Minutemen Dropped by Ball State on the Road, 20-10

Oct. 31, 2015

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MUNCIE, Ind. - The University of Massachusetts football program suffered a close loss on the road at Ball State, 20-10, at Scheumann Stadium in Muncie, Indiana, on Saturday afternoon. Elgin Long notched the lone UMass touchdown on a seven-yard reception in the third quarter while Charan Singh led the defensive effort with 10 tackles, including an eight-yard sack that resulted in a forced fumble Singh also recovered, and one pass breakup.

UMass drops to 1-7 overall with the loss and 0-4 in MAC games while Ball State improves to 3-6 on the season and 2-3 in conference action.

Singh's forced fumbles was one of two turnovers created by the defense as Randall Jette also provided his ninth career interception to go with nine stops, including an assisted TFL. Joe Colton and Jovan Santos-Knox joined Singh in recording the top team mark for tackles as Colton and Santos-Knox each provided 10 stops as well.

On the offensive side of the ball, Tajae Sharpe spearheaded 10 UMass receivers with at least one catch as Sharpe finished the day with 11 receptions for 80 yards. His performance against Ball State moved him into second on the team's single-season all-time listing for receptions in a year as he ended the day with 88, second only to Jimmy Moore's 92 grabs in 1998.

In addition to Sharpe, Mills notched 45 yards on four catches while Long totaled 33 yards on the same number of receptions. Quarterback Blake Frohnapfel went 32-of-44 for 259 yards with one touchdown and an interception.

The run game produced 5.2 yards per carry against the Ball State defense with 189 yards on 36 attempts. Jamal Wilson finished in the lead with 66 yards on 15 carries while Marquis Young earned 65 yards over 11 attempts (5.9 per carry).

Defensive efforts from both sides made points a premium in the contest as Ball State earned the only scoring drive of the first quarter through Morgan Hagee's 34-yard field goal with seven minutes, 47 seconds to go in the opening frame.

The Cardinals padded their advantage with time running down in the second when James Gilbert forced his way into the endzone on a two-yard run with 75 seconds to go before the break. Gilbert went on to finish with 73 yards on 25 carries while Darian Green added 71 more via 16 attempts.

The Minutemen only needed those 75 seconds remaining in the quarter to produce their first points of the afternoon. Logan Laurent capped a 10-play, 51 yard drive with a 29-yard field goal that made it 10-3 Cardinals at the half. Sharif Custis' lone reception of the game buoyed the sequence as he hauled in a 20-yard grab and set the Minutemen up at the Ball State 15 yard line.

Ball State increased its lead to 17-3 during the third quarter's opening series as Riley Neal found Jordan Williams from 1- yards away for the touchdown. Neal was 20-for-32 overall on the game with 275 yards and the TD pass to Williams. Williams provided 60 yards over six receptions, second to KeVonn Mabon's 150 over as many catches.

UMass answered on its next drive when Frohnapfel found Long shaded toward the front-right pylon three yards out and Long fought his way across the goal line for the score. Operating from midfield after a seven-yard Shadrach Abrokwah run, Frohnapfel hit Sharpe (five yards), Long (11) and Shakur Nesmith (27) with successive passes to set up Long's touchdown.

The offense was unable to earn its way into the endzone over the remainder of the game while Hagee added a 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to create the final score.

The Minutemen return to Gillette Stadium for their next competition, a Saturday, Nov. 7 game against Akron at Noon. Ticket information is available here.

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