By Brian Bohl
Shortly after watching their team score the game-clinching touchdown, the UMass cheerleaders ran into the end zone with the always cheery Sam the Minuteman. Shortly after, the red-and-white clad smiling Revolutionary War era-inspired mascot led the group into doing 21 pushups-the amount of points scored against the Hofstra football team at that point.
On the other side of the field, Kareem Huggins could only watch as UMass ended his collegiate career, putting a 27-5 drubbing that knocked the Pride out of postseason contention in the Football Championship Subdivision. Just moments before, Huggins had to be helped off the Shuart Stadium turf after a rough hit, ending his afternoon after the senior rushed for just 25 yards on nine carries.
With his team facing a must-win game, Huggins returned from a two-game absence despite recovery from a high left ankle sprain and a bruised bone contusion that he suffered last month against Villanova. The Sewell, N.J. native was leading the CAA in all-purpose yards before getting hurt, and his presence was an attempt to galvanize a struggling team that lost four of its final five games after starting the season 6-0.
“We didn’t lie to anybody. He was doubtful all week,” head coach Dave Cohen said. “If there’s a guy with more courage or internal fortitude, I’d like to meet him. He’s a special person. We were hoping to get a spark out of it, but there wasn’t a lot of running room. He gave it what he had.”
Huggins, who once captured CAA Offensive Player of the Week honors, received his first carry with 8:42 left in the first quarter. His longest run was seven yards, but he couldn’t help quarterback Bryan Savage. The Pride allowed five sacks one game after surrendering seven sacks against Northeastern, preventing them from finding the end zone as they finished 7-4 and still looking for the school’s first playoff berth since 2001.
After walking off the field gingerly following a rough tackle with 55 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Huggins had the tape on his ankle cut off, ending his afternoon and his college career. He still finished with 189 all-purpose yards per game, which was almost 30 more yards than the next closest player.
Huggins also closed the campaign with 957 rushing yards, giving him a 5.4 yards-per-carry average to go along with nine rushing touchdowns. Despite playing in nine games, he became the ninth player in Hofstra history to amass 2,000 career yards, helping him earn a nomination for the Walter Payton Award as the FCS Offensive Player of the Year. Huggins did not address the media following the game.
“I think Kareem Huggins had a great year,” UMass coach Don Brown said. “Unfortunately for him, you could tell he was just trying to gut it out and play in his last game. He gave it everything he had, but he wasn’t at 100 percent. You could see that from the get-go. But it’s nice to see him get in there and compete in his last game.”
Huggins bypassed Kurt Murrell and Paul Que on the school’s all-time rushing list, finishing sixth with 2,178 yards on 518 carries.