After three weeks, the Massachusetts football team is 0-3. In its most recent loss to Buffalo, the Bulls’ (2-1) offense did not impress onlookers. A Buffalo unit that entered Saturday ranked 118th in total offense barely eclipsed its 286-yard average. The Bulls scored four touchdowns, with just two of them coming from an offensive possession of over 20 yards. Without seeing what its own team did, reading Buffalo’s offensive stats should’ve inspired UMass (0-3) fans into thinking of a possible win, or a close game at the very least.
Instead, the Minutemen one-upped their fellow Amherst-located school by putting forward their worst offensive performance of the season. After recording over 300 yards in its first two games, UMass mustered just 193 yards of offense in Saturday’s 34-3 loss to the Bulls.
“[There was] no consistency,” head coach Don Brown said of his team’s offense. “We get a couple of plays going, but making first downs on a regular basis was difficult and [in the] second half, when we needed them to get something going, they weren’t able to do that…very disappointing.”
With 13 opportunities to score, the Minutemen only had three possessions where the ball moved over 20 yards. One of those possessions came with time ticking down in the third quarter, as UMass finally built off a few positive plays to get deep into Buffalo territory.
Averaging over eight yards per play in the possession, Taisun Phommachanh dropped back on third and goal and was immediately pressured by the Bulls’ front seven. After rolling out to his left, the quarterback thought he could loft a ball to Jaelyn Lay in the back left corner of the endzone. Phommachanh lofted a pass Lay’s way, but the ball didn’t make it over Buffalo cornerback Marquis Cooper. Cooper leapt up, grabbed the ball and defeated the Minutemen offense in a footrace to record a 100-plus-yard pick-six.
The play was “not a pretty thing to watch,” as Brown put it. In that situation, the decision to take a shot at six was an aggressive one from Phommachanh, but it’s one that the quarterback can’t entirely be blamed for. Down 20-3 at the time, the entire UMass offense had already put itself into dire circumstances, and it needed potential heroes like Phommachanh if the game was going to become competitive again.
Despite their three-point showing, the Minutemen had a couple good scoring opportunities in the first half. In the midst of the first quarter, UMass drove down near the edge of field goal territory until an incomplete pass gave them a fourth-and-four from the Buffalo 32. Brown can be aggressive in those moments, but he opted to give Jacob Lurie a 50-yard field goal attempt instead, which fell short and wide.
Towards the end of the first half, a CJ Ogbonna fumble gave the Minutemen their best starting field position of the day. With just 41 yards to go, UMass ran the ball four times with no success and after a bad throw and a pressure, another missed Lurie field goal led to zero points.
In the second half, the little failures continued to add up for the Minutemen. Facing a third-and-six in the middle of the third quarter, tackle Ethan Mottinger was looking for somebody to lay his hands on. That somebody was likely Buffalo’s star linebacker Shaun Dolac, a player who should be at the top of the scouting report for all opposition. Without a lineman to stop him, Dolac came into the pocket untouched and brought down Phommachanh, forcing UMass into its fifth of eight punts.
Two possessions later, two good Jalen John targets got the Minutemen near the 50-yard line. Instead of running or continuing with short passes though, Montgomery brought out a double reverse on first down which ended in a seven-yard loss. The drive was still salvaged (until Phommachanh’s pick), but bringing out trickery so soon was one of a few questionable play calls for UMass on Saturday afternoon.
The Minutemen offense’s frustration comes from a reasonable place, as Saturday’s showing was unlike the team’s first two weeks. After a 28-point showing against Toledo where both the run and pass had their moments, more was expected against a Bulls defense that’s strong for the MAC, but certainly not bulletproof.
Phommachanh delivered a few solid strikes, but finished completing just 14 of his 29 passes for 121 yards and the pick-six. The Minutemen came away with 72 yards on the ground, 36 of which came from Brandon Campbell.
Next up, UMass heads back home to face FCS opponent Central Connecticut State. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Dean Wendel can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @DeanWende1.
