University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
3-8 , 3-4
Akron
5-6 , 3-4
Strong First Half Gives Akron 30-6 Win Over Football
November 18, 2014 | Football
AKRON, Ohio - Kyle Pohl threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns leading Akron to a 30-6 win over the UMass football team on Tuesday night at InfoCision Stadium. The Zips jumped out to a 20-0 lead at halftime en route to the win which snapped a four-game losing streak.
Austin Whipple drew his first collegiate start for the Minutemen in place of an injured Blake Frohnapfel. He finished the day going 12-for-20 for 157 yards. He had one touchdown and three interceptions.
The game was played in frigid temperatures reaching sub-zero degrees with the wind chill.
Along with Pohl's passing performance, Akron (5-6, 3-4 MAC) was also led on the ground by Jawon Chisholm who had 78 yards rushing. Pohl's top receiver was Zach D'Orazzio who had 121 yards on 10 catches.
UMass (3-8, 3-4 MAC) was led in rushing by Shadrach Abrokwah's 50 yards. Tajae Sharpe had five receptions for 41 yards. Jean Sifrin recorded the Minutemen's lone touchdown giving him a team-best six for the season.
Defensively, Jovan Santos Knox had a career-best 19 tackles and forced two fumbles.
The Zips jumped on the board first with a field goal with 6:15 to go in the first quarter. They followed that nearly four minutes later with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Pohl to L.T. Smith.
The second quarter saw another field goal and touchdown combo for Akron as Stein converted a 24-yard field goal at the 8:25 mark. The Zips closed the half with a 12-yard touchdown reception for Conor Hundley with 25 seconds to go before intermission.
The Minutemen were able to convert a fumble recovery to start the second half into a touchdown. After getting the ball back, Whipple hit Rodney Mills for a 72-yard catch-and-run which took the Minutemen down to the Akron one-yard line. Whipple was able to find Sifrin on a play action pass for the touchdown with 12:06 left in the third, but the Minutemen missed the point-after try.
Akron responded with a 33-yard drive that was culminated by a 12-yard touchdown run for Hundley making the score 27-6 with 2:54 left in the quarter.
The Zips opened the fourth quarter with another field goal as Stein banged through a 31-yard attempt with 11:20 to go.
It looked as if UMass was going to respond with another drive for points following the field goal as the Minutemen moved the ball to the Akron eight yard line. Four straight runs by Lorenzo Woodley for 27 yards followed by a nine yard toss to Sharpe gave UMass a second-and-one at the eight yard line. Back-to-back tackles for loss by the Zips forced a fourth-down conversion attempt which was stopped by Akron.
The Zips chewed up nearly four minutes on their next possession before punting the ball back to UMass. The Minutemen were unable to do anything on its final possession allowing Akron to run out the final 48 seconds of play.
UMass was held to just 235 yards of offense and had four turnovers in the game. The Zips had 411 yards of total offense with nearly a 10 minute advantage in time of possession.
Team Stats
UMASS 0, AKRON 3
AKRON - STEIN, Robert 26 yd field goal 10 plays, 43 yards, TOP 4:11
UMASS 0, AKRON 10
AKRON - SMITH, L.T. 7 yd pass from POHL, Kyle (STEIN, Robert kick) 5 plays, 49 yards, TOP 1:34
UMASS 0, AKRON 13
AKRON - STEIN, Robert 24 yd field goal 11 plays, 72 yards, TOP 4:06
UMASS 0, AKRON 20
AKRON - HUNDLEY, Conor 12 yd pass from POHL, Kyle (STEIN, Robert kick) 3 plays, 29 yards, TOP 0:18
UMASS 6, AKRON 20
UMASS - Sifrin, J. 1 yd pass from Whipple, A. (Laurent, L. kickfailed) 2 plays, 73 yards, TOP 0:37
UMASS 6, AKRON 27
AKRON - HUNDLEY, Conor 12 yd run (STEIN, Robert kick), 10 plays, 33 yards, TOP 5:25
UMASS 6, AKRON 30
AKRON - STEIN, Robert 31 yd field goal 10 plays, 43 yards, TOP 3:40
