MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Millersville led 14-3, but a 76-yard touchdown catch from Gabe Brower on a busted play flipped the momentum in Bloomsburg's favor as it went on to beat the Marauders 37-21 Saturday at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium.
Brower's catch-and-run came with Millersville in full control of the game. The Marauders had Bloomsburg backed up on a third-and-10 with 1:39 remaining in the first half. But quarterback K.J. Riley danced away from a pair of near sacks and found Brower, who had slipped into a gap in the Millersville coverage and took it the rest of the way for Bloomsburg's longest play from scrimmage this season.
Millersville had a chance to answer, reaching the Bloomsburg 27 in the closing minute of the half, but
Tommy Hunsicker's pass to
Jermaine Tillery was underthrown, and Xzavier Pusateri made a leaping interception at the goal line.
"Right before the half, we had a blown coverage. That keeps happening week in and week out," said Millersville interim head coach
Brian Ferguson. "Have to do a better job communicating on the back end. You can't give that up right before the half. That took the momentum away. We still had a chance to drive and answer back, but we had to do a good job of finishing the drive."
Bloomsburg ripped off 20 unanswered points, getting another 60-yard TD pass from Riley, this time to Justin Wolfe. Millersville closed the gap to 23-21 with a 34-yard strike from Hunsicker to
Steven Graves III, but Bloomsburg retaliated with a 68-yard drive to extend the lead back to two scores, and Hunsicker's third interception of the game turned into another late Bloomsburg touchdown.
Hunsicker completed 20 of 33 passes for 277 yards and two scores. His 74-yard completion to
JQ Brown in the first quarter--the longest completion of his career--set up a
Jose Lopez TD run. Two of his INTs came late in the game as Millersville looked to take chances down the field. Millersville's quarterbacks, however, have now thrown 17 interceptions in eight games.
"Tommy can still get better, but I thought we could win with the performance he had today. Toward the end of the game, we needed someone to make a play, and he was trying to do that. Yes, we have to limit the turnovers, and we have to get points on drives."
Brown totaled 141 receiving yards, the most by a Marauder since Sept. 21, 2021.
Colin Hastings made his third touchdown catch of the season.
Bloomsburg totaled 215 yards rushing and 296 yards passing for a season-high 511 yards of offense. Riley scored two rushing touchdowns and threw a pair of passing touchdowns. Millersville has now allowed at least 474 yards in each of the last seven games and at least 37 points in all eight.
"We have a young team with a bunch of injuries, and we are playing a lot of guys who aren't ready to play college football yet," said Ferguson. "We need them to grow up and do their job. When we get 11 guys to each do their job, that's when we'll start winning games."
Two of Millersville's final three games are at home. It hosts Lock Haven on Nov. 1 at 12 p.m.
