ATHENS, Ga. — Nobody would have blamed the UMass football team if it rolled into Sanford Stadium and played an uninspired brand of football against No. 8 Georgia given its tumultuous week – headlined by the firing of head coach Don Brown.

But the Minutemen did the complete opposite, coming out of the gate with a physical 10-play (nine rushes), 75-yard drive ending in a CJ Hester touchdown run to put the visiting six-touchdown underdogs ahead 7-0. UMass continued to play physically on offense and found itself down only 10 points midway through the third quarter, before the Bulldogs turned it on and pulled away for a 59-21 win on Saturday afternoon.

The loss dropped the Minutemen to 2-9 on the season, and put a bow on game one of two under interim head coach Shane Montgomery.

“This was a tough task today, coming in and playing a team like this Week 11 when you’re a little bit banged up,” Montgomery said. “But I really am proud of the team. We gave ourselves a chance in the first half to stay in the game which was huge. At some point they start to wear you down a bit on both sides of the line… We competed really well today and I’m proud of the guys.”

After Hester’s 1-yard score on UMass’ opening possession – a drive supported by a 38-yard Ahmad Haston scamper – Georgia star quarterback Carson Beck ripped off a trio of unanswered touchdown passes. Oscar Delp, Cash Jones and Dominic Lovett were the beneficiaries to help the Bulldogs jump out in front 21-7 with just under nine minutes remaining in the first half.

With the Bulldogs faithful reaching a deafening volume, true freshman quarterback AJ Hairston stepped behind center as calm as ever. Hairston started the drive with two completions – one to Jakobie Keeney-James and another to Sterling Galban – and scrambled for 10 yards to pick up a key fourth-and-5. UMass’ ground game, which dominated the first half, took over from there, and Jalen John punched in a 3-yard touchdown to put the Minutemen back within one score, 21-14.

Beck responded by carving up the UMass secondary once again, and the senior slung his fourth touchdown of the opening two quarters 34 yards to Arian Smith. Georgia doubled up (28-14) the Minutemen at halftime.

“When you’re going against a team like that, they’re gonna get their yards on offense,” Montgomery said. “The biggest thing was, the second half, we slowed them down, we didn’t give up as many big plays or quick touchdowns. We were able to move the ball on offense, which helped keep our defense off the field.”

Georgia kicker Peyton Woodring drove through a 53-yard field goal on the Bulldogs’ first drive of the third quarter, and once again Hairston and UMass had an answer.

On a second-and-10 from the Minutemen 25-yard line, the freshman from Florida avoided a Georgia pass rusher, stepped up in the pocket and let fly a deep ball toward Keeney-James down the right sideline. Battling with two defenders, Keeney-James elevated to come down with it, broke free and raced into the end zone for six.

The 75-yard highlight-reel touchdown made it 31-21 and would be UMass’ last. Hairston finished with 121 yards, the one score and no interceptions on 7-for-16 passing. Haston completed the only pass he threw for four yards and added 50 yards on the ground. Keeney-James hauled in three catches for 101 yards and the touchdown – the sixth time the senior receiver has had 75 yards or more this season.

The two freshman quarterbacks handled the hostile environment about as well as Montgomery could’ve hoped.

“It was a heck of a play; a great throw and a great catch,” Montgomery said of Keeney-James’ touchdown, his fifth of the year. “We kind of went to a dead count where we were gonna see what they were in, and the corner was off to start with. When we checked the play the corner came up and pressed. I saw the ball thrown, and I saw about three bodies go up for it – one of ours and two of theirs… Great job of staying in bounds. That was a huge play.”

UMass rushed for a whopping 226 yards, its second-highest total of 2024, against a Georgia defense that surrenders only 114 yards per game on the ground. It was the most rushing yards Georgia has allowed in a game since 2018.

“We did not tackle well but it was more than just tackling. I don’t think our guys were ready to play or as energized to play as their guys were,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “Their guys wanted it more than us. It’s very rare that I can say that. They were playing harder, they were moving us, they were playing physical. It was a want-to and desire. That was the biggest part of it.”

John put together his best performance of the season, rushing for 107 yards on nine attempts (11.9 yards per carry), while Hester recorded 74 yards rushing. Each back found paydirt in the first half. Brandon Campbell had seven yards on three carries and tight end Dominick Mazotti executed a sneak play to perfection to pick up a fourth-and-1 with a 3-yard rush.

The Minutemen offensive line put together its best outing this fall, giving up just one sack all game and creating consistent push up front in the run game.

“I was really proud of the way that we ran the football today against a great defense, one of the best in the country,” Montgomery said. “The big thing about their defense is they don’t give up a lot of big plays. And we did have some chunk plays today that I wasn’t sure we were even gonna get. But we did a great job of creating some of those.”

Bulldogs true freshman Nate Frazier (136 rushing yards) then scored three consecutive touchdowns on the ground and Chris Cole rumbled in from 38 yards out after recovering a Hairston fumble. In the blink of an eye UMass was down 59-21.

A victory on Saturday was never expected, but UMass left Athens pleased with its effort given the circumstances: playing the winner of two of the last three national championships in their building without Don Brown.

UMass (2-9) returns to Amherst to host UConn for senior day at McGuirk Alumni Stadium next Saturday at noon.