After a penalty-filled first quarter, the Massachusetts football team found itself in a close game after the first 15 minutes.
That’s when Vanderbilt finally kicked into gear.
The Commodores outscored UMass, 49-0, through the first three quarters en route to their 49-7 handling of the Minutemen on Saturday night in Nashville, Tenn.
Vanderbilt (4-4, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) paved through the UMass (0-8, 0-4 Mid-American Conference) defense on the ground, outrushing its visitors, 226-56, even with starting running back Zac Stacy going down with a foot injury in the first quarter. Brian Kimbrow and Wesley Tate filled the void and then some, accumulating a combined 179 yards.
Michael Cox and the Minutemen running game couldn’t get much going on the night, tallying 56 yards on 17 carries.
UMass allowed four touchdowns in the third quarter as the Commodores took complete control of the affair.
Jordan Rodgers, the younger brother of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, had an efficient outing for Vanderbilt in the win, completing 17-of-21 passes for 217 yards and a pair of touchdown passes.
UMass quarterback Mike Wegzyn finished the game with only 162 yards through the air and an interception that was returned for a touchdown. A.J. Doyle took over for Wegzyn with 4:57 left in the third quarter and was under center for the final six series, completing 8-of-14 passes for 48 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
After 12 combined penalties between the two sides in the first quarter, Tate took a toss sweep 25 yards in for the score to put the Commodores up, 7-0, with 5:34 left in the first quarter.
It was more of the same from that point on as Vanderbilt opened up a 21-0 lead at the half.
The Minutemen’s lone score came on a 10-yard touchdown strike from Doyle to Deion Walker.
The loss marks UMass’ fifth defeat by more than 35 points this season and the second by more than 40.
UMass continues the search for its first win when it travels to Northern Illinois on Saturday.
Stephen Sellner can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Stephen_Sellner.
