The Massachusetts football team exited McGuirk Alumni Stadium for the 2024 season with a 47-42 loss to the University of Connecticut.

CJ Hester’s fourth-quarter touchdown boosted morale for the Minutemen (2-10) after putting up no points in the third quarter and allowing UConn (8-4) to put up two touchdowns that shifted the score in the Huskies’ favor.

Taking the ball from quarterback Ahmad Haston, the sophomore swerved over to the right to find a clear path to the end zone. Jumping over a UConn defender, Hester pushed his way through and celebrated his eight-yard rushing touchdown. Alongside his touchdown, Hester put up 55 net rushing yards on Saturday.

However, the Minutemen couldn’t keep UConn from running away with the lead even after fourth-string quarterback Will Perry came out onto the field in the final minutes and threw the first touchdown pass of his collegiate career to T.Y. Harding. The Huskies used its run game to kill time, put seven more points on the board and kept the ball out of UMass’ hands after an onside kick with 36 seconds left to secure the win.

“I love the fight,” interim head coach Shane Montgomery said. “… It looked like we were down and out a couple times and then we drive down and score, [then] have a chance at an onside kick … I was really proud of the way that they battled all game. Then you’re fighting, scratching, trying to get that ball with 36 seconds left.”

Huskies quarterback Joe Fagnano completed his afternoon with three touchdown passes and 181 passing yards. Out the gate, Fagnano connected with tight end Louis Hansen who made his way 55 yards up the middle and into the end zone 10 seconds into UConn’s first play of the game.

In the third quarter, Fagnano passed to wide receiver Jasaiah Gathings for a 26-yard touchdown completion. Gathings hauled in the ball and collapsed backwards into the end zone, putting up the first score of the second half with 12 seconds left in the quarter and giving the Huskies the lead for the remainder of the afternoon.

The Minutemen’s first-half performance with 28 points was the most points they scored in any half this season.

Running back Jalen John put UMass over the edge to keep them on top 28-27 at the end of the first half with a 15-yard touchdown run with 1:19 left on the clock.

Receiving a handoff from quarterback AJ Hairston, John picked up 11 yards, nearing midfield and building his confidence for the rest of the drive. After UConn took two face mask penalties in three plays, the Minutemen took advantage of their good field position on the Huskies’ 15-yard line. Hairston handed the ball over to John, who cut diagonally towards the right and created space between him and UConn defenders trailing behind.

Out of the 75-yard touchdown drive, John gained 35 and ended his afternoon with 78 net rushing yards.

“We were a little bit more erratic running the football than we had been the last three weeks,” Montgomery said. “We ran the ball as well as we had at any time during the season and that’s what gave us a chance [on Saturday] to move the ball, especially in the first half.”

After going three-and-out on its opening drive, UMass answered UConn’s first-drive touchdown with one of its own from Jacquon Gibson.

Hairston swapped back into position after the offense took an illegal shift penalty. Finding Gibson on a short pass, the wide receiver advanced to pick up a total of 31 yards and placed the Minutemen at the Huskies’ 17-yard line.

Gibson redeemed UMass again after Jakobie Keeney-James and John couldn’t weave through UConn. As the Huskies came up on Hairston’s heels, the true freshman made a desperate throw to Gibson before tumbling to the ground. Completing the pass, Gibson turned and ran the ball into the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown, just cutting the corner to put UMass on the board and tie the game.

Adding to the first-half success, graduate wide receiver Keeney-James and graduate tight end Dominick Mazotti tallied touchdowns of their own on a 29-yard and one-yard completion, respectively. The tight end’s touchdown started with an interception on UConn’s first play of its drive by redshirt senior and defensive back Arsheen Jiles. This was Keeney-James’ sixth touchdown of the season and Mazotti’s first.

Despite stopping the Huskies from capitalizing on their two attempts for a two-point conversion after the Minutemen took an illegal substitution penalty and Louce Julien and Aaron Beckwith halted Fagnano from crossing the goal line, special teams continued its season’s struggle on Saturday.

Following Keeney-James’ touchdown in the first quarter that put UMass ahead 14-7, Mel Brown collected CJ Kolodziey’s 61-yard kickoff at the four-yard line. Making his way down the field, Brown shifted towards the left sideline and took his 15-second-long return all the way into the end zone for a 96-yard touchdown. After Chris Freeman secured the extra point, the Huskies headed into the second quarter with an even score and the ball back in their hands.

The final scoring drive of the first half ended with a 53-yard field goal after Brown returned Kolodziey’s 53-yard kickoff for 36 yards and placed UConn at its own 48-yard line. With 27 seconds left in the half being faced with a third-and-four situation at UMass’ 35-yard line, Freeman was faced with a career-long attempt and kept the game within one heading into halftime.

“Really you just want [special teams to be] sound and you don’t want to give up big plays,” Montgomery said.

The Minutemen head into an off-season of unknowns as they prepare for a new head coach hiring and a transition into the Mid-American Conference for the 2025 season.

“That’s the way football is,” Montgomery said. “You make some plays, you get the momentum and then the momentum shifts and you’re trying to get it back.”

Sydney Ciano can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @SydneyCiano.