AMHERST — Michael Curtis didn’t have much time to think last year when he raced onto the field at Florida International at the end of the second quarter.
His previous three appearances for UMass had come in garbage time when there was nothing to settle except the final score. His job was mainly to help run the clock out by handing off the ball with just three pass attempts. Curtis entered that Sept. 15, 2018 game as the third-string quarterback, and although he was ready to play, few expected he would even see the field.
But then Andrew Ford went down with an injury after being sacked in the first quarter. Then Ross Comis misfired on a pass to Marquis Young and left the field shortly thereafter. Curtis was inserted into the game, completed roughly half of his passes with a touchdown and two interceptions as the Panthers steamrolled the Minutemen.
UMass (1-4) returns to FIU (1-3) on Saturday for another 7 p.m. kickoff under the lights in north Miami and Curtis will take the field as the starter. This time, though, the redshirt senior has two starts and plenty of game experience in his back pocket.
“One of the things I try to pride myself on is that every year I feel like I become a better player in some aspects or all aspects,” Curtis said. “More than anything else, the comfort. That FIU game, it was like real fast – down, down and you’re in the game. It wasn’t that I was super nervous or anything, but the more that you’re in the game and you’re out there, you’re just so much more comfortable and the idea of a D-I football game or a big-time game doesn’t hit you, it’s more of a go out there and do what you do type of situation.”
Curtis entered this past offseason as the favorite to be the starter, having performed well in his one career start up until that point – a 49-31 win over Charlotte a week after the FIU loss. It helped that coach Walt Bell’s spread offense was very similar to the one Curtis excelled in as a redshirt freshman at Trinity Valley Community College in Texas. It was Curtis’ job to lose to fellow redshirt senior Randall West and junior college transfer Andrew Brito.
Throughout the spring and into fall training camp, Curtis was unable to separate himself from the pack and couldn’t replicate the consistency West showed. West ended up being named the starter for the opener against Rutgers and Brito slid into the backup role, having made tremendous progress since arriving in Amherst for the summer. Curtis was back in the same position he was in last year as the third-string quarterback.
“Given I’ve been here now three years and really tried to do what I could and try to outwork everybody and do what I could to work my butt off, then to have success last year in a game then feel like I didn’t really get to play much after that, and then this year to come and then get told I’ll be third on the depth chart, it hurts that first day,” Curtis said. “But once Coach Bell had notified the team and people asked me about it, I told them it’s not something to sulk about or be down all the time about it. That isn’t an option.”
That attitude is what has stood out to Bell over the first five weeks of the season. Yes, Curtis protected the ball a lot better in last week’s win over Akron than he did during training camp, but that was natural as Curtis continued to feel comfortable in the offense. What wasn’t natural was for Curtis to accept his role and not let the disappointment affect his preparation or leadership.
“When he wasn’t playing and when he is playing, he’s been the same guy,” Bell said. “Has he come out and done a really nice job? Absolutely, but even more impressive for him is he’s been the same guy every day – and especially at this age – that’s hard to do. So I’m really proud of how he’s handled his business and if you do right, right will follow.”
However, there is a difference in Curtis’ situation between last season and this season. Last year, Curtis knew in the back of his head that no matter how well he played, Comis and Ford would usurp him on the depth chart when they were healthy. This year, Curtis has the chance to run away with the quarterback position and solidify himself as the starter – just as Bell would prefer someone did.
“I’m on cloud nine, I’m just so excited,” Curtis said. “I really take pride in having fun when I’m out there because football is a game. Yes, it’s always fun when you win, but I try to bring the highest and most energy I can to my guys around me. … This week, I’m just smiling all the time and really happy to be out here knowing that last year was a situation where I didn’t know what was going to happen because two of the guys who were in front of me came back. This week, knowing I get to go out there and get the chance to repeat – or hopefully do better than – last week with my guys is definitely exciting.”
Josh Walfish can be reached at jwalfish@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshWalfishDHG. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.