To commemorate the 10th anniversary of UMass' Division I-AA Championship in 1998, I'm rerunning the game story from each game from that season in its corresponding week this year. I'll add some commentary on the old articles in in italics.

This was another game where one play might have changed the game and thus the season. 

Headline: Final kick sails UM's way (out)

DURHAM, N.H. _ As Shawn MacLean's potential game-winning 42-yard field goal sailed toward the uprights, the setting sun in the eyes of the fans on the New Hampshire side of the field made it nearly impossible for them to see whether the kick was good.

But when the referees' arms didn't point skyward and the Minuteman sideline emptied onto the field in celebration, the Wildcats' fans groaned in disappointment.

"It was really close," said UMass linebacker Kole Ayi, who had a game-high 19 tackles. "It looked like it just hooked off at the end. For a while I thought it was good."

Aided by MacLean's poor kicking all game, UMass escaped Durham with a 27-26 win in Atlantic 10 action at Cowell Field.

"We got lucky," said UMass coach Mark Whipple. "I thought he made the kick. We'll take it and move on."

Trailing 27-20 with 3:11 left in the game, the Wildcats struck quickly, riding on the back of tailback Jerry Azumah. Starting at the Wildcat 9-yard line, Azumah followed a 5-yard run with a 63-yard reception to move the ball to the Minuteman 23-yard-line. He capped the drive one play later with a TD run down the left sideline, setting up the Wildcats for a game-tying extra point at 27-26.

But the celebration on the UNH sideline was short-lived when MacLean's PAT sailed just left of the upright with 2:27 to play.

UNH's onside kick attempt was recovered by Minuteman Jimmy Moore at the Wildcat 49-yard-line, but three runs by Marcel Shipp couldn't produce a first down, forcing UMass to punt.

Maclay's punt pinned the Wildcats at their own 9-yard-line with 1:15 left. Wildcat quarterback Tim Cramsey wasn't especially sharp in the final drive, as the Wildcats moved just 32 yards on nine plays, giving them the ball on their own 41-yard-line with just nine seconds left.

UNH caught a break, though, when Minuteman cornerback Brian Smith was flagged for pass interference. Since the game can't end on a defensive penalty, UNH got the ball on the Minuteman 25 for its ill-fated 42-yard field goal attempt.

"It was a great great football game," Whipple said. "Two heavyweights going at it."

The Minutemen (6-2, 4-1) won despite another spectacular performance by Azumah, the all-time leading rusher in Division 1-AA. Azumah turned in his best game of the season with 241 yards and four touchdowns on 33 carries.

After the game Whipple said he's glad he won't have to face Azumah again.

"I've never been so frightened standing on the sideline since I've been coaching. Looking out on the field saying, where's No. 25 (Azumah)?" Whipple said. "I never felt good until the thing .. I still don't feel good. It's Halloween. I've seen Jerry Azumah and I don't want to see anybody else. It's a scary feeling on that sideline."

The pregame promise of a showdown of the conference's top running backs was fulfilled as Shipp ran for 185 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries.

"Marcel Shipp makes a lot of things happen," Whipple said. "He's the guy that's making a lot of people miss."

The sophomore back's numbers earned him the Bill Knight Award, which is given annually to the most outstanding player in the rivalry between the Minutemen and Wildcats. This was the first time since he came to UNH that Azumah did not win the award, a fact that Shipp did not take lightly.

"It means a lot because he's a great athlete," Shipp said. "For me to win this is a big achievement for me and my team to take it from him."

UMass takes on Rhode Island at Kingston Saturday.

The game marked Todd Bankhead's first game in a UMass uniform without a touchdown pass, but the junior signal caller still found his way into the Minuteman record books. He entered the game needing three completions and 118 yards to set UMass single-season marks in those respective categories.
He finished with 274 yards, going 19-of-32. He threw two interceptions.

The Minutemen were clicking early on both sides of the ball. UNH got the ball to open the game and took a 16-play drive to the UMass 8-yard line, but Chris Price blocked MacLean's 30-yard field goal try and the Wildcats came away empty-handed.

Bankhead directed a 71-yard drive in less than three minutes, capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Kevin Quinlan to put the Minutemen ahead 7-0.

Three plays later UMass linebacker Khari Samuel stripped Cramsey and Ayi recovered on the Wildcat 26. Five plays after that Quinlan punched it in again, but kicker Jason Cherry's PAT bounced back off the goalpost, leaving the Minutemen ahead 13-0.

Azumah got New Hampshire on the board late in the half, but MacLean missed the point-after cutting the host's deficit to 13-6.

The Minutemen answered right away. On the next play from scrimmage, Shipp tore off a tackle-breaking 47-yard run that was extended an extra 15 yards because of a UNH face mask penalty.

After a 15-yard pass from Bankhead to Kerry Taylor brought the Minutemen inside the 5, three Shipp runs brought the ball over the goal line for a 20-6 UMass lead at halftime.

Azumah TD's of 13 and 32 yards tied the game at 20-20 late in the third, but Shipp's 2-yard TD run with 7:27 remaining gave the Minutemen just enough cushion.

...10 years since that game...