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University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
1-5 , 0-0
Liberty
5-1 , 0-0
Massachusetts Football Falls To Liberty, 42-24
October 08, 2022 | Football
Greg Desrosiers Jr. had 110 rushing yards and two touchdowns for the Minutemen
AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts football team dropped 42-24 against Liberty University on Saturday afternoon at McGuirk Alumni Stadium (11,217).
The Minutemen scored first for the second consecutive game but Liberty extended their lead from 14-10 to 21-10 to end the second half and begin to pull away.
Garrett Dzuro passed for 83 yards, before Gino Campiotti came into the game late into the second quarter. Greg Desrosiers Jr. led the Massachusetts offense with 110 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
On defense, Jalen Mackie matched his career high with one sack. Javon Batten recorded his first career forced fumble, while Nahiji Logan recorded the first full solo tackle for loss of his career and his first sack. Jalon Ferrell added a career high nine tackles, with six solo and three assisted.
How It Happened
Despite a 25-yard rushing first down by Dzuro, the Liberty defense forced the Minutemen to punt on the game's opening drive. But a Nahji Logan sack helped set up a Liberty three-and-out on the following possession.
With 7:09 left in first, Liberty had a fourth-and-four at the 36 that Zukudo Ezewike stuffed at the 35 to force the turnover on downs. Two plays later, a 53-yard rushing touchdown by Greg Desrosiers, Jr. and a Cameron Carson PAT gave UMass a 7-0 lead with 6:13 left in the first quarter. It was Desrosiers, Jr.'s first career touchdown.
The Flames had a third-and-goal from the one-yard line to start the second quarter that UMass turned aside, and then Jordan Mahoney stopped the fourth and goal rush by Liberty.
But with 10:56 left in the second quarter, Dae Dae Hunter punched in a one-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7 following a successful PAT. Another one-yard touchdown, this time by Shedro Louis, put the Flames on top for the first time with 7:02 left in the second quarter, 14-7.
The first half came to an end with the Flames in front 21-10 with Carson adding a 28-yard field goal for the Minutemen but also included Liberty adding a four-yard touchdown pass with just 42 seconds left.
Trailing 35-10 to start the fourth, Jordan Mahoney picked up a Hunter fumble and scored his second touchdown of the season with a 22-yard fumble return. The forced fumble was caused by Javon Batten as the Minutemen narrowed the gap to 35-17.
Liberty answered with an eight play, 73-yard scoring drive. Desrosiers Jr. got UMass back on the board with 4:22 remaining for the game's final score.
Notes
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Redshirt sophomore quarterback Garett Dzuro made his first start of the season.
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Greg Desrosiers Jr. recorded his first career touchdowns
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Desrosiers Jr. finished with a career-high 110 yards rushing, marking the second game in a row the Minutemen had a 100-yard rusher
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Nahji Logan posted his first career sack
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Jordan Mahoney collected his second fumble recovery of the season and scored his second touchdown of the season.
Coach Brown Quotes
Thoughts on the game...
"It was good to play at home and we got off to a decent start playing a team … on the brink of being in the top 25. Dzuro did a good job when he was in there. He was rewarded for his last two weeks of practice. This isn't something we kind of threw a hand grenade in there and said, "here we go. Let's try another guy." This is a guy that deserved an opportunity and played pretty darn well under the circumstances and did some good things. We're not doing enough on the offensive side of the ball but there were some glimpses there but now we have to have more consistency as a unit. That permeates our football team. We have to be much more consistent: offensively, defensively, and in the kicking game. We're a very young team, we'd like to do better but we're working at it."
Next Up
Next weekend the Minutemen play host to Buffalo at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 15 as part of Family Weekend. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and tickets can be purchased here.
Team Stats
LIB 0, UMA 7
UMA - Desrosiers,Gregory 53 yd run (Carson,Cameron kick), 2 plays, 65 yards, TOP 00:45
LIB 7, UMA 7
LIB - Hunter,Dae Dae 1 yd run (Brown,Nick kick), 4 plays, 28 yards, TOP 01:32
LIB 14, UMA 7
LIB - Louis,Shedro 1 yd run (Brown,Nick kick), 5 plays, 55 yards, TOP 00:55
LIB 14, UMA 10
UMA - Carson,Cameron 28 yd field goal 10 plays, 66 yards, TOP 05:09
LIB 21, UMA 10
LIB - Bollinger,Michael 4 yd pass from Bennett,Johnathan (Brown,Nick kick) 4 plays, 61 yards, TOP 01:04
LIB 28, UMA 10
LIB - Louis,Shedro 6 yd run (Brown,Nick kick), 5 plays, 66 yards, TOP 01:39
LIB 35, UMA 10
LIB - Louis,Shedro 2 yd run (Brown,Nick kick), 7 plays, 33 yards, TOP 02:22
LIB 35, UMA 17
UMA - Mahoney,Jordan 22 yd fumble recovery (Carson,Cameron kick)
LIB 42, UMA 17
LIB - Douglas,Demario 39 yd pass from Bennett,Johnathan (Brown,Nick kick) 8 plays, 73 yards, TOP 02:13
LIB 42, UMA 24
UMA - Desrosiers,Gregory 5 yd run (Carson,Cameron kick), 6 plays, 85 yards, TOP 03:04
