Temple Takes Down UMass In Season Opener
Turnovers and red zone failure send UMass back to the drawing board
AMHERST, Mass. - The Joe Harasymiak Era didn’t get off to its hottest start, losing 42-10. Failure in the red zone plagued what seemed to be a good start from new transfer quarterback Brandon Rose and the offense.
Harasymiak opened his tenure in front of a loud McGuirk Alumni Stadium crowd on Saturday, but a couple quarterback mistakes left a lot of the questions about the future of the program unanswered.
Rose finished the game with 193 passing yards and two turnovers. UTSA transfer Rocko Griffin provided a bright spot for UMass with 94 yards on the ground and a touchdown, along with returning wide receiver Jacquon Gibson who caught 12 passes for 132 yards.
The Minutemen came out of the half down 18 on defense, but a third down stand earned them possession of the football. With that, they moved the ball all the way down to the Temple 6-yard line. On 1st-and-goal, Rose stepped up in the pocket, firing a missile intended for Max Dowling with the hope of cutting the lead down to 11. Instead, the football landed in the hands of Temple cornerback Ben Osueke resulting in an interception.
Temple killed off the game a couple minutes later with quarterback Evan Simon’s fifth touchdown pass of the game.
The Owls continued their assault with another Simon touchdown toss to make it 42-10, and that’s how it would end.
Simon finished with six touchdowns on 248 yards passing, leading the Owls to victory. Jay Ducker commanded the ground game with 128 ground yards on 19 attempts. Jojo Bermudez was a problem all day for the depleted Minutemen secondary without DD Snyder and Ryan Barnes. He finished with seven receptions and 87 yards.
UMass started the season off with a touchdown run from Griffin on a nine play, 75 yard drive. Rose struggled to find his guys early with throws almost finding the hands of Owls defenders. Griffin picked him up with a big run to bring them towards midfield. He followed it up with an 18 yard run to the house, dragging defenders on the way. The UTSA transfer got help from Brandon Hood who converted a 4th-and-1 late in the drive.
The Owls responded with a long 12 play, 90 yard drive of their own, capped off by a Peter Clarke 21-yard touchdown reception from Evan Simon. Jojo Bermudez came in big for Temple with two third-down conversions. It took a couple of attempts for the Owl running game to get going, but an 18-yard run from Jay Ducker brought them close to the red zone.
After nine plays, Derek Morris joined the party, converting a 40-yard field goal to retake the lead. Two acrobatic plays from Harding and Gibson got them into field goal range. Rose attempted two deep balls down the left sideline, but couldn’t find his target.
After three straight scoring drives, the Minutemen forced a three-and-out to end the first quarter.
It seemed like the UMass offense was starting to find a rhythm, but a Rose fumble in Minutemen territory ended the effort.
Temple took its first lead just three plays and 41 yards later with a Kajiya Hollawayne touchdown, making the Minutemen pay. Simon completed to both Hollawayne and Bermudez on the drive.
UMass got all the way down to the goal line courtesy of a Griffin 41-yard burst, but failed to convert on 4th-and-goal. On the drive, Rose started to find his targets but the Temple defense stood stout when it mattered most.
The Owls made UMass pay once again with a Clarke score from another Simon gem of a throw. Temple went five plays and 99 yards through big moments from its skill players. Ducker went 41 yards on the ground to lead off the drive, and Clarke tacked on 12 additional yards before the touchdown.
Temple’s momentum continued, forcing the Minutemen to their first three and out of the game with four minutes left to go in the half.
UMass made a stand, forcing a three-and-out, which came after an odd Owl decision to change their quarterback from Simon to Gevani McCoy.
UMass’ offensive line couldn’t give Rose time to find his receivers, giving up two sacks on the drive. With time winding down in the half, Temple called timeouts successfully and got the ball at midfield to start their drive.
Temple took firm control of the contest going up 18, capping off its next drive with a Terrez Worthy touchdown on a crossing route. Simon ran off the field celebrating after completing his fourth touchdown of the game.
At half, on top of the touchdowns, Simon finished with 180 yards and a 75% completion percentage. Ducker, Clarke and Bermudez starred, combining for 224 scrimmage yards.
On the UMass side, Rose completed 13 out of 22 passes for 122 yards. Griffin led his team with 92 yards on the ground, closely followed by Gibson with 89 receiving yards.
The momentum Temple gained from the end of the first half carried them to multiple big plays the rest of the way. Harasymiak and the rest of the group have a big week of practice ahead in order to mop up some of the big mistakes they made throughout the contest.
UMass is back in action next Saturday at home against Bryant.