UNH routs UMass

Wildcats explode, never look back

UMass's Jeromy Miles (5) can't prevent UNH receiver Terrance Fox from getting a first down. (Josh Gibney/Associated Press)

DURHAM, N.H. - The ball cradled tightly in his arm, Matt Parent thought for a second of taking a knee in his end zone. Then the instincts of the former 1,000-yard, all-state fullback from Long Beach, Calif., took over.

The 6-foot-1-inch, 245-pound senior linebacker thundered ahead, and with a convoy of teammates providing an escort down the left sideline, lumbered the length of the field with a 100-yard interception return, supplying the biggest play on a soggy day in which explosive plays were seemingly endless for the University of New Hampshire. A play, 5 1/2 minutes into the first quarter, that put his Wildcats in command of their annual Colonial Athletic Association battle against the University of Massachusetts.

A play that triggered an onslaught of points, a 24-0 blitz in the first 15 minutes, and put the Wildcats' potent offensive weapons on full display in a 52-21 assault before 6,231 at Cowell Stadium.

In piling up a season-high 621 total yards, including 326 on the ground, and recording its highest point total against UMass since a 56-7 win in 1921, 13th-ranked UNH (8-2, 5-2) charges into next Saturday's North Division showdown at Maine (8-3, 5-2) with a full head of steam.

Sophomore R.J. Toman passed for 295 yards and four touchdowns. Senior tailback Robert Simpson galloped for 125 yards on 23 carries. Senior Mike Boyle hauled in four catches for 147 yards and rushed for 42 yards on two carries.

All ignited after Parent, winner of the Bill Knight Trophy as the game's most outstanding player, decided to take off and run.

"My big butt wasn't going to make the entire 100 yards," said Parent of his initial hesitancy, after scoring the first touchdown of his college career. "I got the blocks up front, I started slowing up, and I got a little tired, but the whole defense was running, like a big convoy, we all ran into the end zone together."

UNH coach Sean McDonnell said, "Don't let him kid you, Matt's a heck of an athlete, and was a hell of a high school fullback."

Trailing, 3-0, the Minutemen (6-5, 3-4) had marched to the UNH 6 on their first possession, but on the ninth play of the series, Wildcats senior cornerback John Clements tipped Liam Coen's third-and-6 pass at the goal line, into the waiting arms of Parent.

A game-changer, certainly, for UMass, which watched its slim playoffs hopes ground to a halt with the loss.

"We got off to such a bad start, it's been our culprit all year," said UMass coach Don Brown. "It was really our demise. It was as tough a first quarter as I've ever been a part of."

Three plays later, sophomore linebacker Devon Jackson picked off Coen (22 of 41, 211 yards, four interceptions) at midfield. Toman took it from there, galloping 43 yards through the heart of the Minuteman defense on a first-down keeper, untouched, for a 17-0 lead.

UMass got effective inside running from senior Tony Nelson (24 carries, 154 yards), but drives fizzled with disastrous results. Junior tackle T.J. Taylor leveled Coen on fourth and 7 at the Wildcats' 37, the ball popped loose, and Parent pounced on it, again eyeing the end zone. But he got his feet tangled up with end Brian McNally, and tripped up at the UMass 48.

No worry. On first down, Toman option pitched to Chad Kackert (16 carries, 86 yards) and the 5-8, 190-pound junior put his quick feet to work, sprinting down the left sideline, untouched, for a 24-0 margin, with 2:43 left in the first quarter.

UMass finally broke through for a score, but the Wildcats put the game away in the final two minutes of the first half, with Toman connecting with 6-6, 230-pound redshirt freshman Chris Jeannot (two TDs) on a 77-yard catch-and-run down the left side for a 38-7 bulge.

"I can't say enough about our defense, opportunistic, the way that they played today," said McDonnell, who appealed to his squad after last week's 24-13 loss at Villanova, "to play the way they are capable of playing.

"Four picks, two fumbles, a score on the defensive side of the ball. [We did] a really good job of giving the ball to our offense . . . And the guys up front did an unbelievable job."

Craig Larson can be reached at clarson@globe.com