By MATT VAUTOUR
FOXBOROUGH — Andrew Ford wasn’t perfect Saturday, but the UMass sophomore quarterback moved the ball well enough against an SEC defense that he may have solidified his hold on the Minuteman starting quarterback job.
Ford was 24-for-40 for 273 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions in the 47-35 loss to Mississippi State. The 35 points was the most the Minutemen (1-3) have scored this season.
UMass coach Mark Whipple liked Ford’s poise after he had an interception returned for a touchdown.
“I thought he did a lot of good things, really good things. I thought he battled back especially after the pick-six. He didn’t drop his head. He led the team,” Whipple said. “Our guys believe in both our quarterbacks. I think he took a step forward. He just needs a little more experience. But he battled and played hard.”
As it turned out, there wasn’t a quarterback decision to be made after all this week. After saying Ross Comis was healthy and physically capable of making the necessary throws on Wednesday, the sophomore quarterback didn’t dress for Saturday’s game.
Ford was critical of his own performance despite Whipple’s praise.
“I missed a lot of stuff. I left some plays out there,” Ford said. “It was nowhere near what the quarterback play needs to be to beat a team the caliber of Mississippi State.”
RECEIVER SHAKE UPS — Junior receiver Shakur Nesmith, who started the first three games of the season, is no longer with the program. UMass officials declined to comment whether he had quit or been asked to leave.
Nesmith had a strong preseason in 2013 under coach Charley Molnar, but he was knocked out of the Wisconsin game and redshirted that season. He never emerged as a productive player.
The 6-foot-4, Philadelphia native had 25 catches for 332 yards and four career touchdowns. He caught one ball for nine yards this year.
Senior Jalen Williams, who caught three passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns Saturday, will assume a lot of Nesmith’s playing time. Freshman Sadiq Palmer, had his first career catch, a touchdown.
“(Jalen) is a really good player and a great kid. He’s practicing a little bit more and obviously he makes a difference,” Whipple said. “(Palmer) is a kid that I think is going to be a really good player for us. I think he’s a really tough kid. He doesn’t shy away. He proved it there. There’s going to be some growing pains, but he’s fun to coach.”
HALF vs. HALF — The Minutemen have outscored opponents 42-39 in the first half of this season’s games. UMass has been outscored 71-28 in the second half.
KICKING — Whipple sent punter Logan Laurent, who has been the Minutemen’s placekicker before, out to try a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter instead of Mike Caggiano, who has handled all extra point and field goal attempts up to this point.
“It was a little longer, into the wind,” Whipple said. Laurent’s “leg is a little stronger at that distance.”
There was a bad snap on the play so Laurent never attempted the kick.
VS. POWER 5/SEC — UMass dropped to 0-24 vs. schools currently in Power 5 conferences since 1999, the first year the Minutemen played FBS teams after a long layoff. UMass is 0-5 vs. SEC teams in that stretch, and plays at South Carolina on Oct. 22.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage