UMass Trounced By Mizzou In Final Non-Conference Game

The Minutemen continue their winning drought and move to 0-4

(UMass Athletics)

UMass failed to find any success in its final non-conference game of the schedule, losing to #20 Missouri Tigers 42-6.

Despite a monumental effort from UMass transfer linebacker Timmy Hinspeter, who had 17 total tackles, two tackles for losses, a sack and an interception, the power of star Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy was too much for head coach Joe Harasymiak’s defense.

There was a lot of excitement coming into the game with redshirt freshman AJ Hairston making his first start of the season after faring well late in the Iowa matchup. However, his 60 passer rating was nowhere near good enough to get past Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz’s defense.

Hairston finished his first start of the campaign, completing 11 passes on 31 attempts. He threw for 75 yards, a touchdown and interception. Jacquon Gibson was once again the top guy in the Minutemen receiving corps with six receptions for 30 yards, but tight end Max Dowling caught the one touchdown ball and finished with two receptions for 14 yards.

The UMass defense was finding success early in the second half, trailing 21-6. The Minutemen forced two consecutive stops for the first time in the game through efforts from Tim Grant-Randall, Marques White and David Onuoha.

In fact, the defense equaled the amount of sacks its had throughout the first three games, in this one contest against Missouri.

The Tiger offense was starting to tense up and make mistakes because of the pressure their offensive line was being put under. The Missouri center couldn’t withstand the intensity, and delivered an errand snap 15 yards behind his quarterback.

The next play, Michael Pangaro, who had to come in for one of the many injured Minutemen defensive backs, rushed Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula who had to just throw the football away.

Hairston and his offense received the ball with two minutes left in the third quarter and a 28-6 deficit. They simply had to score now, or the chance at finding any momentum was gone.

The first throw from the Pompano Beach, Fla. native hit the turf next to Donnie Gray. The next play was a Brandon Hood rush up the middle for no yards. And then, it got ugly.

Hairston dropped back in search of an open wide receiver on third down. In desperation, he fired a pass, intended for Jake McConnachie, right into the hands of Missouri defender Santana Banner for the game-sealing interception.

To rub salt in the wound, Pribula’s offense dismantled the temporarily strong UMass defense instantly. The Tiger quarterback executed a simple playaction fake, rolled out right and found his tight end Brett Norfleet wide open in the end zone for the touchdown.

Missouri took the lead 35-6 right before the end of the third quarter, and ended any slimmer of Minutemen hope.

Following, both groups inputted their secondary units, which for UMass, was basically already out on the field because of the incredible amount of injuries the Minutemen collected throughout the first few games of the season.

Missouri tacked on a fourth quarter touchdown with a rush from Tavorus Jones, completing what was an exquisite Tiger rushing attack. Hardy had three touchdowns, Jamal Roberts had one and Jones put the icing on the cake.

Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian used two backs for the majority of the game - Rocko Griffin and Hood - but added freshman Elijah Faulkner into the mix early in the second half, as well as Juwuan Price. The four combined for 35 rushing yards on 14 attempts. Hairston only rushed once, compared to Grant Jordan’s eight the contest prior.

UMass opened the contest on offense. Gray received the first play of the game, but couldn’t gain a yard on a jet sweep. Rocko Griffin got a gain of 4 yards on second down, but Hairston’s first throw on third down was an incompletion, leading to Keegan Andrews’ first punt of the game.

Missouri started the game with a seven-play drive, leading to a touchdown. Hardy starred, as expected, for the Tigers, getting four carries for 41 yards. However, it was backup running back Roberts who punched in to open the scoring. Missed tackles by the Minutemen helped Hardy, who proved his silky running ability from the start.

UMass couldn’t respond. McConnachie, who was finally healthy after suffering a leg injury in Week Two, dropped Hairston’s first pass of the drive. Griffin failed to gain much on second down, and third down led to another incompletion. UMass had still failed to register a first down.

The next Tiger drive started with two quick tosses from Pribula to Kevin Coleman Jr., with Hardy taking the drive off on the bench. Missouri crept towards the red zone, but the UMass defense forced a third down. Pribula dropped back with pressure coming from White and Grant-Randall. He fired one towards Coleman, but instead found the hands of Hinspeter. The Rutgers transfer took the interception 63 yards, and eventually tackled at the Missouri 21.

Hairston quickly fired a pass into Dowling to get the UMass first down, but Missouri’s defense stood, or so they thought. Hairston lofted a pass to McConnachie on third down that looked uncatchable, but it was because a Tiger cornerback brought the Pitt transfer to the ground. On first down at the one, Hairston faked a handoff to Griffin, catching Missouri sleeping. He fired a pass on the playaction fake to Dowling for the touchdown. UMass kicker Derek Morris’ extra point was blocked, making it 7-6 Tigers with four minutes left in the first frame.

Missouri returned the kickoff all the way to its own 44, instantly giving them good field position. Then, the Tigers blocking came into form. They started to usher Roberts down the field with simple block schemes against Harasymiak’s defense. On 2nd-and-goal, Drinkwitz put Hardy back into the game, leading to the easy Tiger touchdown to make it 14-6.

UMass put up a fight to start the drive and the second quarter. A quick fling to Reece Adkins got them an efficient first down, and then a clutch run on third down by Griffin on a draw play got another. Minutemen offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian started to work both Hood and Griffin into the run game, but a slip by Hood on third down led to another UMass punt.

The Tigers continued their offensive momentum with another Hardy touchdown. Despite a Hinspeter sack, Missouri converted on two third downs with Hardy and Coleman continuing to make big plays. Tigers kicker Robert Meyer made the PAT, increasing the score to 21-6.

On the following drive, the Minutemen offensive line put them in a hole early, but Hairston’s throwing magic found Gray on third down to extend the drive. However, the redshirt freshman committed intentional grounding on second down, putting UMass back in a hole they couldn’t recover from.

Missouri got the ball right after the two-minute warning, and White and Onuoha sacked Pribula. The Minutemen forced Missouri’s first punt of the game on the defensive stand.

Because of the stop, Hairston’s offense got good field position with 1:19 left, but couldn’t do anything with it. Missouri got it back, but White dumped Pribula once again. Teams went into the intermission with the score 21-6 in favor of the TIgers.

Hairston finished the half 8-for-17 on passing attempts for 49 yards and a touchdown. Griffin found pockets of success with five carries for 23 yards, averaging 4.6 a carry. Dowling caught the only touchdown, and remained one of two UMass receivers to have multiple receptions in the first half.

Pribula was close to perfect for the Tigers, throwing 17-for-19 on passing attempts, but threw the interception to Hinspeter. The running game led the way with Hardy gaining 80 yards on 14 carries. He totaled two touchdowns with 5.7 yards per carry. Roberts averaged 8.7 yards per carry with a touchdown, and totaled 52 rushing yards. Coleman led Missouri receivers at half with eight receptions for 71 yards.

If there were any positives to take from this game for UMass, it was the performance of Hinspeter, the transfer from Rutgers. He led by example and showed the rest of the team what playing with heart and drive looks like.

The Minutemen will try to take that positive into their return home to McGuirk Alumni Stadium next week against Western Michigan for their first game in the “return of the MAC.”