Down its top two quarterbacks and top three receivers, the Massachusetts football team was one play away from stealing a victory from Miami (OH) on Saturday. A miracle two-minute drill headed by Logan Inagawa had McGuirk Alumni Stadium rocking before a failed two-point conversion turned walk-off win hopes into a 20-19 disappointment.<\/p>\n
With one second left in the game immediately following a 21-yard touchdown catch from Max Dowling, head coach Joe Harasymiak chose to go for a walk-off win. Offensive coordinator Max Warner brought out some trickery for the potentially heroic play.<\/p>\n
Drew Alsup motioned across the ball to the right, then came back left to receive a handoff from Inagawa. The freshman receiver then pitched it backwards to Reece Adkins as the tight end came through the backfield from left to right, looking to roll out in that direction and throw to Inagawa as he leaked down the right flat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adkins never got to look downfield because Malcolm McCain smothered him as soon as he got the ball. The RedHawks (3-3, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) linebacker ran straight through the Minutemen\u2019s (4-2, 1-2 MAC) offensive line to blow up the play, leaving the Miami defense to celebrate its way off the field while the home crowd stood frozen in shock.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team is different,\u201d Harasymiak said. \u201cThey never thought they were going to lose today until there was one second left, until it happened\u2026 It\u2019s hard; I love these guys. I\u2019m here to win, and I trust them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inagawa completed all six of his passing attempts for UMass after only running the ball in his prior appearance of the season against Sacramento State. This valiant attempt at a game-saving performance was one nobody could\u2019ve imagined except the Drake transfer himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what this program and this team wants to be about: Next man up mentality,\u201d Harasymiak said. \u201cI\u2019m really proud of [Inagawa].\u201d<\/p>\n
True freshman Aedan McCarthy got the start in place of William \u201cPop\u201d Watson III before exiting the game in the fourth quarter with a right ankle injury. Inagawa came in under center with six minutes left in the fourth quarter as the Minutemen trailed 20-10.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A 34-yard field goal from Derek Morris and a defensive stand later, the third-string quarterback had 2:22 left on the clock with no timeouts to score from the UMass 9-yard line. The drive started with a sack for the RedHawks, but momentum flipped when Inagawa let his first throw of the year fly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Drake transfer found T.Y. Harding wide open down the left sideline for a 30-yard gain, starting an uptick in energy from the home crowd. A sidearm sling under pressure to Jabari Lewis for six yards kept the offense moving, but disaster struck the next two plays.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inagawa lost three yards trying to escape the pocket, then hit Harding on a drag route across the field on third down, where the star slot receiver got injured on a hit to his left leg. Already without Joseph Griffin Jr., the Minutemen receiving corps were down their top two receivers with fourth-and-6 coming up.<\/p>\n
Regardless of the setback, Inagawa delivered again. The sophomore found Lewis between multiple defenders across the middle for a 19-yard gain. The standout freshman receiver then limped his way to the sideline, handing UMass yet another setback.<\/p>\n
Inagawa continued to endure, hitting Alsup for a 9-yard completion in the middle of the field, and making the offense scramble to get on the ball as the clock ticked toward 30 seconds left in the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Georgia native looked for a play downfield as time grew more valuable, tossing a tight-spinner down the right sideline for Tavian Dashiell. The throw sailed over the freshman receiver, but Miami\u2019s Mychal Yharbrough was called for pass interference as the cornerback draped over the back of Dashiell, causing him to stumble.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now set up on the RedHawks 23-yard line with 22 seconds to go, Inagawa stepped up in a collapsing pocket and gained just two yards, making the offense sprint back to the line as the clock ran.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ball was snapped with six seconds left, and UMass sent all of its receivers to the end zone, hoping a prayer would land in one of their hands. Inagawa ranged to his right and fired a strike through the gaps of Miami\u2019s deep zone coverage to Dowling as he dove across the middle of the end zone to send McGuirk Alumni Stadium into a frenzy. That energy quickly went mute one play later, leaving the magic of the drive to expand the pain of the loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here to play aggressive; I\u2019m here to win games,\u201d Harasymiak said. \u201cI\u2019d do it again and trust our guys to go do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The RedHawks were down to their third-string quarterback as well, but the visitors made an intentional quarterback switch, putting a more run-proficient Caleb Heavner in for the initial starter, Thomas Gotkowski.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Heavner ran for 54 yards and a touchdown on 11 attempts to bolster Miami\u2019s rushing attack as a counterpart to running back Rodney Nelson, who went for 52 yards on the same number of rushes. The RedHawks outrushed the Minutemen by 100 yards as UMass still adamantly passed the ball, even with the true freshman McCarthy under center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Bluffton, S.C., native completed 15 of his 29 passes for 171 yards, missing multiple downfield opportunities along the way. McCarthy still led the offense to be competitive in the game, setting up a touchdown run for Curtis Kimmons IV and a program-record 56-yard field goal for Derek Morris.\u00a0<\/p>\n
UMass travels to Buffalo next to face off against the Bulls for the Flagship Cup. That game kicks off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17, and can be watched live on ESPN+.<\/p>\n