Massachusetts Football Drops Contest On The Road To Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. – University of Massachusetts football dropped a 45-20 decision to SEC foe Mississippi State on Saturday evening at Davis Wade Stadium (48,617).

The Minutemen got out to a 10-0 lead after one quarter of play, but the Bulldogs answered back and took the 21-10 halftime lead. Starting quarterback Taisun Phommachanh was six-for-13 for 49 yards passing in the first half before he was sidelined with an injury. He had added 35 yards rushing on six carries as well.

Quarterback AJ Hairston made his collegiate debut in the third quarter of the game, completing seven-of-11 passes for 62 yards, including a career-long 16-yard pass, with a touchdown, while Ahmad Haston completed four-of-five passes for 25 yards. Haston also ran for 22 yards on five attempts, including a career-long nine-yard run.

Brandon Campbell led on the ground with 10 rushes for 64 yards with a touchdown, marking his third of the season. CJ Hester followed close behind with 62 rushing yards on 13 carries. Jakobie Keeney-James caught four passes for 29 yards and a touchdown.

On the defensive side, Gerrell Johnson accumulated 10 tackles and a pass breakup, while Jalen Stewart and RJ Edwards tallied seven tackles apiece. Stewart added 1.5 sacks for a loss of eight yards, as Kofi Asare had an eight-yard sack of his own. Louce Julien and Tim Grant-Randall each had a tackle for loss.

How It Happened

The Minutemen held the Bulldogs to a three-and-out on their first drive and then marched down the field with a 13 play, 76-yard scoring drive capped off by a Brandon Campbell three-yard touchdown run. The drive also featured an 11-yard grab by Jakobie Keeney-James and a key third down rush by CJ Hester.

UMass stopped Mississippi State's next drive, forcing the Bulldogs to punt from their own 13-yard line. The Minutemen began an eight play, 37-yard drive that ended with a 24-yard field goal from Jacob Lurie to give UMass a 10-0 lead. The drive included a run from Taisun Phommachanh for 12 yards to pick up a first down.

Mississippi State made it 10-7 at 14:26 of the second on a seven play, 58-yard drive. On a second-and-goal from the UMass four-yard line, the Bulldogs' Michael Van Buren Jr., scrambled to the right for the touchdown.

Mississippi State got the game's first takeaway with an interception at their own two-yard line as Phommachanh tried to find Keeney-James down the sideline at 11:16 of the second quarter. Just two plays later Jalen Stewart picked one off, but the Minutemen were assessed a roughing the passer call to negate the turnover. The Bulldogs then scored to make it 14-10 at 9:05 of the second.

The Bulldogs pulled ahead 21-10 as Van Buren Jr., rushed for two yards at the 1:56 mark of the second to cap an 11 play, 80-yard scoring drive.

Mississippi State extended its lead to 28-10 in the third quarter with a 36-yard run up the middle by Johnnie Daniels. The Bulldogs then made it a 35-10 contest after Davon Booth ran 30 yards to the endzone at the 3:25 mark.

A 12 play, 58-yard drive starting in the final minutes of the third for the Minutemen saw Lurie make a 35-yard field goal at 12:05 in the fourth to make it a 35-13 game.

On the next drive for the Bulldogs, they tacked on another three with a 24-yard field goal attempt from Kyle Ferrie with 10:17 on the clock. UMass was forced to punt to Mississippi State on a fourth-and-six, with the Bulldogs scoring on a two play, 78-yard drive. The drive included a 72-yard rushing touchdown from Xavier Gayten to add to the Bulldogs lead of 45-13.

Massachusetts was held on its own 43-yard line and forced to punt on a fourth-and-four, but an illegal formation penalty on Mississippi State moved the Minutemen up five yards for the first down. CJ Hester ran up the middle for 17 yards to convert the third down. AJ Hairston passed for 16 yards to Hester, as Hester was stopped a yard short of the goal line. Hairston then connected with Keeney-James for a four-yard touchdown pass, to end a 13 play, 75-yard scoring drive for Massachusetts with 17 seconds remaining in the game to make it a 45-20 contest.

Notes

For the ninth consecutive game, Josh Atwood, Taisun Phommachanh, Te'Rai Powell and Tyler Rudolph served as the Massachusetts captains.
Brandon Campbell rushed for his third touchdown of the season and the seventh of his career.
AJ Hairston completed his first career touchdown pass for four yards to Jakobie Keeney-James.

Next Up
Massachusetts has an open week before playing host to Liberty in a noon game at McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Saturday, November 16 (tickets).

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