Injured Kellen Pagel remains starting quarterback for Minutemen
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AMHERST - Kellen Pagel's injury did not cost the University of Massachusetts quarterback his starting job despite a solid effort by freshman Brandon Hill in Saturday's 42-26 win over Central Connecticut.
Pagel, a sophomore transfer, suffered a head injury against Old Dominion last week. Minuteman coach Kevin Morris said whenever Pagel returns to practice, he will work with the first-string unit.
"Kellen had established himself as the starting quarterback ... If he was healthy, he would have started" Saturday, Morris said. "When he comes back, we'll put him with the first group and we'll let them compete it out in practice like we always have."
Morris said seeing Hill succeed Saturday reinforced his confidence in him.
"We got a win and didn't turn the ball over. He was able to get us up and down the field," Morris said. "He wasn't as fluid in the second half as in that second quarter.
"There was a lot of positives to his performance," Morris added. "There were some negatives, but that's true with everybody. He showed he could step up."
IGWENAGU SHINING - For the second straight week, senior tight end Emil Igwenagu played a big role in the UMass passing attack. He caught four passes for 99 yards and a touchdown.
After 10 catches for 85 yards last week, Igwenagu has more catches (14) and yards (184) in the past two weeks than he did all of last season (12 receptions, 142 yards).
"It was a great night for Emil punctuated by the big catch and run" for a 58-yard touchdown in the second quarter, Morris said.
END AROUNDS - The Minutemen got 93 of its 170 rushing yards on end-around plays. Julian Talley had one for 69 yards, and Jesse Julmiste had another for 31 yards. Julmiste recovered a fumble on the exchange for a seven-yard loss, the other time UMass ran the play.
UP NEXT - The Minutemen will travel to Delaware next Saturday to play the Blue Hens. They beat William & Mary 21-0 on Saturday.
MISCELLANEOUS - UMass had just three offensive plays in the third quarter but scored two touchdowns, one on defense and one on special teams.
Starting Minuteman center Quinton Sales was out with an undisclosed injury. Stephane Milhim started at center and Brian Ostaszewski replaced him at right guard.
The Band Day crowd drew 11,736 fans.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.
