After allowing big play after big play last weekend, the defense for the Massachusetts football team came through when it was needed the most to preserve a 26-21 win over Stony Brook at LaValle Stadium.
The No. 11 Minutemen (3-1) forced a punt, a turnover on downs and an interception on the final three Seawolves possessions to earn their first road victory since 2008 and break a seven-game road losing streak.
“It was sporadic,” UMass coach Kevin Morris said of his team’s play. “A lot of penalties and turnovers in the first half, and it was a dog fight in the first half. In the second half, the character of the team came through again and persevered. It was certainly not a very pretty contest from play-to-play but there’s no such thing as an ugly win and we’ll take it.”
Linebacker Tyler Holmes sealed the win for UMass by picking off quarterback Michael Coulter with one minute, eight seconds remaining in the contest. The takeaway marked Holmes’ third interception of the season in only four games.
“I guess I always seem to be in the right place at the right time,” Holmes said. “I knew he was going to look for a dig or something on the back side, across the hash. I actually thought it was a complete pass. Ke’Mon Bailey did a great job knocking the ball out and it was able to fall into my hands.”
Both Stony Brook (1-3) and the Minutemen relied heavily on the run, as each team eclipsed 200 rushing yards. For UMass, John Griffin ran for 132 yards and a touchdown, while Jonathan Hernandez piled up 96 yards and two scores. The Seawolves were led by Edwin Gowins, with 102 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries.
Griffin, the senior transfer from Northeastern, had the best performance of his UMass career, topping 100 yards for the first time this season.
“I don’t know if it was necessarily my best, but I just felt like today I really felt comfortable with the offense,” Griffin said. “Some days, as a running back, sometimes it slows down for you, sometimes it’s too fast for us. I felt like today it just really slowed down for me.”
In the passing game, wide receiver Anthony Nelson led all players with a game-high 97 yards. The senior caught six passes from quarterback Kyle Havens, who threw for 255 yards and two interceptions. After not turning the ball over in the first three weeks of the season, Havens has thrown three interceptions in the last two games.
“We were shaky in the first quarter, I was shaky in the first quarter,” Havens said. “We were a little flat, but we came back and the offensive line started playing real good, everyone started playing better. You have to give it to Stony Brook, they’re a good team. We came into this game a little light which obviously showed. We finished well though.”
The Minutemen had their 12-play, 80-yard game-winning drive capped off by a one-yard Griffin run. The two-point conversion failed, however, to keep the score, 26-21.
Prior to UMass’ score, Stony Brook took a 21-20 lead with 5:10 left in the third quarter on a four-yard run by Jordan Gush. The only other lead the Seawolves held was 14-7 on Miguel Maysonet’s two-yard touchdown early in the second quarter. There were four lead changes in total during the contest.
Minutemen kicker Caleb Violette converted both his field goal attempts from 30 and 25 yards out, accounting for eight points.
UMass looks for its second-straight road win when it travels to Towson on Saturday.
Jay Asser can be reached at [email protected].
