AMHERST — Although the UMass football team didn’t win either of its last two contests, it put together arguably its best eight consecutive quarters all season long. The Minutemen dropped a crushing 35-34 overtime game to Liberty two weeks ago before battling toe-to-toe for the better portion of their matchup with national powerhouse Georgia last Saturday.

With all of the uncertainty surrounding the program following the firing of head coach Don Brown two days after the Liberty loss, it wasn’t a guarantee that the Minutemen would show up to Athens, Ga. motivated to play. Yet they did, and they trailed only 31-21 midway through the third quarter.

“I was really proud of the team,” interim head coach Shane Montgomery said during Monday’s press conference. “It was a daunting task, especially Week 11, to go into a place like that... But I was really proud of our guys, and we gave ourselves a chance to stay in the game through most of three quarters… It was a tough week, and not only for our players, but I want to praise our coaching staff, too, because there’s a lot of uncertainty not only with the players but with the coaches’ futures. There was a lot on their plate, and I really thought they had our guys ready to play.”

UMass has one final chance to pick up its first FBS win of 2024, and it’ll come on senior day (noon kickoff) against UConn this afternoon at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

Last week, rumors circulated that UMass athletics had canceled senior day festivities, or at least altered it in some way. But less than 48 hours later, an announcement was made that senior day would carry on as scheduled – with each graduating individual being recognized.

It has been nothing short of an emotional roller coaster over the past several weeks for the Minutemen, but Montgomery expects his guys to be ready to go when the pigskin is teed up.

“Any time you put your blood and sweat into things, whether it’s four years or one year, that last game or the potential of it being your last game is very emotional – so I hope we handle it well,” Montgomery said. “But I think once kickoff starts, our guys’ minds will be where it needs to be.”

UConn currently sits at 7-4, its most wins in a season since 2010. The Huskies are led by senior quarterback Joe Fagnano, who threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns against Syracuse last week – a game they lost on the road, 31-24. Fagnano has thrown 15 TDs and only three interceptions all season.

In the backfield, UConn has a trio of ball carriers that have all proven to be dangerous when given opportunities. Durrell Robinson leads the team with 648 yards and seven touchdowns, but Cam Edwards (614 yards, 6 TDs) is close behind, as is Mel Brown (551 yards, two scores). Each provide a different aspect – whether it be power or speed – to the Huskies backfield, making it difficult to stop.

UMass’ front seven will have its hands full for the second straight game.

“We’ve got a tough challenge this week, against a very good UConn team that’s 7-4 right now and trying to go for their eighth win,” Montgomery said. “They’ve had some big wins this season, and I know they played Syracuse really well last week – took it down late in the fourth quarter. We’ll have a number of guys playing their last game, so we want to try to help those guys go out with a win and really just build some momentum as this program moves forward.”

On the other side of the ball, UConn holds a top 45 rushing defense in the country, giving up 131 yards per game in that department. Part of the Minutemen’s offensive success over the past several weeks has stemmed from a potent ground attack. Last week against the Bulldogs, UMass rushed for 226 yards. The week before against Liberty? 263. Led by Jalen John and CJ Hester, the Minutemen need another big rushing day to compete with UConn.

They also need to convert in the red zone, something they’ve struggled to do with consistency in 2024. Montgomery lauded the Huskies’ ability to make things tough on offenses when the field shortens up.

“Just keep going, and not only them, but the offensive line,” Montgomery said of the UMass’ rushing game. “We’ve ran the ball really well the last three weeks, starting with the Mississippi State game. Had a great game against Liberty, and I was really proud of what the front and the backs did, and the receivers blocked really well… Hats off to those guys. We struggled earlier in the season running the football, and they’ve really stayed with it even though we’re playing some tough teams down the stretch.”

Saturday will mark game No. 2 without Don Brown, which means game No. 2 with Keith Dudzinski calling the defense. Now that the UMass defensive players have a better understanding of a few new wrinkles Dudzinski has thrown into the mix, a better output can be expected after surrendering 550 yards of offense to Georgia.

“With Coach Dudzinski taking over and adding some things that he’s had in the past, I think you’ll see a much better and more improved defense this week with a little bit more confidence too,” Montgomery said.

Despite it being a rivalry game filled with intensity, Montgomery believes the keys to winning are the same as any other game. The OC-turned-interim-HC wants his team to win the battle up front, not turn the ball over like it did in the 2023 edition of the annual meeting and limit the Huskies’ big plays on offense.

If those three goals can be achieved, and UMass’ two-quarterback system of freshmen Ahmad Haston and AJ Hairston continues to be effective, the Minutemen more than have a shot to win with how they’ve played in the month of November.

UConn is currently a 10.5-point favorite and has an 82 percent chance to win according to ESPNBet. The over/under is set at 49.5.