The Massachusetts football team looked to different faces in the backfield on Saturday afternoon, as the Minutemen (1-5) went into Dekalb, IL. against Northern Illinois without its lead running back, Jalen John. Coupled with an injury to Jackson Paradis, UMass put the weight of the run game on CJ Hester, who took on the role of a bell cow back against the Huskies (3-2, 0-1 Mid-American Conference). Ultimately, it was all for naught, as Northern Illinois ran away with the game in the second half and won 34-20.
Hester, coming into Saturday as the team’s third-leading rusher, led the Minutemen with 71 rushing yards on 15 carries, both of which are season highs for the sophomore. His impact was noticeable immediately, as on his second carry of the day, with the UMass offense facing a long third down, Hester powered his way up the gut for a 12-yard carry that kept the drive going. Four plays later, Hester’s number was called again, breaking free for 13 yards on third and seven.
Hester was handed the ball in three third and long situations Saturday, converting all three. This doesn’t include a catch-and-run reception Hester caught in the backfield from Taisun Phommachanh, a pass he took 17 yards to near midfield, which was another third and long situation. All told, Hester finished with 97 all-purpose yards which led the Minutemen. Most of Hester’s receiving yards came in the second half, as the Huskies began stacking the box to stop more up-the-gut chunk plays, with only three of his 15 rushes coming in the final 30 minutes.
“[Hester] had [71] yards rushing, but you know the thing that I liked the most is his drive,” head coach Don Brown said. “I mean, he wasn’t going down easy. [He] competed, represented the way he should represent and [I’m] really happy with his performance.”
It wasn’t just Hester who saw the backfield for UMass on Saturday, with Cookie Desiderio recording his first carries of the season, rushing five times for 17 yards. Phommachanh was another who found success in the run game Saturday, whether off scrambles or designed runs. Taking out his yards lost from sacks, Phommachanh finished the game with 55 yards on the ground on 13 carries, albeit with a fumble as well.
The threat of Phommachanh taking off, and the ever-present danger of Hester indirectly led to success in the passing game. Directly following the aforementioned 13-yard chunk gain by Hester, Phommachanh faked a weak side toss to him, before firing a 21-yard strike to a streaking Sterling Galban as the defense swarmed the line of scrimmage.
With UMass playing from behind for most of the second half, it moved away from the run game as it needed big yards quickly, specifically in the fourth quarter. Of the 115 rushing yards the Minutemen had on Saturday, just 28 came in the latter half of the game.
“…Third quarter, it’s almost like the start of the game,” Brown said. “It’s like we had to start over again … I exhausted everything I had in the playbook … weren’t where we needed to be, that’s for sure.”
UMass’ next opponent comes from the Southeastern Conference, as Missouri rolls into McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 12. It’s unclear at the current moment where Missouri will be ranked in the AP poll after it suffered a loss to Texas A&M earlier on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. and can be viewed on ESPN2.
Johnny Depin can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @Jdepin101.
