Leading 17-0 with one second left in the second quarter of Saturday’s bout with New Hampshire, the Massachusetts football team seemed to have finally put together a solid half of football.
But that notion weakened with no time remaining when New Hampshire’s Stephan Lewis came up with freshman Mike Granieri’s 49-yard Hail Mary toss in the right portion of the end zone to cut UMass’ lead to 17-6.
Behind that jolting tally, Lewis and the Wildcats outscored the Minutemen by 22 points in the next 30 minutes to secure the 35-24 victory to UNH and send UMass to its fifth consecutive defeat. The Maroon and White’s 0-5 (0-3 Atlantic 10) start is unprecedented in the program’s history.
Lewis headed the Minuteman second half dismantling with three unanswered fourth-quarter touchdowns to wipe away the 24-14 advantage UMass held with just over 13 minutes left in that stanza.
The junior, named the game’s Most Valuable Player, carried the ball five times for 258 yards and added four catches for 94 yards to help up New Hampshire’s record to 4-2 (2-2 A-10).
The Wildcats led 28-24 with 3:34 left in the game when Aaron Thomas picked off UMass’ Matt Guice for the second time of the afternoon. Guice, whose 63 attempts and 403 passing yards were both school records, was intercepted four times.
On that play, Guice rolled right and lofted a pass to Eddie Campbell that deflected off the senior’s fingertips and into the outstretched arms of the diving Thomas.
And after the next snap, Lewis broke into the Minuteman backfield and scrambled 77 yards for the silencing score.
Just two minutes prior to that gain, Lewis capped a five-minute plus, 62-yard scoring drive with a six foot run to paydirt. With 4:59 left, Granieri hit senior Brian Mallette for 28 yards on third-and-10 to bring UNH to the UMass six-yard line and keep that drive alive.
Seven minutes earlier, Lewis scored the first of his three touchdowns after darting 56-yards down the right sideline to cut the Maroon and White lead to 24-21.
The Minutemen’s only success in the latter half came early in the fourth quarter when Guice found junior Neal Brown on a corner route for the 21-yard touchdown grab. Brown led all receivers on the day, totaling 118 yards on nine receptions.
The only third quarter register came on an 11-yard Granieri throw to junior Michael Taylor. UMass had two realistic chances in the stanza, but failed to convert.
With 10:01 left in that quarter, Guice was picked off by freshman Brandon Taylor on New Hampshire’s 19-yard line. Just under four minutes later, junior Jimmie Howard let a pass fall right through his hands in the left corner of the end zone.
Howard’s miss wasn’t the first drop of the day, however. Freshman Jason Peebler dropped a catch in Six Town at the end of UMass’ first drive of the day, a series that resulted in a blocked field goal.
“The chances were there,” Head Coach Mark Whipple said. “You can’t drop the ball. You just can’t drop touchdown passes.”
Guice, who ran in UMass’ first score of the day early in the opening quarter, delivered a 60-yard bullet to Howard with 8:21 left in the second quarter to give the Minutemen a 14-0 advantage.
The ‘Cats’ starting quarterback, Ryan Day, went down with a shoulder injury early in the second quarter. Granieri and junior Michael Taylor split the replacement duties.
