By RICHARD WALKER
For the Gazette
CHARLOTTE — The coaches were both new but the results looked amazingly similar for the home team Saturday night as UMass met Charlotte at Jerry Richardson Stadium.
This time it was Charlotte that scored the game’s first 28 points on its way to a 52-17 victory.
A year ago, UMass scored the first 28 points in its 48-31 win at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
First-year Minutemen coach Walt Bell said he barely watched tape of last year’s win and was quick to credit first-year Charlotte coach Will Healy for his team’s success in the run game.
“We’ve got to be able to get off the field and stop the run,” said Bell, who has known Healy since he first began coaching. “That’s the name of the game: Run the football and stop the run. No matter what you do on offense – spread, play fast – can you run the football and can you stop the run? And we didn’t do either of those things.”
Charlotte (2-1) scored on its first three possessions and also got a defensive score on an interception return in taking a 28-0 lead with 13:57 left in the first half.
UMass (0-3) scored on its next two possessions to cut the margin to 28-10 but the Minutemen couldn’t get any closer.
“It definitely was a result we didn’t want,” UMass sophomore defensive back Tyris Lebeau said. “We made a lot of mistakes and had a lot of missed tackles, which gave them the opportunity for big runs and big plays.
“Our goal for next week is to really work on tackling, holding the running back down and making plays.”
Benny LeMay (16 carries for 113 yards), Aaron McAllister (seven carries for 94 yards and one touchdown) and Ishod Finger (11 carries for 71 yards and two touchdowns) led the 49ers running game and Chris Reynolds completed 10 of 12 throws for 155 yards and two more touchdowns.
Charlotte outgained the Minuteman 533 to 262.
Bell found positives in his team after Charlotte’s early scoring burst.
“I thought in terms of our effort from last week to this week it was better,” Bell said. “I thought our kids were a lot more positive. And there was plenty of negative in that ballgame and chances for those kids to not be that way.”
Bell said he felt junior quarterback Andrew Brito’s first start was “hot and cold.”
After failing to lead the Minutemen to scores on their first three possessions – including an interception return for a Charlotte touchdown on one of them – Brito directed back-to-back scoring drives.
He finished with 18 completions in 27 attempts for 127 yards and a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Johnson Jr.
“There were some really good things,” Bell said of Brito. “Obviously, a really young, inexperienced football player. So, for him, every rep is a learning rep for him. Hopefully, all of those reps will help him in the future.”
Cam Roberson (10 carries for 73 yards) and Bilal Ally (14 carries for 59 yards) led the Minutemen running game and senior cornerback Isaiah Rodgers returned a punt 42 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown.
Lebeau and junior linebacker Cole McCubrey had eight tackles apiece to lead the UMass defense.
UMass now prepares for back-to-back home games next Saturday against Coastal Carolina at 1 p.m. and Sept. 28 against Akron at 3:30.
“Home, away, gravel, parking lot … we really don’t care right now,” Bell said of the upcoming schedule. “I’m excited for tomorrow. I’m excited to get back to work. I’m excited for Tuesday’s practice.
“We’re a really young football team. We played a bunch of freshman and young guys and played a bunch of walk-ons. We’ve got to get them better every day.”