AMHERST, Mass. - Pop Watson has had plenty of magical moments already this season and the UMass quarterback had a few more on Saturday, but with the Minutemen down two touchdowns in the third quarter, Watson reached into his bag of tricks one too many times.
After dancing around the pocket as he’s done so many times this year, Watson fired across his body and McGuirk Alumni Stadium’s sellout crowd of 17,119 could only watch in stunned silence as Eastern Michigan cornerback Caleb Dobbs cut in front of Jabari Lewis for an interception, which he returned inside the UMass 10-yard line.
Two plays later, Eastern Michigan running back Amareon Blue sliced in for a touchdown to put the Eagles up three touchdowns en route to a 38-14 victory, giving the Minutemen their first loss of the season.
UMass dropped to 4-1 and 1-1 in the MAC as Eastern Michigan improved to 3-3 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
Outside of the pick, Watson was his usual dynamic self, completing 20 of 27 passes for 210 yards and adding another highlight-reel touchdown pass to his resume.
The Eagles made it a point not to let T.Y. Harding beat them, paying extra attention to UMass’ game-breaking receiver and limiting him to just 15 yards on six receptions. But Lewis stepped up to catch six passes for 102 yards. UMass running backs were gained 107 yards on 20 carries, although a good bit of that came with the game well out of reach.
Missed opportunities and mistakes in the first half left the Minutemen with little room for error and the same issues effectively put the game out of reach in the third quarter.
Earlier in the week, UMass head coach Joe Harasymiak acknowledged that his team’s +9 advantage in turnover margin was one of the biggest reasons his team started the season 4-0. On Saturday, UMass lost the turnover battle 2-0 and both were crucial.
In addition Watson’s pick leading to the game-sealing touchdown in the third, Elijah Faulkner’s fumble ended an opportunity for a touchdown in the first.
Eastern Michigan quarterback Noah Kim completed 21 of 30 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns while Blue and Joey Mattord combined for 19 carries for 120 yards and two touchdowns.
Leading by a touchdown at halftime, Eastern Michigan took the second-half kickoff and immediately regained control, marching 75 yards in 10 plays and taking 4:50 off the clock. Kim capped the drive with some misdirection on 3rd-and-goal from the 2, rolling the action to the right before finding Joshua Long wide open on the opposite side for a touchdown, extending the Eagles’ lead to 21-7.
Watson threw his costly pick on the first play of UMass’ ensuing drive.
Forced to play catch-up, UMass went for it on 4th-and-3 at Eastern Michigan’s 39-yard-line, but Watson’s pass was broken up. The Eagles then took over the ball, the clock and the game.
Eastern Michigan went on a 10-play, 61-yard drive that took 4:30 off the clock and was capped with a 25-yard touchdown run by Mattord that gave the Eagles a 35-7 lead less than a minute into the fourth quarter and truly put the game out of reach.
Eastern Michigan kicker Rudy Kessinger completed the Eagles’ scoring later in the fourth quarter with a 26-yard field goal.
UMass running back Curtis Kimmons would cap a 75-yard drive in the game’s final minutes with a 3-yard touchdown run.
Eastern Michigan led 14-7 at halftime after UMass spent much of the first half moving the ball without being able to turn that production into points, at least until the end.
The teams were separated by just three yards at the break, with Eastern Michigan holding a 198-195 advantage in total offense. Watson completed 14 of 17 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown, while Kim was 12-for-16 for 112 yards and a score in the first two quarters.
After UMass failed to score on the game’s first possession, Eastern Michigan went 80 yards in 13 plays for the game’s first touchdown, actually the game’s third apparent touchdown as the Eagles had a pair of scores wiped out by penalties along the way.
The Eagles converted three third downs on the possession, including a 3rd-and-15, before Kim connected with Kozy Isaacs for a 27-yard touchdown to give Eastern Michigan a 7-0 lead.
UMass responded by driving from its own 19 to the Eastern Michigan 14. Watson completed all six of his passes on the possession, including gains of 25 and 18 yards to Lewis, but Faulkner fumbled inside the Eastern Michigan 10 and the Eagles recovered.
The UMass defense responded with a three-and-out before the Minutemen again moved into Eastern Michigan territory on the first drive of the second quarter.
Watson connected with Lewis for what would have been a 49-yard gain to the Eastern Michigan 2, but the play was wiped out by an ineligible receiver downfield penalty. UMass eventually reached the Eastern Michigan 36 before Derek Morris missed a 54-yard field goal wide right.
Eastern Michigan then put together another long touchdown drive, going 64 yards in 13 plays and taking more than seven minutes off the clock. The Minutemen hurt themselves with penalties on the possession.
UMass was about to get off the field after stopping the Eagles on a third down near midfield, but Romando Johnson was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.
After a pair of runs by Amareon Blue, Eastern Michigan had 1st-and-goal from the 1. UMass stuffed the Eagles on three straight runs before Braydon Bennett finally scored on 4th-and-goal to extend the lead to 14-0 with 1:55 remaining in the half.
Watson responded with UMass’ best possession of the half.
The Minutemen went 75 yards in seven plays and just 1:27, with Watson twice flashing some of the magic that has made him a fan favorite in Amherst already.
On a 3rd-and-7, Watson bought time before finding Reece Adkins for eight yards to extend the drive. He stepped up in the pocket and shed a tackle before finding Max Dowling open along the sideline for a 34-yard touchdown with 28 seconds remaining.
The score sent UMass into halftime trailing 14-7 despite the Minutemen averaging seven yards per play compared with six for Eastern Michigan.
Lewis led UMass with three catches for 54 yards, while Adkins had three receptions for 28 yards. Eastern Michigan rushed for 86 yards on 17 attempts, with Blue leading the Eagles with 40 yards on five carries.
UMass had 53 rushing yards on 11 attempts in the first half with Curtis Kimmons leading the way with 30 yards on six carries.
UMass will be back at McGuirk Alumni Stadium next Saturday to host Miami (Ohio) for Homecoming.
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