A quick refresher on how this works before the numbers. PFF grades every player on every snap on a 0-to-100 scale. A grade in the 80s is excellent, the 70s are good, the 60s are average and anything in the 50s or below is a problem. The overall grade is a blend of everything a player is asked to do, and that blend is where the story sometimes hides.
Inagawa Was The Best Player On The Offense
The third-string quarterback made his first career start on the road, in a rivalry game, behind a line that has struggled all season, and PFF graded him as the best player on the UMass offense.
Inagawa finished with a 77.9 overall grade and an 80.2 passing grade. His rushing grade (63.2) was only average, which is fair. He took some bad sacks at critical times. But as a passer, on a day when UMass had to throw to stay in the game, the grades match what Joe Harasymiak said afterward.
“He gave us a chance to win,” Harasymiak said.
For context, Pop Watson’s overall grade for the season is 85.1, so the standard in that room is high. Inagawa did not match Watson’s best days. He was also nowhere near the drop-off the depth chart promised.
The Corners Erased Buffalo’s Receivers
Buffalo QB Jason Wright finished 16-35 for 134 yards, and the UMass corners are the biggest reason his line is so pedestrian.
Isaiah Reed graded 81.5, the best mark on the defense, and his coverage line is about as clean as it gets: six targets, one catch, four yards, two pass breakups. TJ Magee graded 78.3 next to him, with an interception, two more breakups and four catches allowed on 10 targets for 43 yards.
Wright’s two touchdown passes both went to tight end Clint Walker, working inside. When he threw at the two starting corners, he went 5-16 for 47 yards with an interception.
The damage happened inside, where safety Zeraun Daniel graded 57.0, allowed a touchdown and a 140.3 passer rating on the three balls thrown his way.
Still, UMass had a chance to clinch the game in the final minutes, but one of its strengths all season didn’t show up.
On the game-tying drive, Wright dropped back 12 times, was not sacked once and had way too much time. His 13-yard scramble, on a play where UMass rushed five and spied him, was the snap Harasymiak circled Monday as one they wanted back from a call standpoint.
On the day, the pass rush produced 16 pressures and four sacks on the afternoon, but failed to come up with the game-changing play when it mattered most. The grades say the coverage story of this game is two different stories depending on where you look.
The Line Remains The Line
The middle of the offensive line held up reasonably well. Peyton Miller (71.0) and right tackle Jaxon King (70.3) posted the two best grades up front, and tight end Reece Adkins added a 73.4 run-blocking grade.
But the problem spots were the problem spots. Right guard Brock Taylor graded just 29.2 in pass protection, and the group’s overall numbers (Greg Knox III at 53.5, Aitor Urionabarrenechea at 50.3) explain why Inagawa spent so much of the afternoon throwing on the move.
Next Up For The Corners
Reed and Magee get the biggest test of the season on Friday night.
UConn QB Kalieb Osborne carries a 91.0 overall grade into the game, with an 86.9 passing grade, and the receiver room behind him is the deepest UMass has seen.
UConn’s team receiving grade is 80.3, and four receivers grade within two points of each other: Shamar Porter at 73.6, Javon Brown at 71.9, Ryder Treadway at 71.4 and JD Willoughby at 71.3.
That is a different problem than Buffalo. Reed and Magee erased the Bulls by taking away their best options. UConn does not have a best option. Osborne can work through four receivers who all grade like starters, so winning outside does not shrink this offense the way it shrank Buffalo’s.
There is a change-of-pace threat, too. Raymond Liggins III owns the best receiving grade on the team at 84.1, but it comes on only 28 snaps, so treat it as a spark rather than a foundation.
The inside matchup may actually flip. Buffalo’s tight end beat UMass for both touchdowns, but UConn’s most-used tight end, Xavier Watson, grades 59.8 on 241 snaps, the lowest mark among their regular pass catchers. Matt Ragan (70.8) is the better-graded option.
If the UMass corners can do to Osborne’s receivers what they did to Buffalo’s, the Minutemen have a chance. If the damage comes inside again, the grades will tell that story too.
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