October 25, 2008

#17 UMASS DOWNS BRYANT 42-7
Bulldogs Return Home to Host Duquesne Next Saturday

BOX SCORE

AMHERST, Mass. (10/25/08) -UMass quarterback Liam Coen completed 11 of 18 passes for 389 yards and five touchdowns to lead the No. 17 Minutemen to a 42-7 win over visiting Bryant University Saturday afternoon.

UMass (5-3), looking to bounce back strong from last week's loss to Richmond, did just that Saturday as the Minutemen scored on their first three possessions before the Bulldogs finally got on the board mid-way through the first quarter.

Trailing 21-0, the Bulldogs (4-4) put together a solid scoring drive despite the loss of starting quarterback Jay Graber (Clarksburg, NJ). Graber, who left with 4:50 left in the opening quarter with an injury and did not return, was replaced by backup Kurt Spear (Greene, NY).  The junior, seeing action for the first time this season, stepped right in and guided the Bulldogs down field with a solid scoring drive. Spear completed 3 of 4 passes including a 16-yarder to Mike Canfora for 16 yards on his first pass attempt.

A 15-yard pass to Ross Giffune (Foxboro, MA) moved the ball down to the UMass 22 yard line. Behind steady blocking by the offensive line up front, junior tailback Lindsey Gamble (Roxbury, MA) moved the ball down to 6 and one play later found a seam into the end zone to make it 21-7 just before the end of the opening quarter.   

The 16-play drive covered 6 minutes, 41 seconds - the longest scoring drive of the season for the Bulldogs.

UMass would answer as Tony Nelson scored from 3 yards out and Jeremy Horne was on the receiving end of a 21-yard pass from Coen to make it 35-7 at the half and the hosts cruised from there.  Horne finished with 182 yards and three touchdowns while Korrey Davis rushed for 54 yards on 12 carries.

UMass finished the day with 593 yards of total offense including 448 yards through the air. Bryant had 217 yards of offense in the game.  Spear finished the day completing 7 of 17 passes for 70 yards with Giffune hauling in three catches for 27 yards. Mike Canfora had two catches for 25 yards.   Jerell Smith (Brooklyn, NY) rushed for 56 of Bryant's 126 yards on the ground while Gamble finished with 52 yards on 17 carries.

Sophomore Addison Lynch (Braintree, MA) recorded a career-best 12 tackles to lead Bryant defensively.  Junior linebacker Paul Polomski (Franklin, MA) added 10 tackles as the Bulldog defense recovered three UMass fumbles, all in the second half.

Punter Brian Donnelly (East Dennis, MA) punted a school-record 12 times for 441 yards.  Bryant will return home next Saturday to host Duquesne University for Senior Day starting at 12 noon.  UMass will visit Rhode Island for a noon kickoff.