Massachusetts Football Drops Season Opener To Eastern Michigan, 28-14

AMHERST, Mass. – The Massachusetts football team made it a 14-7 game in the second half, but was unable to get any closer, falling 28-14 in its season opener at McGuirk Alumni Stadium (12,810) on Saturday.

Quarterback Taisun Phommachanh was 20-for-30 with 177 yards through the air and led UMass in rushing with 57, which included a career-best 31-yard run.

Jalen John ran for 53 yards on 14 carries and picked up his first collegiate touchdown. CJ Hester had 36 yards on the ground and a TD in his UMass debut.

Derrieon Craig and Te'Rai Powell each had seven tackles to lead the Minutemen and Tim Grant-Randall recorded a pair of pass breakups.

How It Happened

UMass' opening drive stalled but punter CJ Kolodziey pinned EMU deep in their own end at the eight-yard line.

Massachusetts then stopped EMU on their ensuing drive, including a fourth down pass breakup by Tyler Rudolph.

The Eagles went up 7-0 with 12:47 left in the first half after a 10 play, 97-yard drive capped by a Cole Schnieder quarterback sneak. Eastern Michigan then took a 14-0 lead to the locker room at halftime.

The Massachusetts defensive came up big to start the third quarter, holding Eastern Michigan to a three-and-out. On the ensuing drive, UMass made it 14-7 game with the scoring drive capped by John's first career touchdown – a one-yard rushing TD with 8:43 left in the third quarter.

On the next drive, EMU went back up by two scores with a 20-yard field goal by Jesus Gomez, making it a 17-7 margin.

UMass attempted to answer the Eagles, but their next drive ended in a 46-yard field goal attempt that fell short.

EMU then went 59 yards over the next seven minutes and converted on a 31-yard kick that brought the score to 20-7.

The next UMass drive ended in a turnover on downs to give the Eagles a short field, which resulted in EMU's third TD of the day a six-yard rush by Delbert Mimms, III that made it 28-7.

The Minutemen capped the scoring with a two-yard rush by Hester after UMass went 74 yards in 2 minutes, 37 seconds.

Notes

Taisun Phommachanh, Josh Atwood, Te'Rai Powell and Tyler Rudolph served as game captains for the Minutemen.

Jalen John scored his first career touchdown, a one-yard rushing TD in the third quarter.

Phommachanh tied a career-long mark with a 31-yard rush with the Minutemen driving late in the third quarter (previous high: 31 yards at Auburn on Sept. 2, 2023).

Dominick Mazotti had a 19-yard catch in his UMass debut.

CJ Kolodziey placed two punts inside the 20. He averaged 39.5 on the day with a long of 42.

Next Up

The Minutemen hit the road next week for a 3:30 p.m. game at Toledo on Saturday, September 7.

Massachusetts is back at McGuirk Alumni Stadium for Homecoming against Central Connecticut State on Saturday, September 21. Tickets are on sale at www.umassathletics.com/tickets, or by calling 1-866-UMASS-TIX.

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