HARRISONBURG, Va. – After struggling mightily to move the ball for three consecutive games, an ineffective offense led by quarterback Tim Day finally brought the Massachusetts football team to a place it never wanted to be: the point of no return.
After a scoreless first half in Saturday’s Atlantic 10 contest between the Minutemen and No. 19 James Madison, the Dukes finally cracked a tired and overworked UMass defense and the offense never got on tracked as the Minutemen fell to the Dukes 28-7 before a sellout crowd of 15,321 at Bridgeforth Stadium.
With the loss – UMass’ first to JMU since 1997 – the Minutemen fall to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in A-10 play. They will return to action next Saturday in Durham, N.H. for a 1 p.m. match up with No. 9 New Hampshire.
The Maroon and White is now also all but eliminated from Division I-AA playoff contention, and remains in last place in the A-10 East Division.
Junior quarterback Tim Day completed 28 of 52 attempts for 213 yards and a touchdown while also throwing two interceptions. His completion total tied for third most in program history, while the attempts were second on the school’s all-time list.
JMU quarterback Justin Rascati was 11 of 17 for 79 yards and rushed for a pair of touchdowns.
Junior tailback Steve Baylark was the Minutemen’s leading rusher, gaining 48 yards on 16 carries. Raymond Hines led James Madison (4-1 3-0 A-10) with 123 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, while Maurice Fenner chipped in with 96 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown as well.
Redshirt freshman J.J. Moore paced UMass’ receivers with seven catches for 75 yards and junior Dominique Stewart and senior fullback Rich Demers had six catches apiece, but the Minutemen were hurt severely by dropped passes throughout the game.
“It just seemed like every time we got something going, we would self destruct.” UMass coach Don Brown said. “Obviously you don’t want your quarterback to be throwing the ball 50 times a game, but that’s what happens when you can’t run the ball.”
“There were a couple drops, a couple missed assignments and we didn’t run the ball very well,” Day said. “I don’t know where to pinpoint the problems.”
Another consistent problem was Day’s inability to get the ball in the hands of All-Conference wide receiver Jason Peebler. The senior captain finished with three catches for 20 yards, and has not made a major impact since his 50 yard touchdown reception in a loss to Richmond.
“It’s frustrating not getting the ball.” Peebler said. “It’s something I’m probably going to bring up, because I feel if I got the ball more in certain situations I could make some things happen.”
Asked about the possibility of making a major change on offense due to the struggles , with one possibility clearly being replacing Day with freshman Liam Coen, Brown was hesitant to make a decision right away.
“I’m not going to make that statement right now after an emotional football game.” UMass’ first year coach said. “That’s something that we have to analyze and take a look at.”
Day, meanwhile, was not concerned with his job security, and replied with “No, not at all,” when asked if he was worried about losing his starting position.
After a Christian Koegel punt pinned James Madison down at its own four yard line with 8:51 to play in the third quarter, the Dukes used 11 plays to march 96 yards and break the scoreless tie. Tailback Raymond Hines ripped off the drive’s biggest play, a 61 yard gain on 3rd and three to move JMU down to the UMass 14 yard line – before quarterback Justin Rascati eventually plunged in from one yard out to put the Dukes up 7-0 at the 4:01 mark of the third quarter.
James Madison then forced UMass to go three and out on its next possession, and quickly doubled its advantage with a 12 play, 63 yard scoring march. Relying on the legs of Fenner and Hines, who gained a combined 36 yards on the drive, the Dukes moved down to the Minuteman 5 yard line and Rascati again found the end zone, this time diving for the goal line to complete a scamper that made the score 14-0 with 11:56 to play.
JMU safety Tony LeZotte set up JMU’s third score when he intercepted Day and returned the ball 10 yards to the UMass 24 yard line. From there, Hines carried the ball 15 yards down to the 9 yard line and then put the Dukes’ on the board again with a nine yard burst into the end zone to give James Madison a 21-0 lead.
UMass finally answered back on its next possession, as Day found Moore over the middle with a 40 yard pass on the first play of the drive, and eventually hooked up with tight end Mike Douglas for a two yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 21-7 with just under five minutes remaining.
Senior place kicker Matt Goldstein subsequently served up a perfect onside kick that was recovered by teammates James Ihedigbo, but UMass could not convert on fourth down at the JMU 32 yard line and did not score again on the afternoon.
James Madison capped the scoring on its final possession with just one play, as Fenner found the end zone from 25 yards out with just over a minute remaining to give the Dukes a final 28-7 lead.
“Obviously we’ve got half a season left, and we’ve got five more opportunities to compete and that’s what we’re going to do.” Brown said. “We’re going to do things right, take no shortcuts, keep our chin up, stay positive, keep working, stay the course and it’ll turn for us.”
