AMHERST — UMass gave Duquesne no time to settle into the comforts of McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Saturday.
Junior Bakhari Goodson intercepted Duquesne quarterback Daniel Parr on the first drive of the game. Andrew Ford then tossed a 32-yard touchdown pass to Brennon Dingle on the Minutemen’s first play of the game. By midway through the first quarter, UMass led 21-o but continued to pile on the pressure.
The end result was a 63-15 victory in its season opener, UMass’ largest victory in 10 years.
The Minutemen (1-0) rarely had to wait long to score when they had the ball thanks to some explosive plays. UMass’ second touchdown came on a 60-yard pass from Ross Comis to a wide-open Andy Isabella on the second play of the drive. On the next series, Bilal Ally set up his 1-yard touchdown run with a 66-yard sprint down the sideline the previous play.
In total, UMass had eight plays of at least 20 yards, seven of which came in the first half, and 10 other plays between 10 and 19 yards. The Minutemen finished with 572 yards, 282 on the ground and 290 through the air.
Isabella accounted for three touchdowns, adding a rushing and receiving score to his first-quarter catch. He took an end-around carry 14 yards on the second play of the second quarter and then juked out a defender on UMass’ opening drive of the third quarter for a 44-yard touchdown.
The Minutemen’s defense focused this summer on creating turnovers, and produced three takeaways in the first game of the year. The unit almost had a fourth, but a forced fumble bounced out of bounds before a member of the horde of UMass defenders could fall on it. UMass also recovered a muffed punt in the fourth quarter for a fourth takeaway.
Fifth-year safety Brice McAllister had an acrobatic interception in the middle of the second quarter on an overthrown ball. The Connecticut transfer added a pick six early in the third quarter when he jumped a route to catch Parr’s pass in stride and stroll into the end zone.
The Dukes (0-1) were limited to 180 yards against UMass’ starting defense before scoring on a 15-play, 71-yard drive early in the fourth quarter. Duquesne ended the game with 253 total yards.