AMHERST — Forty-one seconds is not a lot of time.

It was, however, more than enough to crush the spirits of the UMass football team’s players, coaches and fans.

“From every negative experience, if you don’t gain anything from it, you’re not going to grow. It’s just going to sit there and fester like a disease. We’ve got to keep pushing forward,” UMass coach Joe Harasymiak said after the Minutemen fell to 0-7 as Buffalo scored the game-winning touchdown with 14 seconds left to beat the Minutemen 28-21, before a crowd of 15,239 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Band Day and Family Day.

“This is either going to be make it or break it,” Harasymiak told reporters in his post-game press availability. “A loss like this can either send you down to Hell or you can fight to stay above ground and keep going.”

Buffalo is now 4-3 and 3-0 in the Mid-American Conference. The Bulls also get to take home the Flagship Cup, given to the winner of the game between the two flagship campuses of the state college systems in Massachusetts and New York. UMass falls to 0-3 in MAC play.

The Minutemen got a turnover with 56 seconds remaining, and it seemed the first win over an FBS team since beating Army back in 2023, might have been in the cards.

After UMass’ Derek Morris missed on a 54-yard field goal attempt with 3:06 left in the fourth quarter, Buffalo got the ball on its 36-yard line and moved into UMass territory. A pair of penalties on first down at the UMass 48 were called. A holding penalty was declined but an intentional grounding call against quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson pushed the Bulls back to their 41.

Robinson found Patrick Clacks III for a 11-yard gain, but on third down, Roberson was put under heavy pressure. The quarterback, who led UConn to a win over UMass in the 2023 finale, threw the ball up in the air and it was intercepted by UMass’ Jeremiah McGill. 

But instead of having the ball on the 19-yard line, Derrion Craig was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for doing a cartwheel, and that put the ball on the UMass 9.

“That was one of the most stupid things I’ve ever seen in my life,” the coach said. “I’ve got to coach it. It’s my problem. It’s my fault. The young man didn’t intentionally mean to do anything.

The Minutemen got nowhere. UMass quarterback A.J. Hairston, who threw touchdown passes to Kezion Dia-Johnson and Max Dowling, was held for no yards on a first-down run. Brandon Hood, who ran for a career-high 179 yards, slipped in the backfield on second down and was down at the UMass five. After a time out, Hairston misfired on a pass to Dia-Johnson, forcing Keegan Andrews to punt from the shadow of the goalposts.

It was a 44-yard punt that was fair caught on the UMass 49 with 41 seconds left. The Bulls needed 20 yards to get inside of Jack Howes’ field goal range. They got much more. 

Roberson, who finished the day 36 for 55 for 403 yards, hit Jasiah Gathings for 13 yards and a first down on the UMass 36. Roberson and Gathings hooked up again, this time on a 20-yard sideline catch that UMass defensive back Kamren Watkins-Hunter somehow could not come up with. 

That set up a first down on the 16, and Roberson found Victor Snow in the back left corner of the end zone for the touchdown. A two-point conversion was good, and with 19 seconds left, the Minutemen were going to have to score a touchdown and kick the PAT just to get the game into overtime.

Two incompletions and a sack and UMass lost a game it could have won.

“We had every opportunity to win that game,” the UMass coach said. “Credit to them. Their players made plays. They’re a team that’s going to play for a MAC championship more than likely, or have a chance to. We had them. Credit to them.”

The Minutemen led 14-10 at halftime, marking the first time since last year’s loss at UConn that UMass had led an FBS team at halftime.

In the first quarter, Buffalo had 133 total yards to 29, but the visitors led only 3-0. 

UMass took over after a punt on its 13-yard line early in the second quarter. The Minutemen marched smoothly into Buffalo territory thanks to a 21-yard run by Hairston, who had been flushed out of the pocket. Hood gained 41 yards on back-to-back runs, and one play later, Hairston rolled out to get away from the pass rush and found Kezion Dia-Johnson in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Morris’ PAT made it 7-3.

It took UMass one offensive play to go up two scores. After stopping a Bulls drive on the UMass 46, the Minutemen took over on their 10. Hairston handed off to Hood, who burst through a packed tackle box, and had nothing but green turf between himself and the end zone. The 90-yard TD run was the fourth-longest TD run in UMass history and he was only seven yards shy of the school record 96-yard run set by Jim Pizano in 1996.

The Bulls responded with a 75-yard drive that resulted in a 23-yard touchdown pass from Roberson to Snow. That made it 14-10 at halftime.

The teams traded third quarter touchdowns. Buffalo’s came after a 13-play, 76-yard drive that was kept alive with a defensive pass interference penalty and resulted in a one-yard touchdown run by Buffalo’s Terrance Shelton Jr.

UMass responded in a hurry. Facing third and 12 on the 23, Hairston hit tight end Max Dowling for a 26-yard gain. Dowling broke a tackle and took it the final 51 yards for what was, at the time, the go-ahead score in a 21-20 game.

It was another rough day injury-wise for UMass. Linebacker Timmy Hinspeter, the leading tackler, was injured and did not return. Tight end Reece Adkins and defensive end Shambre Jackson were also injured during the game.

“I think we have a group that listens. Trying to change this whole thing and trying to change the culture and go compete in the MAC, I think it just shows me that responding from the way that game went last week to the way they worked this week, the way they came out and the way they listened to the messaging and took it all the way down to [41] seconds,” Harasymiak said. “I know the result is what we’re ultimately judged on and I get that. I’m proud of them for putting in that effort. We’ll coach them up tomorrow on how to be better.

“Certainly, no moral victories. We’re here to win.