AMHERST – UMass’ defense did its job Saturday, it was the Minutemen’s offense that struggled instead.
Senior quarterback Andrew Ford was able to dissect Coastal Carolina through the air, but the offense’s inability to finish drives proved costly. The Minutemen racked up 250 yards of offense in the opening half, but came away with just two field goals. They added 203 more in the second half and managed just one touchdown in the final 30 minutes.
The Chanticleers only scored one field goal in the first half, but they finished off their first three drives of the second-half drives with touchdowns to propel them to a 24-13 win over UMass at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
Ford finished the day with 326 passing yards, focusing most of his attention on senior wideout Andy Isabella (10 catches for 174 yards) and junior Sadiq Palmer (7 grabs for 139 yards). But the only time UMass (2-6) was able to find the end zone came late in the third quarter when Ford found Palmer from 22 yards out.
Otherwise, the Minutemen found a multitude of ways to shoot themselves in the foot during promising drives. Late in the second quarter, Isabella fumbled the ball inside the 10 after absorbing a hard hit from behind. In the third quarter, a holding penalty erased a long pass to Isabella and put UMass behind the chains for good. On their next drive, the Minutemen drove deep into Coastal Carolina territory before Ford was sacked by an unblocked blitzer on fourth down.
In between UMass’ offensive misfortunes, Coastal Carolina (4-3) was able to make the necessary adjustments to jumpstart its offense.
The Chanticleers marched 75 yards down the field on the first drive of the second half for the game’s first touchdown, reaching into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 1. After UMass retook the lead on the Ford touchdown pass, Coastal Carolina hit its explosion play as Malcolm Williams slipped behind the Minutemen’s secondary for a 61-yard touchdown catch. On its third offensive drive of the half, Coastal used eight plays to cover 65 yards, ending in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Fred Payton to CJ Marable.
Coastal Carolina consistently subsituted its quarterbacks during the final three quarters, freely switching out starter Kilton Anderson for backup Bryce Carpenter and Payton, the third string. The three combined to keep the UMass defense off balance with a plethora of triple option rushes and run-pass options as the Chanticleers finished with 498 total yards.