AMHERST – The boos echoed as CJ Kolodziey jogged over to midfield to punt.
UMass faced a fourth and three from its own 45 and trailed New Mexico State by three with 9 minutes, 30 seconds left. The Minutemen’s offense had just picked up 41 yards over 10 plays behind quarterback Brady Olson, who completed 3-for-5 passes for 29 yards and ran for another nine. They hadn’t scored in the second half.
If UMass ever had momentum on offense to pick up a fourth down conversion, that was the moment. Instead, UMass coach Don Brown sent out Kolodziey and the punt unit. The man who solves all of his problems with aggression went conservative in the game’s critical moment.
Kolodziey dropped the kick at the New Mexico State 12 with 9:14 left. Brown’s defense needed a stop to give the Minutemen a chance at a short field and a tying or go-ahead score.
“My thought was, we’re playing good enough defense we’ll pin them here and have another shot,” UMass coach Don Brown said.
They did not. After a five-yard Ahmonte Watkins rush, New Mexico State quarterback Diego Pavia uncorked a 33-yard pass down the right sideline to Jonathan Brady, immediately negating any field position gains from the punt.
The Aggies finished that drive with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Pavia to Terrell Warner with 3:42 left, cementing a 23-13 victory. New Mexico State hadn’t won on the road since 2018.
The Aggies (3-5) outscored UMass 13-0 after halftime and held UMass (1-7) to 85 total yards and 27 rush yards in the second half.
“Very disappointing. Obviously we’re coming off a bye. We had two weeks to prepare. Had good moments in the football game, but too little too late,” Brown said. “First half, I thought guys were really competing hard at high level, and we reflected that, but obviously we were not able to manufacture anything offensively in the second half .”
New Mexico State took its first lead 16-13 on a 43-yard Ethan Albertson field goal with 6:16 left in the third. A UMass defensive pass interference penalty followed by a facemask put the Aggies on the UMass 26. After an incompletion and a short rush, UMass’ Marcus Cushnie and Jalen Stewart sacked Paiva on third down to set up the more challenging kick.
The Aggies forced a UMass three and out to start the third quarter, and Pavia scooted up the left sideline for 38 yards into Minutemen territory. He found a wide open Thomaz Whitford at the UMass 15 that forced a UMass timeout two plays into the second half.
The Minutemen’s defense stiffened, including halting a third-and-4 reverse to force an Albertson 35-yard field goal that tied the game at 13 with 9:59 on the third quarter clock.
New Mexico State scored 10 unanswered points in the second quarter. Albertson connected on a 41-yard field goal with 6:37 to halftime. Aggies corner Syrus Dumas set up the score with a diving interception. Olson hit George Johnson III with a high pass on the left sideline, but Johnson bobbled it and couldn’t haul the ball in. Dumas kept it off the ground with his left and hand cradled it as he fell to the ground.
The Aggies gained eight yards and kicked the field goal.
Their next possession, Pavia entered the game and hit Justice Powers for a 31-yard catch and run that injured two UMass defensive backs – Tanner Davis and Jordan Mahoney – after they collided trying to make the tackle. Mahoney walked off under his own power, but Davis needed examination on the field and was taken directly to the locker room.
On the next play, Pavia connected with a wide-open Jamoni Jones for a 39-yard score that tied it at 10 five minutes later.
Pavia finished 7-of-12 through the air for 223 yards with two scores and ran for a team-high 56 yards.
“He got the hot hand. Sometimes that happens with the quarterback,” Brown said. “He made – I thought – three throws that were really exceptional.”
UMass appeared to stall after three plays following a strong Greg Desrosiers kickoff return, but a New Mexico State running into the kicker penalty gave the Minutemen new life as halftime approached.
Olson found Cam Sullivan-Brown on a quick out, then running back Ellis Merriweather (84nyards) picked up a first down with a six-yard run. After two passes to Josiah Johnson put the Minutemen in field goal range, both teams called timeout with seven seconds to go and the ball on the 17 yard line.
It was Olson’s fifth appearance of the season and second start. He eclipsed his season totals with 15 completions on 28 attempts for 97 yards.
“It’s been been an ongoing process for two weeks. We opened it up during the bye week,” Brown said. “We’re constantly trying to tweak our roster and find guys that can help help our roster. That’s not only the quarterback position, it’s every position on the team. He clearly had the best two weeks of practice.”
UMass’ Cameron Carson hit a 34-yard field goal that put the Minutemen up 13-10 and was run into again. The Minutemen declined the penalty and took that advantage into halftime, where they’d receive the third quarter kickoff.
UMass running back Kay’Ron Adams delivered a haymaker to open the second quarter after a first quarter filled with jabs. He burst through a gaping hole on the right side of the line and ran 66 yards untouched to the end zone for his second score as a Minuteman with 12:54 to halftime. It was the longest rush of his career and the longest offensive play of UMass’ season.
He finished with 72 yards on six carries.
Carson put the Minutemen ahead initially with a 41-yard field goal with 6:15 left in the first quarter. The teams combined for 26 plays and just 78 yards in the opening stanza. Neither averaged more than five yards per play.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.