UMass football: Eastern Michigan sinks Minutemen in front of sellout crowd, 38-14

AMHERST — Through four games of the season, opposing defenses had few answers to slow down UMass quarterback Pop Watson. With each week, his decision-making seemed to improve, backed by his 74.0% completion clip and a single interception to his name.

Rather than stop the man himself, Eastern Michigan arrived at Amherst in front of a sold-out crowd on Saturday apparently with a new strategy: keep the ball out of his hands for as long as possible.

The Eagles ran 13 plays and killed over seven minutes of gametime on their first drive of the game. Quarterback Noah Kim opened the game completing 6-of-7 passes and putting Eastern Michigan on the board on a 27-yard touchdown pass to Kozy Isaac.

That drive was a preview of what was to come. Eastern Michigan sliced through UMass’ offense the entire day to win, 38-14. It was the Minutemen’s first loss of the season after starting 4-0.

“I don’t believe we executed at all today,” UMass football head coach Joe Harasymiak said. “Especially in the second half we had to do a lot of things we needed to do.”

Going against a defense that led the MAC in interceptions, Kim’s decision-making neutralized UMass’s ability to force turnovers. The fifth-year player entered the day third in passing yards and touchdown passes in addition to the most completions in the MAC.

While Kim was methodical in walking the Eagle the defense down the field, Watson and the Minutemen were the opposite.

Looking to respond on the next drive, Watson zipped the ball down the field, connecting on all four passes during the drive. The Minutemen needed just over four minutes and nine plays to go 73 yards to the Eastern Michigan 10-yard line.

But for the first time this season, UMass lost a fumble. Elijah Faulkner lost the ball on a carry to give the ball back to the Eagles.

Missed opportunities became the theme for the Minutemen, whether it be turnovers or penalties.

On the team’s next drive, an ineligible receiver penalty wiped out what would have been a 49-yard pass from Watson to Jabari Lewis at the Eastern Michigan 2-yard line. Four plays later, a holding call killed a first down. Kicker Derek Morris missed a 54-yard kick, his first miss from 50 yards or longer this season.

The most disappointing part of the loss for Harasymiak was how he emphasized earlier in the week that the Minutemen were going to have to be strong in all three phases of the game.

“We had the missed field goal,” Harasymiak said. “Defensively we had our worst game of the year and then the offense couldn’t get anything going.”

The defense appeared to stop Eastern Michigan at midfield after a Kim incompletion on third down. After the play, Romando Johnson picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, keeping the drive alive for the Eagles. Two plays later, Chris Staley got flagged for a defensive pass interference.

The Minutemen were flagged six times for 59 yards in the afternoon.

The Eagles worked their way to the one-yard line. While the Minutemen stuffed three straight runs, Braydon Bennett broke the line on fourth down to put Eastern Michigan up 14-0. 

Once again it was another long drive for the Eagles. Like their first drive of the game, they ran 13 plays that lasted over seven minutes. Those two drives loomed large as the Eagles controlled possession for 15:53 in the first half.

The second half opened with what was the worst sequence of the season. Eastern Michigan scored on its first two drives with Watson’s second interception of the season.

“Everything tonight they did to us is what we’ve been doing to other people. It’s exactly what happened. The margin of error is really small,” Harasymiak said.

With his line giving him plenty of room, Kim avoided throwing any interceptions. He became the first quarterback to outduel Watson all season. He completed 21-of-30 passes for 212 yards with two touchdown throws. 

Eastern Michigan’s line also gave its running back ample room for big plays. The Eagles ran for 197 yards, the most the Minutemen have given up all year. Amareon Blue ran for 66 yards with a touchdown.

“They did a really good job schematically,” Harasymiak said. “They were getting us unbalanced, popping back, making us communicate. We had a couple open gaps in the field where we didn’t fit fast enough. I thought our tackling was atrocious.”

Watson threw the lone first-hafl score for UMass to Max Dowling. The 34-yard pass appeared to give the team some momentum. Watson finished 20-for-27 for 210 yards.

“All the penalties we had, that’s my fault,” Watson said. “I got to play better for these guys so there’s no holding penalties. I can’t be doing too much in the pocket and we just got to be better. We’re going to respond this week.”

Curits Kimmons IV led UMass with 73 yards on 14 carries with a late touchdown. The rest of the team ran for a combined 33 yards.

“This is the first defense in probably about two weeks that plays sound defense,” Harasymiak said. “They do a really good job. They tackled really well tonight, and I thought they knocked us back.”

With zero force turnovers, Saturday was the first game this season where UMass lost the turnover battle.

“This is like anything in life. You get punched in the face and we got to respond the right way,” Harasymiak said. “We got to get back up because next week obviously we get a huge challenge as well.”

Next week’s matchup against Miami University marks another tough matchup for UMass. The RedHawks lost by just four to Cincinnati earlier in the year. The Minutemen expect another large crowd with the campus hosting homecoming weekend.