UMass offense denied in shutout at Temple

Temple 28

UMass 0

Gino Campiotti, Brady Olson, and Zamar Wise all took snaps in the UMass football team’s 28-0 loss to Temple (2-2) on Saturday afternoon, but none of the quarterbacks could get much going at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Campiotti got the start and finished with 36 yards and an interception on 7-of-14 passing, while Olson went 1 for 5 for 9 yards and an interception as the two split drives through the first three quarters.

Wise came on in the fourth and threw for 35 yards on 3-of-7 passing.

The Minutemen (1-3) couldn’t get started on offense and went 3 for 18 on third down.

“I think the nemesis today was we just didn’t click on third down and we got behind the chains with a couple of those penalties,” Minutemen coach Don Brown said. “But the bottom line is it’s a 0-0 game very close to the end of the half, so [it was] kind of disappointing.”

The first quarter was scoreless, mostly played between the 30-yard lines, and featured five punts, a turnover on downs, and a UMass interception.

UMass had a chance to put points on the board in the second quarter, but a 48-yard field goal attempt kick by redshirt sophomore Cameron Carson missed short and left.

Temple capped a nine-play, 69-yard drive with freshman E.J. Warner’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Ian Stewart with 1:54 remaining in the half.

The Owls fully woke up after the break, opening the second half with a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Quincy Patterson, who broke through a hole in the right side.

Just three minutes later, Olson started a Minutemen drive by throwing into triple coverage. It didn’t end well. Linebacker Layton Jordan picked off the pass and returned it 41 yards to the house, putting the Owls ahead, 21-0, with 6:14 to play in the third.

The Owls went 76 yards in two plays to start the fourth quarter, with Warner, the son of Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, tossing a 50-yard scoring strike to Adonicas Sanders. Warner threw for 173 yards and two touchdowns but was picked off twice by a UMass defense that had a decent day.

“Obviously, you know, guys can become frustrated,” Brown said, “but like I said . . . you’ve just got to keep playing. And I don’t think we did that very well today.”