Eastern Michigan’s Cole Snyder threw for 241 yards and a touchdown on 17-for-29 passing, with multiple strikes down the field that torched the Minutemen’s secondary.
After two UMass drives stalled out at midfield, CJ Kolodziey’s 42-yard punt pinned the Eagles at the 3-yard line, but it hardly mattered.
Snyder, a senior quarterback transfer from Buffalo, led the Eagles on a 10-play, 97-yard touchdown drive, which he capped with a 1-yard touchdown run.
UMass responded with a power running game, as it moved the ball down to the Eagles’ 16-yard line. But unsportsmanlike conduct against running back Brandon Campbell had UMass backpedaling 15 yards. After UMass failed to pick up the first down, senior kicker Jacob Lurie missed a 43-yard field-goal attempt wide left.
“Can’t do those things,” Brown said of the penalty. “That’s a JV attitude.”
With 1:09 left before halftime, UMass faced a fourth-and-7 from the Eagles’ 36-yard line. Brown summoned his offense to the sideline after a timeout, then sent them back on the field to attempt the fourth-down conversion..
It backfired when Phommachanh was swallowed up by defensive tackle Donovan Green at the 43-yard line, giving Eastern Michigan the ball with 1:02 to play.
Thirty-one seconds later, Snyder connected with junior wideout Oran Singleton, who made a diving catch on a corner route in the back of the end zone to give Eastern Michigan a 14-0 lead at intermission.
UMass began the second half strong, forcing a three-and-out. The Minutemen then staged a 10-play, 70-yard drive powered by Phommachanh’s run-pass option game and running back Jalen John, who capped the drive with a 1-yard TD for his first career score to pull UMass within 14-7.
On the next play, Snyder found junior wide receiver Markus Allen down the sideline for a 40-yard gain. The Eagles stalled at the 2, but Jesus Gomez converted a 20-yard field goal to put Eastern Michigan up, 17-7.
UMass came away empty-handed on a drive that stalled in Eastern Michigan territory when the Minutemen settled for a 46-yard field goal attempt by Lurie that fell short and right of its mark.
The Eagles cemented the victory, pulling away in the fourth on Gomez’s 31-yard field goal and a 6-yard touchdown run by Delbert Mimms III. Snyder connected with Allen on the two-point conversion pass attempt to make it 28-7.
CJ Hester’s 2-yard TD run enabled UMass to halve Eastern Michigan’s lead with 3:06 remaining in the game, but it proved too little too late for the Minutemen.
“You need the offense and defense to be complimentary,” said Brown. “I didn’t think there was much of that at all.”
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