Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Missed opportunities overshadow impressive day for UMass football

Cade Belisle/Daily Collegian
Cade Belisle/Daily Collegian

On a day where the Massachusetts football team encountered a variety of firsts, a growingly familiar theme of missed opportunities blanketed the Minutemen’s 47-42 loss to Bowling Green.

There were personal records broken and program bests shattered. The program hosted a football game in Amherst for the first time in three seasons. If UMass scripted the start of the day, there’s a good chance Saturday’s perfect weather and abundance of fan support would have made the final cut.

Yet the Minutemen came up painstakingly short on the field and lamented a laundry list of missed chances again – a repetitive issue as the team’s found difficult ways to lose on three different occasions this year.

“We made many mistakes, so it’s not going to be hard to get better,” UMass defensive back Randall Jette said after the game.

The Minutemen defense made three interceptions, but it was two missed interceptions that UMass coach Mark Whipple said were “crucial.” Minutemen safety Joe Colton missed an interception on his own goal line and Bowling Green scored a touchdown on the following play. Linebacker Stanley Andre dropped an interception to open the second half.

UMass had a number of crucial drops offensively as well, and fumbled the ball away to Bowling Green on three different occasions. Whipple said that he didn’t call timely offensive plays on drives starting after the Minutemen forced a Bowling Green turnover.

But UMass still found itself within reach, making the subsequent loss even more frustrating.

“Players make plays,” Whipple said. “(We’re) in the right position and (we’re) doing things the right way, but you gotta make plays. We just have to make more plays. We’ve been in three one-play games and somebody’s gotta come up and make a play.”

Freshman running back J.T. Blyden exemplified that in the fourth quarter Saturday. Blyden, who struggled throughout the game, ripped off an 18-yard run as the Minutemen trailed 47-42 on their final drive of the game. He followed up that run with a costly miscue, fumbling the ball after catching a pass from quarterback Blake Frohnapfel.

It was a sudden end, and restricted a potent UMass offense from embarking on a potential game-winning drive.

“We had chances to win,” Frohnapfel said. “That’s one of the things you forget about it and learn from it and you get better.”

The Minutemen are getting better, quickly. UMass accounted for 638 yards offensively, its highest total since 2007. Frohnapfel set a UMass record for passing yards – he threw for a monstrous 589 yards on 36-of-61 passing – which was previously held by former Minutemen quarterback Kyle Havens, who threw for 450 yards in 2010.

The personal best’s trickled down to receiver Tajae Sharpe, too. Sharpe set new career bests in receptions (13), receiving yards (179) and touchdowns (two). He made a number of difficult catches and warranted high praise from Whipple following the game. He said Sharpe was one of the best players he’s ever coached.

But personal records didn’t hold much weight for either Frohnapfel or Sharpe after another loss.

“It’s pretty cool, but I’m not here to break records,” Frohnapfel said. “I’m here to win games. That’s why I came here (as a transfer student from Marshall) is a chance to win games.”

Instead, Sharpe focused more on the missed opportunity of knocking off the reigning conference champion in Bowling Green.

“At the end of the day, all the records and things like that are great,” Sharpe said. “But you always want to come out with a victory. If you want to become a champion you gotta beat champions and we had them on the ropes.”

Now, the Minutemen must re-evaluate following a difficult loss – again. Sharpe said the team needed to fix small miscues – such as miscommunication and technique – and that the team was close.

Despite the losses, Jette said that confidence should – and would – remain high.

“I don’t think it’s going to break us at all, we’re fighters,” Jette said. “We fought in that game, we just didn’t come out with a victory.”

Mark Chiarelli can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Mark_Chiarelli.

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