Massachusetts Football Fights Until End But Falls At Arkansas State 35-33

JONESBORO, Ark. – University of Massachusetts football came back within two with 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter but fell 35-33 to Arkansas State at Centennial Bank Stadium (14,354).

The Minutemen achieved season highs in both points (33) and passing yards (301) in the tightly contested road contest.

Cameron Sullivan-Brown and George Johnson III led the team with 72 receiving yards, including a career long 53-yard catch for Johnson III to go along with his first collegiate touchdown.

Ellis Merriweather registered a season-best 122 yards on the ground, marking the 10th game of his career with 100-plus yards rushing. At quarterback, Brady Olson completed 14-of-28 passes for 178 yards, while Garrett Dzuro came in after Olson went down and Dzuro finished 10-of-14 for 129 yards. Both Olson and Dzuro threw one touchdown.

On defense, Jalen Stewart had a team-high seven tackles (three solo). Stewart added one sack and .5 tackles for loss. Jalen Mackie followed with six tackles of his own and a tackle for loss. Tyler Rudolph registered his second interception of the season.

How It Happened

The Red Wolves scored on their first possession of the game to make it 7-0 with 11:32 left in the first quarter on a 17-yard touchdown reception by Seydou Traore.

On the next drive, Jacquon Gibson made a 29-yard over the shoulder grab to move the chains and the Minutemen were then able to get on the board with a 37-yard Cameron Carson field goal to make it a 7-3 game with 8:41 left in the first.

Nahji Logan posted his second sack of the season to help force an Arkansas State three-and-out but the Red Wolves had a pick six on the ensuing drive and held a 14-3 lead after the first quarter.

Massachusetts drove down to the Red Wolves' two-yard line but Olson's third-and-goal pass attempt was picked off.

The Minutemen then put together a nine-play drive near the end of the second quarter that ended with a 36-yard Carson field goal to make it a 14-6 game at the half.

All told, Massachusetts held the Red Wolves to just 68 yards of offense in the first half.

In the second half, Arkansas State took the opening drive and scored a touchdown after a targeting call against the Minutemen, pushing the lead to 21-6 with 13:10 left in the third.

On the first Massachusetts drive of the second half, a 43-yard catch by Cameron Sullivan-Brown on a third-and-five near midfield helped set up a one-yard touchdown run by Ellis Merriweather. The senior's second touchdown of the season made it a 21-13 game.

Tyler Rudolph then intercepted a James Blackman pass at the Massachusetts' 38 for his second interception of the season.

The Minutemen turned that turnover into six points as George Johnson III made a contested 19-yard touchdown grab in the corner of the end zone, cutting the Arkansas State lead to 21-19 with 5:28 to play in the third quarter.

But after an extended injury timeout on the ensuing kickoff play, Marcel Murray broke off a 75-yard rushing touchdown for the Red Wolves, establishing a 28-19 lead.

After a 53-yard grab by Johnson III from Garrett Dzuro, Merriweather punched in a four-yard touchdown and added the two-point conversion on a shovel pass as UMass cut it to a 35-27 game with 11:07 left in the fourth.

Isaac Ross caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Dzuro to close the gap and bring the Minutemen within two, but UMass could not convert the two-point conversion to force overtime.

Notes

Jacquon Gibson had a career-long 29-yard catch in the first quarter.
Tyler Rudolph snagged his second interception of the season and of his career.
George Johnson III caught his first career touchdown pass in the third quarter.
Johnson then caught a career-long 53-yard pass from Dzuro early in the fourth quarter.
Ellis Merriweather tied his career-high with two touchdown runs.
Merriweather recorded a season-high 122 rushing yards, marking the 10th contest of his career achieving 100-plus yards.

Next Up

Next weekend, the Minutemen are back on the road, playing a noon ET game against Texas A&M University at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.

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