By Ryan Barry
NEFJ Correspondent

AMHERST – In front of a live national audience on ESPN2 the No. 21 Missouri Tigers blew out the UMass Minutemen 45-3 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Saturday.

A crowd of 16,102 fans on both sides of the stadium were witness to a game that from start to finish was dominated by the visiting Tigers who went for 461 yards of total offense.

Mizzou graduate quarterback Brady Cook (14-for-19, 219-yards, two touchdowns) made easy work with the Minutemen, allowing him to be replaced in the fourth quarter with graduate Drew Pyne (three-for-five, 11-yards).

Cook spread the ball out to seven different pass catchers with junior wide receiver Luther Burden III (five receptions, 59-yards) and sophomore tight end Brett Norfleet (three receptions, 48-yards, one touchdown) leading the way.

The Tigers also had a balanced rushing attack of 231 total yards, with senior Marcus Carroll (15 carries, 91-yards, three touchdowns) averaging 6.1 yards per carry.

UMass head coach Don Brown was quick to point out how well the Tigers played throughout the game.

“We got beat by the better team today,” said Brown. “There’s a reason why they play in the SEC.”

The Minutemen offense struggled throughout the game to find any momentum, managing to get into the red zone just once. Senior quarterback Taisun Phommachanh (12-for-22, 132-yards, one interception) made a few solid throws but ultimately struggled against a solid Mizzou pass rush.

Brown acknowledged his struggles, but was quick to point out it’s also about the entire offense as well.

“The one thing that I’ll say, not his best effort,” noted Brown. “At the same time, everybody’s gotta help the guy, the guy’s getting hit too, and we gotta do a better job protecting him and executing around him.”

Graduate receiver Jakobie Keeney-James (six receptions, 80-yards) had another strong game and was the only UMass wide receiver to have more than one catch in the game. The Minutemen started the game on a sour note with an unsportsmanlike penalty call on the opening kick-off, giving the Tigers a head start on offense.

Just two plays later, Burden III took a jet sweep 61-yards to the endzone to open the scoring. A quick three and out for the Minutemen on their first offensive possession gave way to another Tigers scoring drive. After eating up just over seven minutes of clock, the Tigers capped off a 13 play, 80-yard drive, with a three-yard touchdown run from Carroll to increase the lead to 14-0.

An encouraging drive from the Minutemen on their next offensive possession ended in a punt after a false start penalty on third down knocked them out of field goal range. The Tigers took full advantage of the mishap and marched 80-yards down the field to extend the lead to 21-0 after Carroll’s second touchdown run of the game.

The Minutemen finally put some points on the board after an impressive 10 play, 65-yard drive resulted in a 28-yard Brandon Lurie field goal to knock the lead down to 21-3. The UMass defense finally came up with their first stop of the game on the next Mizzou drive to force their first punt of the game with 2:59 to go in the second quarter.

What seemed like a dead drive just a few plays in for the Minutemen turned into one of their most exciting moments of the season.

Facing a 4th-&-1 from their own 39-yard line, UMass faked the punt with an indirect snap and handoff to Te’Rai Powell who took the ball 39 yards to the Mizzou 22-yard line.

An incredibly cruel turn of events just a few plays later saw Phommachanh throw an interception into heavy coverage, with Mizzou linebacker Corey Flagg Jr. (three total tackles) taking the ball all the way to the UMass 15-yard line.

A Blake Craig 42-yard field goal extended the lead to 24-3 just before halftime, ultimately killing any momentum that UMass would’ve had going into the locker room. The Tigers cruised with three more touchdowns in the second half, holding UMass scoreless in the process.

With the spectacle of an SEC team appearing in Amherst finally past them, the Minutemen turn to the bye week hoping to get healthy and regroup.

UMass returns to the field in two weeks at home against the Wagner Seahawks of the FCS.

(Photos by Sam Beatty)