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University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
2-10 , 0-0
UConn
8-4 , 0-0
Football Comeback Falls Just Short Against UConn, 47-42
November 30, 2024 | Football
AJ Hairston threw for three touchdowns
AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts football team fell 47-42 in a back-and-forth contest with UConn on Saturday afternoon at McGuirk Alumni Stadium (10,365).
After a T.Y. Harding touchdown with 36 seconds left cut UConn's lead to five points, the UMass comeback bid fell just short when they could not recover the ensuing onside kick.
Massachusetts quarterback AJ Hairston completed 13-of-21 passes for 134 yards on the day, with three passing touchdowns, marking his first career multi-touchdown game. Battling an injury, Ahmad Haston added 33 yards rushing on two carries. With Hairston also sidelined with an injury late in the game, freshman Will Perry came on and threw for 72 yards, completing 7-for-11 passes with his first career touchdown pass.
Jalen John led the UMass run game with 78 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown. It marked John's third straight contest with at least one rushing touchdown. CJ Hester followed with 55 yards on 13 rushes with a touchdown.
Dominick Mazotti matched his career-high with seven receptions for 50 yards and recorded his first touchdown as a Minuteman. Jakobie Keeney-James registered 68 yards receiving on five catches with a touchdown. Jacquon Gibson caught two passes for 50 yards, while earning the first touchdown of his career, as T.Y. Harding added a touchdown and five catches.
On defense, Tyler Rudolph had a career-best 12 tackles, including four solo, followed by Gerrell Johnson and Macklin Ayers with 10 apiece. It was Johnson's third game with 10-plus tackles, while Ayers totaled double digit tackles for the first time with the Maroon and White. Ayers added a tackle for loss, with Johnson and Shambre Jackson having 0.5 tackles for losses each. Arsheen Jiles came away with his first interception as a Minuteman.
How It Happened
UConn held the Minutemen to a three-and-out to open the game and then scored on their first offensive play via a 55-yard Louis Hansen catch.
Massachusetts answered with a nine play, 78-yard scoring drive to tie it 7-7 at 8:16 of the first quarter, with Jacquon Gibson's first career touchdown – a 19-yard grab. Gibson also had a 31-yard catch earlier in the drive.
The Minutemen took the lead on their next drive when AJ Hairston hit Jakobie Keeney-James for a 29-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-three at the UConn 29. It marked Keeney-James' sixth touchdown catch of the season.
But on the ensuing kickoff, UConn tied the game with a 96-yard touchdown at 2:02 of the first.
Connecticut regained the lead, 21-14, at 11:58 of the second quarter on a three-yard touchdown run by Cam Edwards.
At 10:21 of the second quarter, Arsheen Jiles jumped a UConn throw down the near sidelines for his first interception with the Minutemen, setting up UMass at the UConn 35. A late hit out of bounds and a pair of completions to Dominick Mazotti, including a one-yard touchdown, pulled the Minutemen level again, 21-21, at the 8:26 mark. It marked Hairston's third touchdown pass of the first half.
UConn then connected on a 30-yard field goal to take 24-21 lead at 4:46. UMass responded with an eight play, 75-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a 21-yard Jalen John rushing TD for a 28-24 lead at 1:19.
Connecticut closed out the first half scoring with a 53-yard field goal to cut the lead to one point at 28-27.
UConn took the second half kick. Massachusetts forced a fourth-and-eight, which the Huskies attempted a fake punt pass play on that was broken up by Kezion Dia-Johnson.
UConn took a 33-28 lead with 12 seconds to play in the third quarter. The Huskies then attempted a two-point conversion following the touchdown catch by Jasaiah Gaithings but Louce Julien made the stop. The Huskies then forced a UMass punt and added a four-yard touchdown pass to Gaithings and added an extra point to push it to 40-28 with 11:12 left in the fourth.
On UMass' next drive, Haston rushed for 32 yards on a third-and-seven to move the chains. Hester posted an eight-yard touchdown run on second-and-goal to cut the lead to 40-35 with 7:20 to play in the fourth.
The Huskies drove down the field for a seven-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by a 15 yards rush from Durell Robinson to pull ahead 47-35 with 2:18 left on the clock in the final quarter.
The Minutemen answered back to cut the lead back down to five on their final drive of the game. A 20-yard pass completion from Will Perry to Keeney-James moved UMass for their own 38 to UConn's 42 for the first down. Later in the drive, Perry had a 15-yard completion to John to convert the fourth-and-15, before Harding caught a pass from Perry for seven yards with 36 seconds remaining to make it a 47-42 contest. UMass could not recover the ensuing onside kick to effectively end the game.
Notes
- Josh Atwood, Te'Rai Powell and Tyler Rudolph served as the Massachusetts captains for the 12th game this season, while Ethan Mottinger also served as a captain.
- Twenty-four players took part in the pregame, on-field senior day ceremony.
- Massachusetts finished with 42 points, its highest point total since Nov. 3, 2018 when the Minutemen scored 62 points over Liberty in triple overtime.
- Jaquon Gibson caught his first career touchdown pass midway through the first quarter to make it a 7-7 game.
- In the first quarter, Jakobie Keeney-James caught his sixth touchdown pass of the season.
- Keeney-James finished the game with 68 receiving yards, giving him 839 on the season.
- The 839 yards rank as the fifth-highest total in the UMass single-season records book (since 1996).
- T.Y. Harding posted his first career tackle when he got down the field on punt coverage late in the first quarter.
- Dominick Mazotti scored on a one-yard touchdown catch at 8:26 of the first quarter, marking his first TD catch with the Minutemen and the sixth of his career.
- Jalen John added his fifth rushing touchdown of the season late in the second quarter.
- It marked the third straight contest for John with a rushing touchdown.
- On UConn's failed fake punt in the third quarter, freshman wide receiver Kezion Dia-Johnson came up with his first career pass breakup.
- CJ Hester notched an eight-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, his fourth TD of the season and sixth of his career.
- AJ Hairston threw three touchdowns on the day, marking his first career multi-touchdown game.
Team Stats
UCN 7, UMA 0
UCN - Hansen,Louis 55 yd pass from Fagnano,Joe (Freeman,Chris kick) 1 plays, 55 yards, TOP 00:10
UCN 7, UMA 7
UMA - Gibson,Jacquon 19 yd pass from Hairston,AJ (Lurie,Jacob kick) 9 plays, 78 yards, TOP 05:34
UCN 7, UMA 14
UMA - Keeney-James,Jakobie 29 yd pass from Hairston,AJ (Lurie,Jacob kick) 8 plays, 60 yards, TOP 04:39
UCN 14, UMA 14
UCN - Brown,Mel 96 yd kickoff return (Freeman,Chris kick)
UCN 21, UMA 14
UCN - Edwards,Cam 3 yd run (Freeman,Chris kick), 10 plays, 80 yards, TOP 03:14
UCN 21, UMA 21
UMA - Mazotti,Dominick 1 yd pass from Hairston,AJ (Lurie,Jacob kick) 4 plays, 35 yards, TOP 01:55
UCN 24, UMA 21
UCN - Freeman,Chris 30 yd field goal 8 plays, 63 yards, TOP 03:34
UCN 24, UMA 28
UMA - John,Jalen 15 yd run (Moore,Riley kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:27
UCN 27, UMA 28
UCN - Freeman,Chris 53 yd field goal 7 plays, 17 yards, TOP 00:55
UCN 33, UMA 28
UCN - Gathings,Jasaiah 26 yd pass from Fagnano,Joe () 4 plays, 49 yards, TOP 01:29
UCN 40, UMA 28
UCN - Edwards,Cam 3 yd pass from Fagnano,Joe (Freeman,Chris kick) 7 plays, 35 yards, TOP 03:35
UCN 40, UMA 35
UMA - Hester,CJ 8 yd run (Lurie,Jacob kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:52
UCN 47, UMA 35
UCN - Robinson,Durell 15 yd run (Freeman,Chris kick), 9 plays, 78 yards, TOP 04:57
UCN 47, UMA 42
UMA - Harding,T.Y. 7 yd pass from Perry,Will (Moore,Riley kick) 13 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:42
