Eastern Michigan Cruises Past UMass Without Trailing
UMass left this one at 4-1 and looking like it had lost its map. Eastern Michigan led from the first quarter on, got touchdowns from five different players, and won 38-14.
Noah Kim threw a 27-yard touchdown to Kozy Isaac with 5:38 left in the first quarter, and Braydon Bennett ran in from 2 yards late in the second for 14-0. UMass got one back, a 34-yard William Watson III pass to Max Dowling with 28 seconds left in the half, to make it 14-7. Then the third quarter belonged to EMU. Kim threw a 2-yard touchdown to Joshua Long, and 24 seconds of game clock later (10:10 to 9:46) Amareon Blue ran in from 9 yards. That was 28-7. Joey Mattord added a 25-yard run to start the fourth for 35-7, Rudy Kessinger kicked a 26-yard field goal, and UMass got a 3-yard run from Curtis Kimmons IV with 1:02 left to put some paint on the score.
The box score has no mystery in it. EMU had 412 yards (219 passing, 193 rushing) and did not turn the ball over. UMass had 316 yards, threw one interception and lost a fumble. Kim was 21 of 30 for 219 yards and two touchdowns, steady and unremarkable in the best way.
Eastern Michigan moves to 3-3 and UMass drops to 4-1, which is still a better record than the team that just beat it. For fantasy, the surprise was Jabari Lewis, who caught six passes for 102 yards for UMass and finished third on the board.