UMass Football News--September 16th, 2017

Well mistakes and abysmal kicking doomed a tenacious UMass effort at Temple. The Minutemen missed three field goals at the Owls 22, 6 and 14 yard lines. We left 9 points on field in an 8 point loss. Ford fumbled deep in UMass territory to give Temple a short field at the end of the first half. We also dropped two possible TD passes (Isabella and Herring).

On the positive side, the Minutemen defense continued their upward momentum. The UMass defense repeatedly stuffed the Temple offense. The Minutemen defenders had 11 TFL (!) and two sacks. Temple RB Ryquell Armstead had a 56 yard run on the third play of the game. The other 33 Temple rushes gained 63 yards (1.9 yards/carry). For the second consecutive game the UMass defense played well enough to win.

The UMass offense gained 458 yards and Ford managed to spread the UMass receiving around. Sadiq Palmer (7-117 and Jesse Britt (3-57) gave the Minutemen other options than just Breneman and Isabella. Even the UMass offensive line started playing better in the second half using a moving pocket.
As far as the kicking goes---someday my head is going to explode.

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UMass write-up here.

Owls write-up here.

MassLive says Ford's impressive effort went for naught.

Matty Vautour reports the Minutemen fell short.

Matty also says UMass continues to struggle with field goals.

Philly.com says Temple WB Logan Marchi was efficient.

Owls DE Quincy Roche had a big game.

The Boston Herald says mistake-prone UMass fell to Temple.

Comcast Sports Philadelphia reports Temple sneaks past UMass on Quincy Roche's monster game.

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