kind of deal, because I don’t think we can get out here and run and gun with people,” Gattuso said. “We’re kind of old-fashioned in how we play. They all understand that we have to feed off each other.”

Still, he knows that things are about to get much more difficult for the Great Danes, who face James Madison on Saturday.

“We understand that this conference is a little different than our opening four games,” Gattuso said. “We’re going to get into the nitty gritty real fast here.”