DURHAM, N.H. - New Hampshire didn't beat the Massachusetts football team this weekend; UMass beat itself.
Despite having the ball for just 2 minutes, 50 seconds of the first quarter, the No. 13 Wildcats built a 24-0 lead en route to a 52-21 victory over the Minutemen. All but three of UNH's first quarter points were off of UMass turnovers.
"Offensively, I thought we were as guilty of stopping ourselves as anything," UMass coach Don Brown said.
The Wildcats (8-2, 5-2 Colonial Athletic Association) started with the ball and quickly hit a 46-yard field goal for the first score of the game.
No. 22 UMass (6-5, 3-4 CAA) came out on the ensuing drive and moved the ball down field with ease. But on third-and-goal from the UNH 6-yard line, quarterback Liam Coen threw his first of four interceptions. Coen finished the day completing 22-of-41 passes for 211 yards and one touchdown.
"I honestly didn't even see what happened," Coen said after the game. "I knew I threw it in the right spot, I think it got batted and popped up. I don't know what happened; it just didn't go our way on that play."
Senior Matt Parent was the Wildcat who intercepted the pass right inside the goal line. After thinking about taking a touchback, the linebacker decided to run and took it 100 yards for the touchdown to put UNH up 10-0.
"I caught it and thought about taking a knee, because I knew my big butt wasn't going to make it all the way," Parent said. "Then I just started running and everyone passed me up. The whole defense was running down the field like a big convoy and we all ran to the end zone together. It was awesome."
Four plays later, UMass' offense turned the ball over again when Devon Jackson picked off a pass intended for Julian Talley.
UNH quarterback R.J. Toman didn't waste any time. On the first play of the drive, Toman ran untouched for 43 yards on a quarterback draw to put the Wildcats up 17-0, just 7:33 into the game.
The Minutemen began to mount another drive, moving to the UNH 37-yard line before Coen was hit from behind by junior T.J. Taylor, jarring the ball loose. Parent recovered the ball and set UNH up for another scoring drive.
The drive by UMass was the sixth straight drive - dating back to last weekend's game against Maine - that ended in a turnover, the first five of which were interceptions.
Again, UNH needed just one play. This time, Toman ran the option and pitched to junior Chad Kackert who ran the ball 48 yards up the left sideline for a 24-0 lead.
"It was as tough of a first quarter as I've ever been a part of," Brown said. "It wasn't one phase. As a team you have to pick each other up when things aren't going well and we weren't able to do that in the first quarter in any way, shape, manner or form."
The Wildcats were facing a third-and-eight on their own 11-yard line on their next drive, when Toman found wide receiver Mike Boyle down the right sideline on a 64-yard reception. A few plays later, on first-and-25 on the UMass 30-yard line, Toman floated a pass to the end zone where he found Kackert to give UNH a 31-0 lead. Toman finished the day with 295 yards on 10-of-18 passing and four touchdowns.
After offenses traded three-and-outs, UNH was forced to punt from their own 25-yard line where UMass made its first big play of the game. As the ball was snapped back to the Wildcat's punter Tom Bishop, UMass' Terrance Farris pushed through the line and blocked the punt.
UMass took over and on three plays drove 11 yards for a touchdown. Fullback Chris Zardas finished off the drive with a 1-yard run. UNH scored once more in the half, bringing the score to 38-7, on a 77-yard pass from Toman to Chris Jeannot - good for Toman's longest pass of the day (he had three completions over 60 yards).
The second half saw each team score another pair of touchdowns, two touchdown passes by Toman, one by Coen and a 3-yard run by UMass running back Tony Nelson.
As with every regular-season matchup between UMass and UNH, the game's most outstanding player was awarded the Bill Knight Trophy. The past two meetings saw UMass players bring home the award, but this year Parent took it for his performance. The Wildcat linebacker had six tackles and two fumble recoveries to go with his 100-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Nelson had a strong day despite the loss, but not strong enough to make up for the six UMass turnovers. The back ran for 154 yards on 24 carries (6.4 yards per carry) and a touchdown. During the first quarter Nelson passed the 1,000 yard mark for the season, making it seven straight seasons that UMass has had a 1,000 yard rusher.
Courtney Robinson, UMass' return man, also became the all-time leading returnee in UMass history when he passed Tim Berra (1,295) and Stephen Parnell (1,317). Robinson now has 1,357 return yards after he returned five kicks for 100 yards.
Jeffrey R. Larnard can be reached at jlarnard@dailycollegian.com.
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