All it needed was one late break – one small act of fortune that would at least give the team a chance to win.
And with 8:01 left in the fourth quarter of its game Saturday versus Northeastern, at McGuirk Alumni Stadium, the Massachusetts football team finally got it.
When Husky kicker Colin Gaynor took his stride toward the pigskin placed at the 23-yard line, the UMass defense had already forced the Northeastern line back a few yards.
Seconds later, the football ricocheted off the outstretched arms of Ryan McHugh to keep the score locked at 10-10 and transfer possession to UMass.
In the following 2:07 of play, the Maroon and White strung together a six-play, 77-yard scoring drive that ended on a 15-yard Omari Howard rush to paydirt, a play set up by Howard’s 38-yard zigzagging scramble up the middle on the previous down.
Howard ran 15 times for 100 yards, hitting the century mark for the first time in his career. He is also the only UMass rusher to reach that mark this year.
Northeastern had a final chance on a fourth down play late in the last quarter, but UMass’ Leroy Brooks broke up a pass to Andy Alsup in the left corner of the endzone to secure the 17-0 victory.
On that drive, Northeastern worked its way to first and goal on UMass’ 9-yard-line, but couldn’t crack the Minuteman guard.
On first down, McKanas pushed to the 4-yard-line, but on second down, linebacker Jeremy Cain drilled him for a 1-yard-loss. And on third, defensive lineman Valdamar “T” Brower sacked Shawn Brady for a 9-yard-loss.
The series was similar to Northeastern’s final drive of the first half. The Huskies made their way to the UMass 5-yard-line with little time remaining, but UMass stopped McKanas twice and forced two incomplete passes.
“Our defense stepped up and made a lot of plays,” said Head Coach Mark Whipple, whose defenders did not let up a touchdown for the first time all year. “It was a patchwork operation…and we somehow got it done.”
UMass (2-6, 2-4 Atlantic 10) forced four fumbles, blocked a punt and a field goal and added an interception by Eddie Bowman, falling out of the left side of its end zone, to upset Northeastern (3-5, 2-4 A-10) and quash the performance of tailback L.J. McKanas, who ran for a career-high 242 yards.
“I’m just a little stunned,” Northeastern Head Coach Don Brown said. “We were able to run the ball well. But the thing that crops up with us is the five turnovers.
“It nullifies five opportunities.”
Northeastern took a 10-3 lead in the third quarter when Art Smith picked off Matt Guice (13-for-29, 209 yards) and returned it 63 yards for the touchdown. But Guice responded on the last play of that stanza when he found DeShon Hardy on a deep slant for what ended as a 60-yard score. The reception was the longest of Hardy’s career and doubled as the longest play from scrimmage for UMass this season.
The Huskies led 3-0 at halftime, but Doug White connected on a career-long 41-yard field goal early in the third quarter to tie the game.
