Last-minute win for Minutemen

Cuko drills field goal to topple Crusaders

WORCESTER - Sure, yesterday's finish was a heartbreaker for Holy Cross and its fans, but one of the most-anticipated games in recent memory at Fitton Field lived up its the billing.

Armando Cuko nailed a 42-yard field goal as time expired to lift UMass to a 45-42 win before a crowd of 12,781 in the opener for both teams.

"It was a great game to watch," said Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore. "Unfortunately for us, we came up on the short end again in a big game, and that was very disappointing."

Holy Cross tied the score at 42 on Dominic Randolph's 9-yard pass to Freddie Santana with 2:22 to play.

UMass, ranked fourth in the Championship Subdivision, got the ball at its 40 after Matt Partain's kickoff went out of bounds. The Minutemen converted two fourth downs during their final drive to set up Cuko's field goal. Cuko, a redshirt junior, hadn't attempted a field goal since 2005. Holy Cross tried to ice him by calling three timeouts, but Cuko didn't flinch.

"It wasn't even close," said UMass coach Don Brown. "He drilled it. That was an absolute huge kick for us because we certainly don't want to go into overtime against this football team."

The Minutemen, making their first visit to Worcester since 1996, have won seven straight against Holy Cross.

UMass senior quarterback Liam Coen completed 25 of 36 passes for 395 yards and three touchdowns.

"He's got the experience, great pocket poise, and the ability just to make plays," said Holy Cross senior safety Daryl Brown. "It was a learning experience for our defense."

It was Coen's ninth career 300-yard passing game. His top target was junior wide receiver Jeremy Horne, who caught 10 passes for 172 yards and two TDs, all career highs.

Randolph, like Coen a Walter Payton Award candidate, was 28 of 44 for 249 yards and three touchdowns. Holy Cross's 42 points were the most scored against UMass since 2003.

"I wouldn't call it being encouraged, but we're going to learn from what we did," Randolph said. "We know we can compete with anyone. They're a great team and we were right there with them until the very last second."

The Crusaders scored 21 points in the second quarter, highlighted by senior Brett McDermott's 88-yard kickoff return for a TD and Randolph's 8-yard touchdown pass to Santana, which put Holy Cross up, 28-14.

UMass closed the gap to 7 by halftime with the first of three straight touchdowns. The Minutemen took their first lead, 35-28, with 5:13 left in the third quarter.

Holy Cross tied it on Terrance Gass's 21-yard TD run. UMass regained the lead on Tony Nelson's 1-yard rush.

"We knew we had to score on every opportunity," Randolph said.

An 11-play, 77-yard drive, aided by a UMass pass-interference penalty on fourth down, led to Holy Cross's final points.

The Crusaders wanted to keep the ball away from Courtney Robinson, who returned a kickoff 100 yards for a TD in last year's meeting, but UMass started three drives at its 40 after Partain's kickoffs went out of bounds. The one time Robinson did get his hands on the ball, he returned it 59 yards to set up a 19-yard Coen-to-Horne TD in the second quarter.

"We didn't want him to get the ball if we could help it," Gilmore said, "but we didn't execute what we practiced. Putting them on the 40-yard line to start three times, that killed us."

Holy Cross took advantage of the game's only turnover when linebacker Marcus Rodriguez recovered a fumble and the Crusaders embarked on a 15-play, 79-yard scoring drive that culminated in Randolph's 15-yard TD pass to Jon Brock.

"We did a lot of things right," Gilmore said. "We had some individual breakdowns in the kicking game and on defense that opened some things up. Give UMass all the credit in the world. They're an awesome team. When you go against a good team like that, you have to be really good."

Correction: Because of a reporting error, the University of Massachusetts football team's record was incorrect in a story about the UMass-Holy Cross game in Sunday's Sports section. UMass has won both of its games.