DURHAM - For the last three years, Northeastern has inexplicably tormented New Hampshire. The cellar-dwelling Huskies upset the powerhouse Wildcats on a two-point conversion in overtime in 2006, 36-35. They manhandled the 'Cats in Durham in 2007, 31-13, a game UNH Coach Sean McDonnell said he still has nightmares about. And last year the Huskies held a 21-6 halftime lead before finally falling to the favored Wildcats, 33-21.

But there were no tricks, nightmares or scares for UNH yesterday in front of 4,566 at Cowell Stadium. Instead of repeating their recent history with Northeastern, the No. 8 Wildcats (7-1) put on a show reminiscent of the majority of their games during the last several years with a prolific offensive first half that led to an easy 48-21 win.

"I thought it was a pretty good effort all the way around," McDonnell said.

The win keeps UNH all alone atop the Colonial Athletic Association North Division. That top spot should remain secure for at least another week as the Wildcats host 1-7 Rhode Island next Saturday before their showdown against 7-1 William & Mary on Nov. 14 in Virginia.

New Hampshire outgained Northeastern, 461-322, including a 281-149 advantage in rushing yards. Senior Chad Kackert finished with 17 carries for two touchdowns and 176 yards, a career high, besting the 164 yards he had against Rhode Island Sept. 13, 2008. It was an especially rewarding performance for Kackert, who has battled injuries throughout his career at UNH, in particular a nagging hamstring that kept him out of the first two games this season.

"It is satisfying. It's hard to come back from those invisible injuries, especially the hamstring because it's so touchy," Kackert said. "So it's been in my head just about every week, but I'm finally feeling good and our line did a great job of opening things up for us, so it all came together."

UNH quarterback R.J. Toman was in and out of the game to get his right ankle worked on, but still finished 11-for-22 for 131 passing yards and with nine carries for 34 yards, a very effective effort. And like Kackert, Toman gave the praise to the young offensive line that may have come of age yesterday.

"I think as the season goes along (the line is) coming together as unit," Toman said. "And as a unit our offense is developing a great relationship with each other and in that sense being able to play better as a unit, and I think you saw today a result of that development."

Defensively, the 'Cats came up with four sacks, an interception and 10 tackles for a loss. And from the middle of the first quarter, after Northeastern scored its only touchdown against the first string, to the middle of the third, when the Wildcats pulled their starters, the UNH defense forced punts on eight of 10 possessions, and the other two drives ended with the end of the half and an interception.

The balanced domination started early for New Hampshire. Thanks to a bone-rattling hit from safety Hugo Souza, the Wildcats stopped Northeastern on a fourth-and-3 from the UNH 39 on the Huskies' first possession. The UNH offense seized that momentum and put together a seven-play, 59-yard drive featuring three runs from Kackert for 43 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown scamper for a 7-0 lead with 7:07 to play in the first.

The Huskies answered with a 10-play, 73-yard drive capped by a 2-yard touchdown pass from Alex Dulski (8-for-13, 63 yards) to fullback Lloyd Clarke to tie it at 7-7 with 1:57 remaining in the opening quarter. After that, the 'Cats took over the first half.

Kackert galloped free for a 22-yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead with 12:16 to go in the second quarter. The UNH defense then forced a three-and-out and on New Hampshire's first play on the following drive Sean Jellison (five carries, 74 yards) burst untouched through the middle of the line and went 64 yards to the house to make it 21-7 with 10:42 remaining before halftime.

Northeastern's Dulski was hurt on the ensuing series when he was flung to the turf by Brian McNally and had to leave the game with an injured wrist. Freshman quarterback Matt Carroll couldn't move the Huskies, either, and again they had to give the ball to the 'Cats. And again UNH moved efficiently, covering 75 yards in just eight plays.

The drive featured a fake punt where punter Ryan Glasgow threw a 5-yard pass to Kamal Mohamed on fourth-and-4 from the Northeastern 39 and a 27-yard touchdown pass from Toman to Scott Sicko (seven catches, 96 yards), who was wide open thanks to play action set up by the successful running game. It was UNH's third TD in as many possessions and gave the 'Cats a 27-7 lead with 6:52 to go in the half.

UNH effectively gained ground in the ho-hum second half (181 total yards), but had to settle for two field goals from Tom Manning - a 30-yarder with 6:46 to go in the third and a 23-yarder with 1:51 left in the third for a 34-7 lead - before finding the end zone again. Backup quarterback Kevin Decker hit Mickey Mangieri with a 44-yard touchdown pass in the middle of the fourth and Plymouth's Shawn Sweeney scored on a 7-yard touchdown run with 3:22 left in the game to complete the UNH scoring.

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