By Stephen Ur –
UMass and UConn met on the gridiron in Amherst, MA on Saturday afternoon. UConn was looking for their eighth win while the Minutemen came into this game with just two wins on the season .
The Huskies scored the game’s first touchdown just 65 seconds into the game as quarterback Joe Fagano found Louis Hansen for a 55-yard score. UMass quarterback AJ Hairston would throw two touchdown passes, one to Jacquon Gibson and one to Jakobie Kenney-James, and they took a 14-7 lead with 2:17 left in the quarter.
Mel Brown would return the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 14. The two teams would go into the second quarter tied at 14.
After Cam Edwards scored on a three-yard run to give UConn a 21-14 lead, Hairston would throw his third touchdown pass of the half, a one-yarder to Dominick Mazotti, to tie the game at 21 with 8:26 remaining in the first half.
UMass’ Jalen John scored on a 15-yard run to give the Minutemen a 28-24 lead with 1:19 in the half. UConn would kick a field goal at the end of the half, but still trailed 28-27.
They would score the lone touchdown of the third quarter and re-took the lead at 33-28 with just 12 seconds left as Fagano threw his second touchdown pass of the game, this one to Jasaiah Gathings from 26 yards out.
The Huskies would extend on their lead with 11:12 left in the fourth as Fagano threw his third touchdown pass, a three-yarder to Cam Edwards. The two teams would combine for 21 points over the final 7:20, but UConn came away with a 47-42 victory.