UMass Falls To Ohio In Penultimate Game of Season
Crucial mistakes from all three units hold Minutemen back
UMass football fell to 0-11 on Tuesday night after another double-digit loss, 42-14, this time to the bowl-bound Ohio Bobcats.
Prior to the game, head coach Joe Harasymiak expressed being ready for an opponent with realistic aspirations of a MAC championship game. The Minutemen made big plays throughout the game, including a Marques White forced fumble, an acrobatic Grant Jordan touchdown pass and multiple third-down conversions, but their efforts weren’t enough to overcome vital mistakes made by all three units.
UMass quarterbacks, all three played, finished a combined 15-for-28 passing for 90 yards and two touchdowns. However, two interceptions and multiple drops stained the Minutemen passing attack.
Coming out of the half, UMass forced a Bobcats fumble. As Ohio quarterback Parker Navarro scrambled on third down, White came flying in to punch the ball free for a Minutemen recovery to keep the deficit at 14.
Jordan and the UMass offense stampeded down the field with multiple impressive first-down conversions. On 2nd and goal, Jordan dropped back to pass. With Ohio defensive linemen evading the UMass front, the Yale transfer scrambled for his life. He got away from multiple surging Bobcats and fired a perfect bullet to true freshman Elijah Pedro for his first reception in college football, and first touchdown, to make it 21-14.
However, UMass got back to its old ways, allowing multiple explosive ways on the ensuing drive. Ohio responded with 10 runs on 11 plays, with two of them more than 20 yards. Ohio running back Sieh Bangura carried the ball eight times and plunged into the end zone on a 2-yard rush to restore the lead at 14 for the Bobcats.
The Minutemen attempted to get back in the game, but the Ohio defense was simply too much for an offense that announced multiple season-ending injuries in the past week.
After a second Navarro touchdown run, Jordan made matters worse, throwing UMass’ second interception of the game.
Brune forced his way into the end zone on 4th and goal to complete the Ohio effort to make it 42-14.
The run game was the difference between the teams. The Minutemen rushed 39 times for 125 yards while the Bobcats almost doubled that with 57 attempts for an extraordinary 363 yards.
The game began in a torrential downpour, but that didn’t phase the Minutemen who started with the ball. They went down the field and scored a touchdown on a 7-play, 75-yard drive. The offense started with an instant impact run from Brandon Hood for 20 yards. A roughing the passer extended the drive, bailing out Gibson for a pair of drops. AJ Hairston went down midway through the drive, grabbing his shoulder, but his replacement, Brandon Rose, lobbed a touchdown throw to Owen Anderson on a play-action pass. Derek Morris’ extra point made it 7-0.
Ohio drove down the field and responded with savvy skilled plays from Navarro. The Minutemen had a chance to get off the field on third down, but an unnecessary roughness from Shymell Davis prolonged the Bobcat drive. Navarro finished it with a 2-yard touchdown run.
After picking up one first down on their second drive, the Minutemen turned it over on downs after a bad snap on 4th-and-1.
The Bobcats struggled to turn their defensive momentum into offense. Bangura rushed twice for 22 yards to get the drive going, but a pivotal fourth-down tackle by Tyler Martin turned Ohio over on downs.
UMass hit an offensive standstill, gaining yardage on just one out of the four plays. A sack on 3rd and 13 forced a Keegan Andrews punt.
Then, for Ohio, running back Duncan Brune began his pursuit with four rushes on the first five plays of the drive. Navarro rushed twice, and then started finding a rhythm in the passing game. A 19-yard throw to Eian Pugh set the Bobcats up. Brune finished the job, twirling past defenders for a 13-yard touchdown. The extra point made it 14-7.
Rose led the offense back on the field for a potential response. Then, he threw an immediate interception on the third play to an aware Jack Fries. Bangura rushed the ball five times, including a touchdown run, to fire Ohio into a two-score lead.
The Minutemen worked a patient drive following the Bobcat score with third-string quarterback Grant Jordan getting into the game. The offense got to the Ohio 37, but a Morris field goal to secure points was no good.
Ohio turned the ball over on downs once again on the following drive, but UMass couldn’t capitalize with Morris missing another field goal, this time from 47.
A lengthy weather delay with three minutes left in the half shortened the halftime intermission. Both teams went back on the field at the beginning of the second half after a short media timeout.
The UMass defense held a highly-touted Navarro for the most part, but his rushing performance was just enough to expose an 0-11 defense.
The next game for the Minutemen is their season finale at home against Bowling Green on Nov. 25. Kickoff is at 4:30 on ESPN+.
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