Minutemen Massacred Against Iowa
UMass' offense went nowhere against a powerful Ferentz defense
The Joe Harasymiak Era remains winless, losing against the Iowa Hawkeyes 47-7 in Iowa City on Saturday night.
Failure to find any offensive rhythm, and dealing with an incredible Iowa composure, haunted the Minutemen all night.
After an 0-2 start to the season, UMass fans were starting to give up. A trip to visit Kirk Ferentz’s Hawkeyes wasn’t going to help the cause. Other than an electric punt block in the second quarter, the Minutemen failed to find the red zone the rest of the contest.
Quarterback Grant Jordan started and played most of the game, finishing with 37 passing yards on 9-for-14 passing. Backup A.J. Hairston joined the party late, throwing for 56 yards on 4-8 passing. Rocko Griffin led the Minutemen in rushing with 28 yards on 10 attempts.
Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski finished with 179 passing yards and two touchdowns, completing two-thirds of his passes. He also added on a rushing touchdown. Sam Phillips led Iowa in receiving with 75 yards, and Seth Anderson finished with two receiving touchdowns.
UMass came out of the half on offense, down 30-7 still within reach of a miracle comeback. Jordan’s offense started with somewhat of a rhythm. Two quick runs from Griffin got the Minutemen a first down.
However, two bad Jordan incompletions led to a punt. Star punter Keegan Andrews came on and sent a punt into the Iowa air 59 yards, landing in Kaden Wetjen’s hands at the Iowa five-yard line. Despite the Minutemen faltering on offense, it looked like just maybe they could pin them, eventually getting the ball back in good field position.
Instead, Wetjen ran right past the two Minutemen gunners, past longsnapper Jovoni Borbon and past Andrews, all the way to the endzone for an Iowa touchdown. Iowa took the lead 37-7, ultimately killing any effort for an almost impossible UMass comeback.
Iowa continued its assault on the UMass defense throughout the rest of the game. Towards the end of the third quarter, Hawkeye kicker Drew Stevens drilled a field goal through the uprights to complete the 40-piece.
Later, Iowa backup Hank Brown came in to deliver the post-knockout punch on a passing touchdown to KJ Parker to make it 47-7. That is how it would end.
The UMass defense allowed five different Iowa ball carriers to average 4.5 or more rushing yards per carry, and 12 different Hawkeye receivers to catch passes.
The Hawkeyes ended the game with 316 more total yards, 141 more passing yards and 176 more rushing yards. Iowa displayed pure dominance on third down, converting 10/16, compared to UMass’ 0-10.
Iowa began the game on offense, and didn’t waste any time. A three-play, 75-yard drive tore right through the UMass zone defense. The drive started off on a promising defensive stop on Gronowski’s quarterback scramble, but a quick double move from Phillips for 45 yards caught Jeremiah McGill on the next play. Directly after, a slant across the middle from Seth Anderson beat Malcolm Greene for the easy touchdown.
The Minutemen didn’t give much of a response on offense. They started with two Rocko Griffin rushes that went nowhere. Third down resulted in a false start from the right side of the line, then the only completion of the drive for just 3 yards, forcing the Minutemen to punt.
Iowa started its second drive in incredible field position after a 39 yard punt return from Wetjen. The Hawkeyes continued to have their way against the slow Minutemen defense, converting on third down twice. A 20 yard screen pass for Xavier Williams brought them to a down and goal situation. Gronowski finished it off with a simple throw to an out-route from Seth Anderson for his second touchdown of the game to make it 13-0. Stevens missed the extra point.
Still, the Minutemen couldn’t find a parcel of momentum on offense. Iowa forced a second three-and-out after Jordan got sacked on first down, and then the Yale transfer refused to make a throw on 3rd-and-9 despite the time to do so.
The Hawkeyes began their third drive by converting on two straight third-downs. The second third down conversion brought Iowa into the red zone after a simple completion to the right side that beat Rutgers transfer Timmy Hinspeter. Wetjen then finished the drive off with a simple end-around route that went 20 yards to the house.
The ugly story carried on for the Minutemen offense. A 3 yard keeper from Jordan was the only yardage they gained before punting on another three-and-out.
However, Harasymiak’s defense forced a punt, and Joe Castellitto’s special teams unit capitalized on it with a Kezion Dia-Johnson block of Rhys Dakin’s punt. Zach Farris picked it up and ran all the way down to the Iowa 21.
Jordan completed a pass to Griffin for 8 yards, and then his 6 yard rush brought UMass to down and goal. The graduate transfer quarterback then took the ball on a play action fake that invited all sorts of trouble. Iowa defenders surrounded Jordan, but a scramble to the left found him an open lane to the endzone for UMass’ first touchdown to make it 20-7.
Gronowski started the Hawkeye response with an easy 22 yard flip to Phillips. The Minutemen defense then started to find a rhythm. Marques White found the backfield for a big tackle for loss, then Tyler Martin chased Gronowski out of bounds to force a field goal attempt. However, a 54 yard boot from Stevens that looked to be flying wide right, then curved back center to fly through the uprights, giving Iowa back the 20 point lead.
UMass’ offense was a dud after getting the ball back. Another three-and-out forced Andrews to step back on the field. Unfortunately for him, a 49 yard punt allowed a 40 yard return from Wetjen, who continued to burn the Minutemen coverage teams.
Iowa struggled on the first couple plays of its ensuing drive, and a sack from Hinspeter and Shambre Jackson forced a third and long. Pressure on Gronowski from Marques White forced another field goal. This time, Stevens’ kick flew just to the right of the uprights, keeping the Minutemen deficit at 20.
Looking for any consistent momentum, the Minutemen converted two first downs with wide receivers Donnie Gray and Jacquon Gibson being at the forefront. On their third venture at it, Bajakian called two failed plays for a struggling Griffin, but an impressive Jordan play extension brought it to a competitive fourth down situation. On the decisive play, Tyree Kelly found himself wide open on crossing route, but Jordan airmailed it to force the turnover on downs.
Iowa took advantage of it, scoring right before the end of the half. Gronowski's quick throw up the middle to Jacob Gill brought the Hawkeyes into the redzone. Then, Iowa found the endzone again to make it 30-7 on an impressive keeper from Gronowski who broke four tackles on the way to the endzone. Iowa took the 23 point lead into the halftime intermission.
Jordan finished the half with 34 passing yards on 6-for-7 passing. Gibson led the team in receiving with 14 yards, and Gray led all Minutemen rushers with 9 yards.
On Iowa’s side, Gronowski totalled 142 yards passing with two touchdown tosses. Wetjen led rushers with 20 yards and a touchdown. Phillips had an incredible half for the Hawkeyes, leading receivers with 75 yards, but Anderson ended the half with the two touchdown receptions.
UMass still had a pinch of hope going into the second half, but the Wetjen punt return for a touchdown ruined all of that.
Overall, it was another embarrassing performance that didn’t meet the standard of Minutemen faithful.
UMass will be back in two weeks when they face Missouri after its first bye week of the season.