Through one quarter in Starkville, things were looking good for the UMass football team. 

The Minutemen came out and played one of their better quarters of the season to open Saturday’s road game against SEC foe Mississippi State, holding a 10-0 lead after 15 minutes. 

The Bulldogs flipped the script the rest of the way. The hosts scored 21 unanswered points to close out the first half before outscoring UMass 24-10 in the second half to pull away with a 45-20 victory at Davis Wade Stadium.

“I thought we got off on the right foot in the first quarter,” UMass coach Don Brown told WHMP 1o1.5 after the game. “We made some plays defensively, did a pretty good job of starting to sink our teeth into them. Offensively, one of the things we’ve been trying to fight is we kind of get drives going and they stall. We’re trying to finish. Obviously I thought those guys did a decent job throughout the contest.

“Defensively we tackled very poorly in the second half,” he continued. “I’d be lying if I said we didn’t take a couple injuries during that game. I’ll have more information for you in the coming days.” 

One of those injuries was to starting quarterback Taisun Phommachanh. 

Phommachanh went 6-for-13 for 49 yards and an interception in the first half but did not return in the second half due to injury. Redshirt freshman Ahmad Haston and true freshman AJ Hairston finished the game under center, Haston going 4-for-5 for 25 yards through the air while adding 22 yards on the ground. Hairston was 7-for-11 for 62 yards passing. 

“It really wasn’t alternating,” Brown said of the work the two young quarterbacks got in the second half. “AJ got some work at the end is what happened. It’s good for him. Any time you can get your young guys playing time in those type of atmospheres is a good thing.”

After forcing a Mississippi State punt, UMass (2-7) took over at its own 24 and marched down the field. The Minutemen converted three third downs and on the 13th play of the drive, Brandon Campbell barreled in from 3 yards out, giving UMass a 7-0 lead with 7:23 to go in the first. 

The Minutemen forced a three-and-out and drove it to the Bulldogs 7 but the Mississippi State defense stood its ground in the red zone, forcing Jacob Lurie to hit a 24-yard field goal that gave UMass its 10-0 lead with 1:13 to go in the first. 

The Bulldogs (2-7) woke up from there. Michael Van Buren ran in a 4-yard score that cut the lead to 10-7 and after a Phommachanh interception, Mississippi State went on a six-play, 97-yard drive capped off with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Van Buren to Seydou Traore that gave the Bulldogs a 14-10 lead. 

Before the Traore touchdown, UMass’ Jalen Stewart looked to have picked off Van Buren, but a roughing the passer penalty negated the interception. Five plays later, Traore found the end zone. 

“I don’t want to lose my mind but I did lose my mind,” Brown said. “I thought that was clearly a clean, solid play that should have resulted with us with the ball and it was taken away. Disappointing to say the least.”

Mississippi State went on another long drive late in the second quarter, marching it 80 yards on 11 plays closed out by a Van Buren 2-yard score that gave the Bulldogs a 21-10 lead at intermission. 

Johnnie Daniels ran in a 36-yard score with 11:11 to go in the third, Davon Booth dashed in from 30 yards out with 3:25 to go before the teams traded field goals in the fourth. 

Mississippi State’s Xavier Gayten added to the scoring with a 72-yard touchdown run with 6:51 to play. UMass freshman AJ Hairston found Jakobie Keeney-James over the middle for a 4-yard TD with 17 seconds to play. 

Van Buren threw for 222 yards and the score while Daniels, Booth and Guyton gained a combined 235 yards on 20 carries. 

UMass gained 199 yards on the ground, led by Campbell (64 yards) and CJ Hester (62). The Minutemen dominated time of possession, holding the ball for 40 minutes, 49 seconds to the Bulldogs’ 19:11. Big plays from Mississippi State proved to be the difference, as the Bulldogs outgained the Minutemen 463-335 despite losing the time of possession battle. 

UMass has a week off before it hosts Liberty on Nov. 16. The Minutemen then travel to Athens to take on Georgia — their third SEC opponent of the season — before closing the slate against UConn. 

“When you get your schedule, you don’t make the schedule as a coach,” Brown said. “You have to be able to play in all types of environments and play all over the country. The only way you’re going to get good at it is doing it.

“The last bye we came off we played about as well as we can play,” Brown later added. “I’m going to make that point that we just have to go back to work, go about our business. We have to take care of the business of tackling, take care of the business of getting off blocks. On the other side of the coin, we left plays out there. We’ll go back to work and take care of all the things that make you better as a player.”