University of Massachusets Athletics
LIVE FOOTBALL BLOG: #4 UMass at Holy Cross
September 06, 2008 | Football
Sept. 6, 2008
Watch Live | PDF NotesGameday is here and Tropical Storn Hanna looks to be holding off as fourth-ranked UMass football team hits the road. It the first of three consecutive road games as the Minutemen are in Worcester this afternoon to battle Holy Cross. For all the fans thinking about coming out to see this old rivalry head out to Fitton Field.
11:00 a.m. Good morning from Worcester. Jason Yellin and Dave Gunn from UMass Media Relations here reporting from the press box. Heavy cloudy skies hang over Fitton Field, but some sun has been popping out believe it or not. The air is thick and humid as last week's game against Albany. Its 90 percent humidity and about 73 degrees. UMass is set to arrive at the field very soon in preparation for the first game between the teams in Worcester since 1996.
12:00 p.m. Well first it was cloudy, then it rained, then the sun came out, then it rained and now its just cloudy ... All that in the last hour. Head coach Don Brown, dressed in a suit, surveyed the field with defensive coordinator Keith Dudzinski around 11:30 a.m. There are plenty of divits and holes in the field. This the first game at Fitton Field this season, but the conditions remain from last season's wet games. The first Minutemen out to warm up was receiver Aaron Fears. He was followed by Joe Sanford and Tony Nelson. Anthony Rouzier is high-stepped at midfield right now.
12:35 p.m.
The Minutemen are out on the field warming up as the UMass band files into the stands directly across the field from our vantage point in the press box. The UMass bench is also across the field from us here on sidelines that don't give the teams much room. I would estimate that its about seven yards from the sideline to the first row of the stands on both sides of the field. The stadium is a horseshoe-shape with the open end to our left looking out onto the baseball field.
The sun is currently shining here on this warm and very muggy day.
Today is UMass' first time on natural grass since the first practice of the year, on Aug. 6, at the Gladchuck Practice Facility. The Minutemen are 2-1 on grass over the last two seasons since the FieldTurf surface was installed at McGuirk. Last year, they won at William & Mary and lost at Rhode Island. In 2006, UMass won at New Hampshire.
12:45 p.m.
In case you missed UMass Football Weekly on CBS3 this week, it is now playing in the video player on the frontpage on UMassAthletics.com. The show reviewed the Albany game, previews today's game, and had a feature story on senior center Sean Calicchio.
1:05 p.m.
UMass won the coin toss and deferred until the second half. Holy Cross will receive. The UMass band is making the atmosphere here seem almost like a home game for the Minutemen.
Anthony Monette (Spencer, Mass.) and Eric Dickson (Southbridge, Mass.) are both enjoying a homecoming of sorts. Monette is actually from the same hometown as Don Brown.
1:09 p.m.
Sean Smalls just intercepted a pass down the right sideline, the first pass thrown towards him this season, but was called for pass interference on the play.
First down Holy Cross at the UMass 31.
1:15 p.m.
The UMass defense made a nice stand, stopping Holy Cross on fourth and 12. Opponents are now 1-for-3 on fourth down against UMass.
On the offensive line that has been ravaged by injuries, three players will be starting at new positions. Josh Samuda gets the start at left guard, Ben Coblyn moved from right tackle to right guard, and Brian Ostaszewski drew his first collegiate start at right tackle.
Long passes to Jeremy Horne and Julian Talley have moved the Minutemen down the field. On third and six at the 19, the snap between Liam Coen and Sean Calicchio was fumbled and Holy Cross has recovered.
1:27 p.m.
An interesting note: It might be easy to get confused when Holy Cross has the football. Besides UMass linebacker No. 2 Josh Jennings being out there, Holy Cross has wide receiver No. 2 Josh Jenkins starting as well. Im waiting for Jennings to tackle Jenkins and hear the PA announcer call it without messing up.
1:35 p.m.
Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph just found Jon Brock wide open for a 15-yard touchdown pass and the Crusaders take a 7-0 lead with 54 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Holy Cross offense is using a no-huddle attack, but it's not the usual hurry-up no-huddle you would usually see. After each play the receivers and backs line up in their positions, while Randolph runs almost all the way to the sideline to receive the play from the coaches. He then runs back to the line, where the lineman turn around, receive instructions from him, then he lines up and starts calling signals. The Crusaders like to spread it out. They are often in four-receiver sets and use the shotgun formation.
1:37 p.m.
Coen just found Horne on a 48-yard pass that gets UMass deep inside Holy Cross territory at the 28-yard line.
After a six-yard run from Tony Nelson on first down, the first quarter will end with UMass trailing, 7-0.
1:45 p.m.
On third and seven at the 15-yard line, Coen threw to Talley on the slant, but he was interfered with and UMass got a first down at the two-yard line. After a Nelson run was stuffed, Coen ran a naked bootleg to the left and dove for the pylon to score and tie the game, 7-7, with 13 minutes to go in the half.
It was just the second rushing touchdown of Coen's career, with his first coming against Delaware (11/5/05) his freshman season.
1:55 p.m.
On third and ten, Corey Davis was called for pass interference in the end zone, and Terrance Gass ran in the run that followed to put the Crusaders back up, 14-7, with 9:44 left in the half.
2:04 p.m.
Coen just found Horne open for a 26-yard touchdown. Armando Cuko's PAT is good and UMass ties it, 14-14, with 7:46 left in the half.
That is the 70th TD pass of Coen's career, widening his lead in the UMass record books and his lead among active FCS quarterbacks.
Well it didn't take long for Holy Cross to strike back. Brett McDermott just took the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown. It looked like the Minutemen had him coralled at about his own 30, but he cut back, got a couple huge blocks and was off to the races. 21-14 Holy Cross, 7:31 left in the half.
2:17 p.m.
Following a UMass punt, Holy Cross marched down the field to score another touchdown. Using a series of underneath crossing routes and screen passes, Randolph looks to be in complete control as the Minutemen fall behind, 28-14, with 1:49 left in the half.
1:21 p.m.
After using pooch kicks all half, Holy Cross finally kicked one deep to Courtney Robinson and he took advantage of it, running it back to the Crusaders' 32-yard line.
On first and 10 and the 19, Coen threw a fade route to Horne for a touchdown to get the Minuntemen back within a score.
Horne now has six career touchdown passes, three of which have come in the first two games of this season. This is the first multi-TD game of his career.
2:30 p.m.
The first half ends with Holy Cross leading UMass, 28-21.
The 49 points are the most in the first half of a UMass game since the Minutemen led Fordham, 28-14, in the first round NCAA game that the Minutemen went on to win on Nov. 24 last season.
Its the most points allowed in the first half by UMass in Don Brown era. New Hampshire took a 31-7 lead into halftime against UMass on 11/9/02.
2:55 p.m.
The Minutemen march down the field and Tony Nelson takes it in from four yards out and with Cuko's point after, UMass ties it, 28-28, with 11:45 left in the third quarter.
That is the sixth rushing touchdown of Nelson's career.
3:00 p.m.
Things went well at Rudd Field today as the men's soccer team has defeated Siena, 1-0. Chris Brown broke a scoreless tie with a goal that came with just 1:04 left in the game. UMass soccer is now 2-1 on the season.
3:07 p.m.
In other action: New Hampshire leads Army, 21-10, and Maine leads Monmouth, 14-10. UNH is in line for the second FCS victory over an FBS school this season after Cal Poly, John McCutcheon's old school, downed San Diego State last week.
3:13 p.m.
Coen just threw his third TD pass of the game, this time Joe Sanford tip-toed down the right sideline for his first TD since Villanova last season.
Coen is now at 307 yards passing for the game, his ninth career 300-yard game and ninth career three-touchdown pass game.
UMass leads for the first time in the game, 35-28, as we near the six minute mark of the third quarter.
3:21 p.m.
Holy Cross isn't giving in, as Gass just ran right up the middle for a 21-yard touchdown run to tie the game, 35-35, with 2:56 left in the third. It is the fourth tie of the game.
On the kickoff, Holy Cross tried to on-side it, but the pooch kick went out of bounds at the 5, giving the Minutemen the ball at midfield.
3:32 p.m.
As the fourth quarter begins, Coen is 17-for-24 for 307 yards, while Randolph is 21-for-33 for 198 yards. Horne has eight catches for a career-high 150 yards, while Gass leads the Crusaders with six catches for 40 yards. In the rushing department, Nelson has 49 yards on 16 carries, while Gass has 31 yards on six carries.
UMass leads in total yardage, 347-285.
3:48 p.m.
Just when the Minutemen needed their leader to come through, Coen engineered a scoring drive, highlighted by a Nelson run and a Talley catch, capped off by a Nelson dive into the endzone put UMass back on top, 42-35, with 7:14 left.
4:00 p.m.
After a pass interference call on a failed third down kept the drive alive, Randolph found Freddie Santana in the endzone for his second TD of the day to tie the score, 42-42, with 2:22 left in the game.
Its the most points allowed by UMass since losing 51-45 at Delaware on 11/15/03 in a triple-overtime game.
4:09 p.m.
UMass converts its second fourth-down of the drive with a 16-yard pass to Jeremy Horne to give kicker Armando Cuko a chance for a game-winning 42-yard field goal.
4:15 p.m.
Cuko's kick is up, and it's good! UMass wins! Cuko converts a career-high 42-yard field goal and his first game-winning kick since 2005 when his 41-yarder defeated James Madison on Oct. 15, 2005.
4:18 p.m.
The kick was the final play of the game with the scoreboard reading 45-42 in favor of the Minutemen. With the win, the Minutemen improve to 22-21-5 all-time vs. Holy Cross. Thank you for reading; from Fitton Field, have a great rest of the weekend. Stay dry!
