UMass Football Falls to Temple in Season Opener
AMHERST - The UMass Minutemen dropped their season opener to the Temple Owls Saturday, falling 35-7 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. A strong first quarter showing quickly faded as UMass failed to score in the final 45 minutes of play.
UMass started the game with a dominant offensive drive, culminating in a rushing touchdown by Rocko Griffin. Derek Morris added a 40-yard field goal after Temple tied the game, giving the Minutemen a lead at the end of the first quarter. However, the offensive momentum stalled, and UMass struggled to maintain possession.
Temple quarterback E.J. Simon led a potent passing attack, completing 19 of 25 attempts for 248 yards and a career-high six touchdown passes, two of which went to Ryder Kusch.
UMass’s debut quarterback, Rose, completed 23 of 38 passes for 193 yards and one interception. His primary target was Jacquon Gibson, a transfer from Utah, who had 12 receptions for 132 yards on 20 targets.
“Ultimately, if I look at those drives at the end of the first half, we [went] touchdown, field goal, turnover, turnover on downs, punt, punt,” head coach Don Harasymiak said. “Started with two sacks on the sixth drive, the negatives kind of caught up to us, the game kind of got away from us at the end of the second.”
The Minutemen will look to rebound next week when they host Bryant on September 6 at 3:30 p.m.The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
