Late Field Goal Puts Temple By UMass Football, 25-23

Sept. 19, 2015

FOXBORO, Mass. - Despite a late touchdown reception by Jamal Wilson and 393 yards through the air from Blake Frohnapfel, the University of Massachusetts football program dropped its home opener to Temple, 25-23 at Gillette Stadium Saturday afternoon.

"I am proud of the way the guys responded from last week, I didn't think that was the football team I had been coaching and the assistant coaches did a nice job of getting the guys ready," head coach Mark Whipple said. "They competed and found a way to get there at the end. We probably celebrated a bit too early and that can be happen. Credit Temple. They made the plays at the end of the game that you need to make and that's why we came up on the short end."

Senior wide receiver Tajae Sharpe reset the program's all-time career receptions record with the final of his 11 catches against the Owls. Sharpe now owns 188 career receptions, one more than the previous record-holder, Adrian Zullo.

"It's an honor and a privilege to go down in the UMass history books," Sharpe said. "I give all the credit to Coach (Mark) Whipple. He's a great offensive-minded coach. He puts me in positions to get the ball. I also give credit to my quarterback, my whole offense. Even my defense for putting the offense on the field so much and getting stops for us so I can have chances to make plays for this team. It's an honor and privilege, but all that really doesn't matter if we don't come out with the win so we have to find a way to come out on top."

Sharpe led both sides with 156 receiving yards while teammate Rodney Mills followed with a personal-best 104 more over five receptions, including a pair of touchdown grabs. Frohnapfel finished 29-of-55 with three TDs and one interception.

Jovan Santos-Knox led the defense with 11 tackles, including a seven-yard sack among 3.0 TFLs covering 11 yards lost. Shane Huber added his first collegiate 10-tackle game with exactly as many stops.

Trailing 20-17 with two minutes, 45 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the UMass offense compiled an eight-play, 59-yard drive that ended in Wilson's touchdown.

Frohnapfel and Mills connected on a pair of first down receptions covering 18 and 16 yards, respectively, which moved the ball to the Owls' 17 yard line. Three plays later, Wilson outmaneuvered the Temple defense en route to his first career receiving touchdown.

However, Temple responded with a blocked point-after-touchdown (PAT) and returned it for a two-point PAT conversion on the other end that turned the game into a one-point UMass lead, 23-22.

"That's just football," Whipple said. "You see it at all levels so I'm a lot more experienced with all those games in the NFL, you think crazy things can happen and you're dealing with kids and you always talk about finishing. Our guys believe on defense. I think we have a good team. I wouldn't have said that last week so we'll see how they respond to that."

The Owls received possession following their two-point conversion and marched down the field in 74 seconds to set up Austin Jones for a 32-yard field goal attempt. Jones sent his third field goal of the game down the middle for the 25-23 winning margin.

The scoring started off late in the first quarter when Temple got on the board with a 23 pass from Walker to Jennings. The Owls scored again less than two minutes into the second quarter, when Thomas scored on a 14-yard run into the middle of the end zone.

Frohnapfel and the Minutemen answered back, when the graduate student connected with tight end Mills for a 48-yard touchdown pass. Blake Lucas added a 34-yard field goal later in the quarter to make the score 14-10.

After a Temple field goal by Jones, Mills and Frohnapfel connected again on a five-yard touchdown pass to knot the game at 17-17. However, following the break, the Owls regained a lead midway through the third quarter, when Jones kicked his second field goal of the contest.

The Minutemen are in action next week when they take on Notre Dame in South Bend. After that, they return home to Amherst on October 3, when they play host to Florida International University. Ticket information is available through 866-UMASS-TIX or via UMassAthletics.com/tickets.

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