By now, just about everyone on campus is aware that the Massachusetts football team is returning back to McGuirk this stadium for the first time in three years on Saturday.
However, lost in all the commotion of Homecoming weekend and the pregame tailgate festivities, there’s one major thing that people are forgetting: there is still a football game to be played.
And although the storyline is setting up perfectly for a win in the “return to McGuirk,” the defending Mid-American Conference champion Bowling Green aren’t going to give in too easily to make this a sweet homecoming for the Minutemen.
On paper, UMass’ hardest part of its schedule is behind them. With four games against teams from “power five” conferences to open the season, the Minutemen are returning to conference play against the MAC, a conference that better fits UMass’ style of play.
“I don’t necessarily agree that the hardest part of the schedule is the beginning,” said Colton. “Although those were great teams with bigger schools, the MAC is not an easy conference. (Bowling Green) is a bowl team, and there are plenty of other teams that went to bowls in this conference.”
The Falcons entered the season as preseason favorites to repeat as MAC champions, however after Matt Johnson – 2013 MAC Championship MVP – injured his hip in week one, sidelining him for the entire season, Bowling Green has experience more hurdles than it expected to this season.
“We saw what they did to us last year, and their returning guys have been flying all over the field making plays,” Head Coach Mark Whipple said.
Although Johnson’s injury has slowed down the Falcons offensive production, the major concern for Bowling Green head coach Dino Babers has been his team’s defensive woes.
The Falcons rank dead last in the country in a laundry list of categories including total yards against (2464), yards per game (616), and total passing yards against (1349). Over its first four games Bowling Green has allowed a total of 176 points, an average of 44 points per game, which is sixth worst in the country.
Blake Frohnapfel will be the first to let you about his inconsistency with his deep ball this season. He’s hit Tajae Sharpe for two 77-yard touchdown receptions, but Frohnapfel’s missed plenty more open targets downfield. One major correlation for his struggles has been the change in offense. Frohnapfel has played his entire career in a spread formation before this season. Now under center, the offense runs a series of different formations that not many MAC teams will be accustomed to seeing.
“It’s almost like the spread (offense) is the norm now,” Frohnapfel said. “Running this pro-style, multiple-set offense is different for teams because they haven’t much of that at all.”
The Falcons on the other hand, is an offense that loves to push the tempo. Bowling Green loves to run the no-huddle, hurry up offense and use a combination of running backs and receivers to keep the team fresh. Running backs Travis Greene and Fred Coppet lead the offensive charge with four rushing touchdowns apiece.
“We just have to play full speed in practice and prepare yourself not only as an individual but as a defensive unit as well. At the end of practice we did a ton of pursuing drills with a lot of running. That’s the only way we can prepare for an offense like that. … They run a play about every 18 to 20 seconds so we have to be ready for that.”
The wait is over, and the return to McGuirk is set to kickoff at 3 p.m. Fans may be excited, but for the Minutemen, this is just another football game.
Andrew Cyr can be reached at [email protected], and can be followed on Twitter @Andrew_Cyr.
