AMHERST — For months, head coach Don Brown has said he doesn’t need to hype up his team as much when they play big-time schools. Saturday’s noon kickoff against No. 21 Missouri figures to be UMass’ biggest at McGuirk since the transition to FBS.

UMass is 0-9 against ranked opponents in its FBS history and 0-10 against the SEC, though they’ve never played a ranked team or an SEC team at home and they’ve never played Missouri. Last season, UMass lost by a combined score of 122-14 in road matchups against No. 6 Penn State and SEC opponent Auburn.

The 1-4 Minutemen are trying to use the gulf between the two teams as motivation.

“I personally love it. I enjoy the challenge,” senior linebacker Jalen Stewart said during preseason camp. “There’s a lot of guys in here that, quite frankly, we feel like we were slighted in the recruiting ranks. We feel like we’re just as good, if not better than some guys that we play on some of those teams. It gives us an opportunity to show we do belong with the big guys. We don’t walk into those stadiums scared at all. We walk into them with confidence, because (we) really believe we’re gonna win every game.”

If UMass needs a little inspiration, they can look to Vanderbilt, the SEC’s cellar dweller who knocked off No. 1 Alabama at home last week. Only four of the AP Poll’s preseason top-15 (a group that included Missouri) are still undefeated.

Missouri (4-1) is ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll, but they’ve scuffled in the past few weeks to fall from a high of No. 6 in the rankings. After a pair of shutout wins over Murray State and Buffalo to begin the season, the Tigers squeaked by Boston College 27-21 and had an even closer call against Vanderbilt (30-27 win in double overtime) before losing to Texas A&M 41-10 last weekend.

The Tigers haven’t quite been able to rediscover the magic that led to a program-best season in 2023 — 11 wins and a Cotton Bowl title. 

“As an individual, proving to yourself that you can play against these teams. Oh, you might be scared of an SEC team but if you can go and hold your own and do your job, that’s an individual goal you have to have,” fifth-year center Josh Atwood said. “And completing your individual goal can lead to a team victory. All those teams are beatable. They always look down on teams like us, but I think if we can go and just do our jobs I think we’ll be in a good spot.”

Though UMass alums are few and far between on NFL rosters, that doesn’t mean that current players don’t have pro aspirations. In March, a record-10 players participated in the Minutemen’s pro day, though only the Patriots and Jaguars sent representatives. 

With Saturday’s game the only one on UMass’ schedule to be aired on a major network (ESPN2 at 12 p.m.), a breakout performance from a UMass player could catapult them into the national spotlight. Andy Isabella famously set a program record with 15 catches and racked up 219 yards (fourth in program history) and two touchdowns in a blowout loss to No. 5 Georgia in the final game of the season in 2018.

“If you can lock in and play well against some of those upper-echelon teams, you can really start to consistently build your repertoire for the next level and playing football in the future,” defensive backs coach Mike Livingston said.

UMass adminstration is hoping for a sellout, and UMass players are hoping for a rocking atmosphere at McGuirk. 

“I hope it’s loud in here, I’ll tell you that. I hope it’s really loud in here,” Stewart said. “We [want to] give them a taste of what Amherst looks like and how we get down. I look forward to that. I look forward to protecting home turf. Because that’s rule No. 1, you can’t let anyone come in here and take what’s yours. So I look forward to that one.”