AMHERST – In a game full of weather delays and lengthy, prolonged stoppages, the UMass football team dropped its home opener to Miami (Ohio) 41-28 on Saturday night at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

The first of two game suspensions came right before kickoff, which was scheduled for 3:32 p.m. It lasted nearly two hours before teams finally took the field again. 

The RedHawks scored on their opening drive, as quarterback Brett Gabbert connected with receiver Gage Larvadain for completions of 38, 6, and a touchdown of 26 yards to give the visitors an early 7-0 lead on the Minutemen.

Later in the first quarter, with 2:42 remaining, the game was stopped yet again – this time for much longer. Play was halted at 6:04 p.m. and didn’t resume until 9:42 p.m.

“I’ll be honest, it’s not an easy experience,” UMass head coach Don Brown said, referring to the circumstances provided by the weather. “Not a fun experience. Here you are in the first home game, and there’s not a soul in the bleachers.”

A game-changing sequence occurred right before the second delay. The Minutemen – led by quarterback Carlos Davis, who was making his first career FBS start – drove down to the Miami (Ohio) 1-yard line with eyes set on tying the game.

On a third-and-goal, Davis called his own number on a quarterback sneak. He appeared to break the goal line comfortably, but officials ruled him short. The next play, Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams was stuffed inside the 1, so UMass turned the ball over on downs. The game was suspended following that possession.

“[That] one play, that kind of goes unnoticed,” Brown said. “That’s the difference between a touchdown in the first half and the game being 7-7. The way the game played out, it made it a big deal. That was disappointing to say the least.”

After the third-down play in which Davis looked like he tied the game, Brown sprinted down the sideline to call a timeout in hopes to prompt a replay review. His request was unfortunately denied.

“(The officials) said they didn’t have a great view of it,” Brown said. “Somebody gave me a look at something on Twitter, and it looked like we were clearly in the end zone.”

Larvadain wasn’t done after his opening drive. Not even two lightning postponements could slow him down. He ended the night with eight catches for 273 yards and three touchdowns – including a 99-yard touchdown on the second play following the three hour and 38 minute delay.

“We were worried about him,” Brown said. “He’s their best player, best offensive threat. When we were in one of the zone coverages, he kind of caught us.”

Those 2 minutes and 42 seconds that were left on the clock in the first quarter was enough time to determine the outcome of Saturday’s contest. 

UMass was stopped short, Larvadain struck on the long-ball touchdown to double the Miami (Ohio) lead, and on the Minutemen’s ensuing possession, Davis was stripped by RedHawks defensive lineman Caiden Woullard. Miami (Ohio)’s Kobe Hilton jumped on it in the end zone to give the RedHawks a 21-0 lead in the blink of an eye.

The teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter – UMass’ coming on a Dashaun Jerkins 53-yard pick six – to go into halftime with the score 28-7.

The offense didn’t get going until the second half. Davis connected on two beautiful deep balls up the middle of the field, one to Greg Desrosiers Jr. for a 32-yard touchdown and the other to Mark Pope on a third-and-20 for a 50-yard touchdown. The latter pulled the Minutemen within 28-21.

“I think he got himself into a little bit of a groove, and he found George (Johnson III) on three or four occasions,” Brown said. “He hit a couple of stripers on seam balls that were really well done. That’s the kind of arm strength he has.”

That groove started by taking easy checkdown throws that the RedHawks were willing to give up. This eventually opened things up down the field.

“Offensively, I thought we really took advantage [of the easy throws],” Brown said. “They’re a free-access team, meaning their corners are gonna play off. You have the opportunity to take advantage of those scenarios with a good, short passing game of seven to eight to 10 (yard) range. I thought we did a good job handling that.”

Davis tossed his third touchdown pass to Johnson III on a slant pattern on third-and-goal from the 5 to bring the Minutemen to within 31-28 with 11:19 left in the fourth quarter. This came after a Billy Wooden strip sack and fumble recovery set UMass up with a very short field.

On the ensuing possession, Larvadain struck again. He burned the Minutemen defense for a 69-yard catch, but coughed up the ball right before he got to the end zone. Luckily for Miami (Ohio), Cade McDonald was sitting right there to scoop it up and dive in for a score.

“In the second half of that third quarter, I thought we did a good job checking [Larvadain], because he got quiet there,” Brown said. “Then he hit the big play at the very end of the game. Disappointing.”

The comeback attempt came up just a few plays short for UMass.

In a three-game stretch that has included two long road trips and a time-zone change, Brown believes Saturday was the toughest test the Minutemen have endured thus far.

“We’ve been to [Las Cruces], we’ve been to Auburn, Alabama, and maybe one of the toughest games we’ve played is our own home game in terms of the demands physically and mentally,” Brown said.

UMass (1-2) travels to Eastern Michigan (1-1) next Saturday for a 2 p.m. kickoff. The Eagles lost at Minnesota on Saturday, 25-6.

NOTES: Third-string QB Brady Olson came in for a hobbled Davis late in the fourth quarter. Brown said he thinks Davis will be fine, that the injuries were nothing serious… Olson was 0-3 with an interception… The Minutemen had more first downs than Miami (Ohio), converted a higher percentage of third downs, ran more plays, and won the turnover battle on Saturday. … The game ended just after midnight eastern time.