University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
New Haven
Football Rides Lucero's Arm To Victory
September 23, 2000 | Football
Sept. 23, 2000
AMHERST, Mass. (AP) - Richard Lucero passed for a school record-tying five touchdowns to give the University of Massachusetts football team a 39-29 win over New Haven in a non-conference game Saturday.
New Haven trailed by only five points (19-14) at halftime and led Division I-AA Atlantic 10 Conference co-champion UMass 22-19 early in the third quarter.
Lucero passed for three touchdowns in the third period. The first an 18-yard pass to Jeff Howard, the second for 15 yards to Eric Bross and finally a 13-yard pass to Jimmie Howard, giving the Minutemen a 39-22 lead.
The UMass upped its record to 2-1. New Haven fell to 2-2.
Lucero, a junior college transfer playing his first year at UMass, completed 18 of 30 passes for 263 yards, but was intercepted three times and two of them led to New Haven touchdowns in the first half.
Steve Cedar used an 8-yard pickoff for the Chargers' first score and Jeff Peters ran 25 yards with the second steal which gave New Haven an early 14-9 lead.
The Chargers got their final touchdown late in the fourth quarter on a 5-yard pass from Jason Barnett to Matt Marcks.
