UMass Blows It Against Buffalo
The Minutemen dropped to 0-7 following a heartbreaking 28-21 loss to Buffalo on Saturday
We’ve seen UMass struggle to respond in the past when things went sideways, and Saturday’s 28-21 loss to Buffalo repeated the same story…albeit in a different, unforgettable way.
Once again, the Minutemen failed to execute as they squandered a fourth-quarter lead, allowing a 16-yard touchdown pass by Buffalo quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson to wide receiver Victor Snow with 21 seconds left in the game. The two-point conversion was successful.
In the loss, UMass quarterback AJ Hairston finished with 119 passing yards and two touchdowns, completing six of his 15 passes. Brandon Hood had 180 rushing yards and a touchdown. Kezion Dia-Johnson had 27 yards and a touchdown.
The contest started with UMass winning the toss, electing to defer.
Buffalo started with the ball and moved past midfield; however, the Minutemen got a huge stop on fourth down to force a turnover on downs.
After picking up a first down, UMass punted on its opening drive.
On its second drive, Buffalo marched all the way down to the red zone as the Minutemen secondary got torched. However, UMass forced the Bulls to settle for a 23-yard field goal with a huge pass breakup on third down. This capped off a 10-play, 85-yard drive to go up 3-0.
UMass quickly went three-and-out on its next two drives. However, the defense stepped up and forced Buffalo to punt each time.
On its next drive, the Minutemen offense finally exploded, with big runs from Hairston and Hood. The seven-play, 87-yard drive was capped off with a perfect 27-yard touchdown pass to Dia-Johnson off playaction to put UMass on top 7-3 early in the second quarter.
On defense, the Minutemen forced another three-and-out, thanks to a couple of huge pass breakups.
On the first play of the next drive, Hood had the highlight of the half with an electric 90-yard touchdown run to put the Minutemen up 14-3 with under five minutes of the half. This was the fourth-longest run in UMass history.
The Bulls would fire back with a five-play, 75-yard drive, capped off by a 30-yard touchdown pass from Roberson to wide receiver Victor Snow, cutting the UMass lead to 14-10. The Minutemen’s secondary struggled on this drive.
Both teams went three-and-out the rest of the half.
In the second half, UMass went three-and-out to start the third quarter.
On its opening drive of the second half, Buffalo would then march all the way into the red zone. A costly pass interference call led to a touchdown run by Terrance Shelton Jr. to cap off a 13-play, 73-yard drive to give the Bulls a 17-14 lead.
UMass would answer back with a three-play, 75-yard drive, capped off with a 77-yard touchdown pass from Hairston to Max Dowling to give the Minutemen a 21-17 lead.
The defense would capitalize on the momentum by forcing a stop after an errant pass on third down by Roberson.
On the next drive, a momentum-killing holding call wiped out a huge 3rd-and-15 first down pass by Hairston. UMass was then forced to punt.
Buffalo would then go on a nine-play, 28-yard drive, capped off by a huge pass breakup on third down to force the offense to settle for a 47-yard field goal, cutting the UMass lead to 21-20.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Minutemen defense would catch a break, as a Buffalo passing touchdown got wiped out by a holding call. The defense would then force a punt.
UMass would then go on a 15-play, 40-yard drive where they burned 7:52 minutes off the clock. However, Derek Morris would miss the 54-yard field goal wide left, with 3:06 left in the game.
On the next drive of the game, the Minutemen defense would give up a fourth-down pass to allow Buffalo to advance to midfield. However, safety Jeremiah McGill would get a huge interception on third down.
But, the Minutemen offense could not capitalize as they quickly went three-and-out.
Buffalo would then march down the field and win the game, thanks to the Snow touchdown.
The loss keeps UMass winless, as they are now 0-7 this season. Moving on, they play Central Michigan next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on the road.dent section was sparse.
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