Inside the numbers: Mississippi State-UMass first half stats
Mississippi State and UMass have reached halftime at Davis Wade Stadium and the Bulldogs hold a 21-10 advantage.
The visiting Minutemen dented the scoreboard first and took a 7-0 lead on their first series of the game. Massachusetts marched 76 yards and Brandon Campbell capped off the drive with a three-yard touchdown run with 7:23 left in the opening period.
After forcing State’s offense into another three and out, the Minutemen took advantage of a short field on their next series. Jacob Lurie drilled a 24-yard field goal and Massachusetts increased its lead to 10-0 with 1:13 remaining in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs finally got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter. Thanks to a 40-yard kickoff return by Davon Booth, Mississippi State drove 58 yards and freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren scored from three yards out, cutting the UMass lead to 10-7 with 14:27 left in the first half.
State’s defense got the ball back to the offense on the ensuing series thanks to a Brylan Lanier interception. The Bulldogs then drove 97 yards and took a 14-10 lead when Van Buren tossed an 19-yard touchdown pass to Seydou Traore with 9:05 left in the first half.
Later in the second quarter, Van Buren collected his second rushing touchdown of the half and his two-yard run increased State’s lead to 21-10 with 1:56 left in the half.
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In the first half, UMass totaled 162 yards of offense with 113 coming on the ground. The Minutemen were 5 of 8 on third down and had five penalties for 64 yards. The Minutemen held the ball for 17:14 in the first half.
Mississippi State had 188 yards of total offense in the opening half with 128 coming through the air. The Bulldogs were 4 of 7 on third down and had three penalties for 25 yards. Mississippi State possessed the ball for 12:46 in the first half.
Individually, UMass quarterback Taisun Phommachanh was 6 of 13 passing for 49 yards with one interception. Brandon Campbell led the ground game with seven carries for 48 yards and one touchdown.
For the Bulldogs, Van Buren was 9 of 16 passing for 128 yards with one touchdown. Johnnie Daniels led the ground game with three carries for 44 yards while Van Buren had two rushing scores. Kevin Coleman paced State in the passing game with four catches for 48 yards.
