Senior linebacker Mike Hall and his upperclassman teammates felt the watchful eye of a former coach Saturday as the Huskies took on the University of Massachusetts at Parsons Field.
Don Brown led his Minutemen team before a crowd of 4,216, standing across from the group of men he recruited, coached and worked with for the first time since his departure from NU in February.
“It did hurt a little bit; you’ve got your coaches that were coaching you last year talking smack on the sidelines,” Hall said. “It was weird to see everybody. They recruited us, they came to your house and everything and now they’re coaching across the sidelines.”
The sting of Brown’s exit and return became that much more agonizing when UMass held NU to three points in the second half, fine-tuning their running game and staying close in the secondary to notch a 26-22 win.
The Northeastern seniors, including quarterback Shawn Brady, linebacker Liam Ezekiel and wide receiver Quintin Mitchell, stand in the middle of one of their more disappointing stretches of football over the course of their NU careers. The loss was their fourth straight, starting with a 41-14 decision at Harvard Stadium on Oct. 16.
Even with two wins in their last two games, the Huskies, at 3-6 (2-4 A-10) will remain under .500 overall for the season. “I’ve never lost four games in a row in my life; it’s tough for me,” said Ezekiel, who set the record for Division I-AA career tackles.
“The individual stuff takes a back seat to that when you lose those games.”
UMass cut a late 19-7 first half for the Huskies to six (19-13) after a Jason Peebler 23-yard touchdown reception with 34 seconds remaining in the first half.
It was a sign of things to come, as the Minutemen struck again at 6:16 in the third quarter with a Rich Demers two-yard run to take a one-point lead (20-19).
Miro Kesic notched his third field goal of the game, a 21-yarder at the start of the fourth quarter, but missed opportunities and failed run defense allowed UMass to climb back for good.
After Kesic’s field goal, UMass running back Steve Baylark (29 carries, 181 yards, one touchdown) continued to work a 6.2 rushing average on the day, continuing to find holes up the middle and to both sides of the field.
He first moved the ball up five, and then on his next play, ran 49 yards, en route to a touchdown before Husky safety Gavin Potter tripped him in stride.
Four plays later, Baylark finished the job from one yard out, breaking free to the right, distancing himself completely from the rushing NU defensive line, and adding the final points to the scoreboard for both teams (26-22). “Ultimately in this contest, the missed tackles were the difference on the day,” Hager said. “Three of the lengthier runs on the day [by Baylark] were the product of not finishing or wrapping up the tackle. This being a competitive football game, and us having a competitive football team, we should have been able to wrap up and finish the tackles. Give him credit for making those plays.”
The first of two chances for the Huskies to respond began with 10:07 left in the contest.
Maurice Murray (23-104, one TD) gained 10 yards on two plays, before Brady found top threat Cory Parks (4-81, one TD) upfield. Parks added plenty to 31 yard gain, avoiding two tacklers to advance to UMass’ 30.
Murray then went another three to the 27, but the Minutemen defense was not going to allow for another Brady-Parks combination. Parks had three men on in the first attempt, then Brady’s second try on third down was too high as Parks neared the corner of the end zone.
“Obviously, it was a very physical football game by two very physical football teams,” Brown said. “It was no Knute Rockne speech, we just said, ‘Hey, too many penalties in the first half,’ we didn’t play too well, we took ourselves out of too many drives, and we just had to step up and stop the run.'”
UMass gave it back to Northeastern after a failed fourth-and-eight passing play from the NU 27-yard line. With 4:14 on the clock, Murray first rushed for three, before Brady went to the air on the next two plays.
His first pass was deflected by Keron Williams, and then his second fell just short of Parks near the 50-yard line. NU was forced to punt and stop the UMass drive. Hager called two timeouts before the two-minute warning, but it was up to the officials who would ultimately decide the game. On third and six, Day attempted a pass to Peebler. NU linebacker E.J. Jackson ran hard, and timed a jump well, completely stopping the football.
However, he was called for pass interference, thus handing UMass the ball and the contest.
Brandon London started the scoring for both teams with a five-yard reception from Day at 11:08 in the first quarter.
Then Kesic, Parks and Murray provided all of the Husky offense in the first half. Parks received a 30-yard pass from Brady, while Murray ran in from four yards, as both scores fell in between two Kesic field goals, 21 and 23-yarders.
“We knew this game meant a lot to him,” Day said of Brown. “We stood behind him. It’s good for us to get it out of the way and move on. We knew he didn’t want us to go out and hurt any of these guys, or go out and play dirty. We just wanted to get a win and get out of there and we found a way to do it.”
