FOXBOROUGH — Mark Whipple wasn’t nearly as surprised this week by his offense’s inability to move the ball.
Just three weeks ago, Whipple admitted he was caught off guard by his team’s inability to score against Coastal Carolina. But he knew the challenge BYU’s defense would present, the Minutemen simply didn’t meet it.
UMass couldn’t sustain any offensive rhythm Saturday and were forced into seven three-and-outs after taking an early lead. While the defense suffocated the Minutemen’s attack, the Cougars offense strung together enough plays to defeat the Minutemen 35-16 and eliminate UMass from postseason contention.
“We just didn’t execute on offense the way we had last week,” Whipple said. “Credit BYU and the defense. They’ve got a good group, they have big guys and they’re well coached. … We weren’t as sharp offensively, but a lot of it has to do with BYU.”
The game could not have started much better for UMass (4-7) after it marched 72 yards on 14 plays and took more than seven minutes off the clock. Although they had to settle for a field goal, the Minutemen fell on a fumble on BYU’s first play of the game and converted that miscue into a Marquis Young 2-yard touchdown and a 10-0 lead.
That was one of the last times UMass was able to sustain any type of drive against the first-string BYU defense. The Minutemen went three-and-out on their next three possessions and then failed to convert on fourth down late in the second quarter. The empty drives gave BYU (5-4) time to take a 14-10 lead, which it carried into halftime after Cooper Garcia missed a 36-yard field goal as the half ended.
“The defense is good, they’re sound, those guys are older over there, they know what they’re doing,” redshirt senior quarterback Ross Comis said. “I felt like they were always in the right spots, but we did leave some plays out on the field that we should have made. It kind of turned the tide that we didn’t make those plays and put some pressure on the defense.”
The Minutemen punted on their first five drives of the second half and picked up just one first down as BYU pounded away at the UMass offensive line. The Cougars size became a major issue as they sacked Comis twice in the second half and held UMass to minus-6 yards rushing and 27 total yards during those five drives.
“They’re just big and physical,” Whipple said. “We haven’t been knocked off the ball like that in some time. (They) controlled the line of scrimmage.”
The Cougars also limited the engine of the Minutemen’s attack, the deep passes to Andy Isabella. The senior receiver still made 10 catches, but they totaled just 85 yards. The longest connection between Comis and Isabella was a 23-yard strike late in the fourth quarter when BYU had already subbed in its second-team defense.
Comis said BYU played a zone defense that paid particular attention to keeping Isabella in front of the safeties. It forced Comis to throw shorter routes and let the receivers wiggle their way to extra yards, but the Cougars swarmed to the ball effectively and kept those gains to a minimum. The few times a receiver did break free, Comis either didn’t see him or misconnected on the pass and set up longer second- and third-down chances.
“They just didn’t want to get beat deep,” Comis said. “They were just sitting back, wouldn’t let Andy over the top, wouldn’t let any of those guys.”
The offensive dysfunction put a lot of pressure on a defense that stood tall for most of the game. After BYU scored a touchdown on its second drive, the Minutemen forced three consecutive punts to preserve the slim lead. Those final two stops came with the Cougars pinned deep in their own territory and set up the UMass offense with great field position.
A late 10-play, 68-yard drive gave BYU the lead and the UMass defense began to tire as it was forced onto the field more often in the second half. The Minutemen held onto the ball for nearly 21 minutes in the first half, but the Cougars had possession for nine minutes in the third quarter and nine minutes in the fourth.
“In the first half, I thought we played really well,” senior Bryton Barr said. “The second half, we just kind of came out flat and it’s a little disappointing.”