The Massachusetts football team traveled to Columbia, Mo. on Saturday night for a meeting with the Southeastern Conference’s Missouri Tigers that ended in a wide-margined final score of 42-6 for the home team.
A promising start for the Minutemen (0-4) saw Max Dowling haul in his first touchdown with UMass. The two-yard pass was delivered by quarterback AJ Hairston, the third signal caller that’s started a game for head coach Joe Harasymiak this season. The score, at that point in the first quarter, was 7-6 Missouri (5-0, 1-0 SEC) following a blocked extra point.
Harasymiak alluded to the score and similar plays, such as a Timmy Hinspeter interception that set up the touchdown drive, that led to the Minutemen facing a manageable 21-6 halftime deficit.
“I thought in the first half, we did a lot of things to keep ourselves in the game … we talked about it all week, getting it to a point [where] I thought we were there,” Harasymiak said. “[Missouri] probably didn’t expect to be in that kind of game at halftime, but credit to them. They came out in the second half and they dominated.”
The Tigers regained control of the game to the tune of a 35-0 run following the lone UMass score. Ahmad Hardy, a sophomore running back for Missouri, was the catalyst in his team’s victory. He rumbled over the Minutemen defense, taking 24 carries for 130 yards and accounting for three Tiger scores.
Hairston threw some accurate passes throughout the night, including a couple timely completions under pressure, but the freshman ultimately finished with an 11-of-31 stat line, throwing for 75 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula completed 26 of his 29 pass attempts, throwing a touchdown and an interception as well.
Hinspeter was undoubtedly the standout on defense for Massachusetts on Saturday, turning in a monster performance. The Rutgers transfer finished with 17 tackles (five of which were solo), two tackles for loss, one sack and one interception under the lights in Columbia.
“Hinspeter … I don’t think I have ever had a linebacker have that statline,” Harasymiak said. “That interception was huge, it kept us in the game for a little bit, but that statline is crazy.”
Elsewhere on defense, despite allowing chunk plays on the ground throughout the game, the Minutemen front seven got after Pribula. The team entered Columbia with four sacks through its first three games combined and left with four more. Hinspeter, Marques White and a handful of other UMass defenders had their moments in stifling the Tigers’ offense.
Missouri’s Kevin Coleman Jr. led all receivers with 12 receptions for 108 yards. Brett Norfleet hauled in six receptions for 52 yards and another Tiger score.
Jacquon Gibson led the Minutemen with six receptions for 30 yards. The tight end pair of Dowling and Reece Adkins for UMass had some strong moments early, as Adkins hauled in a 15-yard grab to complement Dowling’s score.
Marquise Davis, a freshman running back for Missouri, rumbled for a total of 77 yards on only nine carries to complement Hardy’s big night. Jamal Roberts and Tavorus Jones also scored rushing touchdowns to contribute to what was 52 total rushing attempts from the Tigers.
Rocko Griffin and Brandon Hood were the tandem for the Minutemen that received carries out of the backfield. The two combined for 29 yards on 11 carries.
Now coming off the heels of back-to-back power conference opponents, UMass will settle into the Mid-American Conference for its first in-conference football matchup. Harasymiak is looking to shake off his team’s woes from non-conference play and start with a clean slate.
“We got to get over this hump of playing good [just] for a little bit,” Harasymiak said.
On Oct. 4, Massachusetts will host the Western Michigan Broncos at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Matt Kotfila can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @mattkotfila.
