A look at how tough UMass’ football schedule might be | Sports

It gained’t be lengthy now. The College of Massachusetts will hit the soccer discipline Labor Day weekend.

The Minutemen will open the 2021 season on Saturday, Sept. 4, towards the College of Pittsburgh.

Head coach Walt Bell’s workforce is coming off a truncated 0-4 season, enjoying 4 street video games within the COVID-19 season, and shedding all 4 of them. The Minutemen have gained one recreation in Bell’s two seasons.

For followers seeking to see enchancment, it might present up early and sometimes. That enchancment, nonetheless, may not present itself in victories.

The Athletic printed a narrative on its web site Thursday morning, putting all 130 Division I-FBS groups in descending order from No. 1 to No. 130. The highest three groups, in response to The Athletic, are Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma. None of these groups seem on the 2021 UMass schedule. UMass is down close to the underside at No. 127. The groups beneath UMass are UConn, Previous Dominion and New Mexico State.

UMass will play solely three groups from a Energy-5 convention, all from the ACC. That features Pitt, Boston School and Florida State.

However the Minutemen is not going to have a straightforward go of it in 2021. Of the ten Division I-FBS colleges they’re enjoying, seven of them are ranked in The Athletic’s Prime 55.

Right here’s a take a look at the schedule, with The Athletic rankings.

Sept. 4, at Pittsburgh — The Panthers are ranked forty eighth out of 130 groups. Coach Pat Narduzzi’s squad is led by QB Kenny Pickett, whose offensive coordinator is former UMass head coach Mark Whipple. That is Whipple’s second stint in Pittsburgh, as he was the quarterbacks coach for the Steelers after they beat Seattle to win Tremendous Bowl XL in 2006.

Sept. 11, Boston School — The Eagles of coach Jeff Hafley are ranked forty fourth within the nation. Seven of the 14 ACC groups are listed within the prime 50. The Eagles have one of many prime QBs within the ACC in Phil Jurkovec.

Sept. 18, Japanese Michigan — The Eagles are ranked 109, one among 5 Mid-American Convention groups within the Backside 10 of the rankings. Three groups, Northern Illinois, Akron and Bowling Inexperienced, are all ranked beneath the Eagles.

Sept. 25, at Coastal Carolina — The Chanticleers are ranked seventeenth by The Athletic, and coach Jamey Chadwell’s workforce brings again most of his starters from an 11-1 season. The final time UMass performed Coastal Carolina was in 2019 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. The Minutemen lower Coastal’s result in 21-14 on a second-quarter landing run by Bilal Ally. However Coastal scored three touchdowns within the final six minutes of the second quarter, and that was that.

Oct. 2, Toledo — The Rockets simply missed out being in The Athletic’s Prime 50, as they’re ranked 51st. Toledo is the No. 2 ranked workforce within the Mid-American Convention, with Ball State ranked thirty eighth by The Athletic. Toledo is picked to complete second behind Ball State within the MAC’s West Division.

Oct. 9, UConn — The Minutemen will face their rivals from the Nutmeg State as the marginally higher-ranked workforce by The Athletic. UConn is ranked 128th, one of many ultimate three groups within the 130-school record, primarily as a result of coach Randy Edsall’s membership didn’t play soccer in both 2020 or spring 2021. The final time UMass and UConn met was 2019, and the Huskies scored 21 unanswered factors within the second half in a 56-35 win.

Oct. 23, at Florida State — The Seminoles have fallen right into a tough patch — for them. FSU was 3-6 final 12 months, and that contributed to the varsity being ranked 54th by The Athletic.

Oct. 30, at Liberty — Coastal Carolina is perhaps the highest-ranked opponent in The Athletic’s Prime 130, however the Liberty Flames may simply be the most effective workforce UMass goes to play in 2021. Coach Hugh Freeze’s Flames are ranked twenty first, and produce again QB Malik Willis. Willis accounted for 286 of Liberty’s 629 yards in complete offense in final 12 months’s 45-0 win over UMass. He threw for 3 touchdowns and ran for an additional. Willis is anticipated to be one of many prime QBs taken within the 2022 NFL Draft.

Nov. 6, vs. Rhode Island, and Nov. 13 vs. Maine — Two FCS groups present up on the schedule and will not be ranked by The Athletic. Rhode Island is the preseason No. 6 workforce within the CAA, whereas Maine is ninth.

Nov. 20, at Military West Level — The Black Knights of the Hudson beat UMass 63-7 in 2019. Coach Jeff Monken’s squad is ranked 52nd and is the top-ranked Service Academy. Air Drive is ranked 89th and Navy 96th.

Nov. 27, at New Mexico State — The Aggies had been speculated to play in Amherst final fall, however the recreation was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic points. New Mexico State didn’t play in any respect in 2020. That, coupled with its 2-10 file in 2019, has the Aggies at 130 in The Athletic’s Prime 130.