AMHERST — Blake Frohnapfel didn’t have a tough decision. On the first play of a mid-third-quarter drive, the University of Massachusetts quarterback eyed broken coverage down the right side of the field and turned to his old favorite: the long ball.
The deep pass connected, and Alex Kenney broke ahead for an 80-yard score, the longest play of the season for the Minutemen. UMass trailed, 33-28, with 8:34 in the third.
That triggered momentum.
On the ensuing possession, UMass junior defensive back Khary Bailey-Smith intercepted a pass and ran it back to the Bowling Green 30. Less than a minute later, the Minutemen led, 35-33, thanks to an 18-yard touchdown catch in coverage by junior Tajae Sharpe.
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But Bowling Green scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns in span of less than four minutes, and the Falcons took down UMass, 47-42, on Saturday in the teams’ Mid-American Conference opener.
The Minutemen (0-5) scored on Frohnapfel’s 5-yard pass to Sharpe with 3:22 left, but their last chance at a comeback ended when J.T. Blyden fumbled with 1:46 to play.
“I thought we were going to win the game,” UMass coach Mark Whipple said. He described his mood as “pleasant,” and said all his team could do is look forward.
“We made the stops on defense, then we get the ball. J.T. makes a great play on a little inside run, and the next play, he fumbles it. You can’t make crucial mistakes at crucial times. It was heartbreaking and we’ve got to play better.”
The game was UMass’s first true homecoming, playing on campus at the renovated McGuirk Stadium, since 2011. The team moved its “home” to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough to start the 2012 season as part of its jump to the Football Bowl Subdivision, but is playing half of its six home games in Amherst this year.
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A rented videoboard away from the playing field collapsed onto a support shaft in the third quarter, dropping about 15-20 feet, but no one was injured. The cause was hydraulic failure.
Frohnapfel (36 of 61, five touchdowns) set a UMass passing record with 589 yards and Sharpe posted career highs of 13 catches and 179 yards, plus two TDs, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the team’s largely absent defense. Bowling Green (3-2) totaled 668 yards of offense, with 225 on the ground and 443 through the air.
“Heartbreaking games, one after another,” said Frohnapfel. “It’s one of those things where if you look at your last game, it’s not going to do anything for you. We’ve got to move on, and we’ll be all right.”
He added that his passing record was “pretty cool,” but he would rather win games than worry about stats.
Sharpe echoed Frohnapfel’s frustration at remaining winless, but said he feels UMass had a good day overall. He talked up his chemistry with the signal-caller, a transfer from Marshall.
“We have great communication, great timing, and that’s one of the reasons why we’re able to put up numbers like that [when] given the opportunity,” Sharpe said. “But at the end of the day, we still came up short.”
Bowling Green quarterback James Knapke was 38 for 59. He often found open targets for big gains, such as a 52-yard score up the middle to Roger Lewis in the third quarter.
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UMass had tumultuous second and third quarters, but shined in the first frame thanks to multiple diving catches by juniors Jalen Williams and tight end Jean Sifrin.
Junior defensive back Randall Jette (seven tackles, three solo, with one interception) said the Minutemen knew the game was going to be a fight.
“They were a fast-paced team, but our safeties did a good job getting [into position],” he said.
Jette believes the home crowd made a difference, giving his team more motivation. On the flip side, it makes the loss harder.
“This whole time, I didn’t hear any negative comments on the sideline,” Jette said. “I think the fans, the community, that gave us a huge lift. It was a hot day. I think we’re just fighters. We wanted to win so bad.”
Whipple said UMass has a lot of tape to watch to prepare for next Saturday’s game at Miami of Ohio.
“There’s no lesson like on game day,” Whipple said. “I really want to win for them.”
“[The game was] great, except for the end. I was confident all the way through. People did a good job. We’ll get back to work in here tomorrow and get ready for Miami.”