Football Suffers 24-10 Loss to Massachusetts

Wednesday, November 12

Amherst, Mass.

8:00 PM

Ball State University

3-7 , 2-4

Massachusetts

3-7 , 3-3

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Ball State	7	0	3	0	10
Massachusetts	7	10	0	7	24

November 13, 2014 | Football

Box Score

By: Ball State Athletics

Ball State fell to 3-7 overall and 2-4 in the Mid-American Conference after suffering a 24-10 loss at Massachusetts Wednesday night on ESPNU. The Minutemen improved to 3-7 overall and evened their league mark at 3-3.

“I thought our defense played extremely hard and got us some stops,” Ball State head coach Pete Lembo says. “We were pretty good on third downs, but we cannot afford to move the ball and turn it over in the red zone. I looked out there at one point and saw Tyree Holder, who was the only one who had been part of the defensive secondary when we started the season. That is just where we are at right now.”

UMass started the scoring early and took a 7-0 lead with just over a minute played in the game, but the Cardinals responded with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Jack Milas to Jordan Williams to tie the game at 7-7 after one quarter.

The second quarter belonged to the Minutemen who managed a touchdown with 9:06 to play in the half and then added a field goal as time expired in the half and took a 17-7 lead. Ball State was able to pull within 17-10 on a Scott Secor 37-yard field goal for the only third quarter scoring in the game, but UMass added a TD with 5:40 to play to seal the win.

Massachusetts limited the Cardinals rushing attack and held Ball State to 69 yards as a team, while Jahwan Edwards could only muster 36 yards on the ground in the contest.

Milas was able to connect on 23-of-37 passes for 210 yards with one TD, but threw two interceptions and Ball State lost two fumbles in the contest.

“One of the goals coming in was to try and stay balanced and stay on the field to help out the offense,” Lembo said. “We came into the game with three healthy safeties, three healthy corners and three linebackers and then we lost a couple of players during the game. The kids on defense played extremely hard. I know we gave up a lot of yards, but they got us enough stops. We have had nine turnovers in two weeks and we are not going to be successful doing that and we have to be patient. We would like to move it along faster than it has with a young quarterback, but we have to be patient.”

With two games remaining, Ball State will host Eastern Michigan Nov. 22, at Scheumann Stadium before ending the season with a Friday game at Bowling Green Nov. 28. The Ball State game vs. the Eagles will be Senior Day, presented by Village Promenade, and a BLACK OUT.