AMHERST — Someone is leaving McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Saturday with their first win in nearly two years.
UMass, 0-5 and co-owners of the nation’s longest active losing streak at 16 games, will host 0-6 UConn, which has already been eliminated from bowl contention with only five FBS opponents remaining on its schedule, at 3:30 p.m.
The Minutemen haven’t won since beating Akron on Sept. 19, 2019. The Huskies last triumphed Oct. 26, 2019, over UMass at McGuirk.
“It’s a big game for all of us. It’s a big game for our players. It’s a big game for UMass. It’s a big game for UConn,” UMass coach Walt Bell said. “There’s a lot on the line for a lot of people.”
UMass holds a 37-35-2 lead in the program’s all-time series, which began in 1897. UConn has won two of the past three meetings and seven of the past 10 between New England’s only two public institutions playing FBS football.
“There’s history with the two programs. We’re focused (on) the opponent. The opponent is UMass. There’s a lot of local players and they have teammates or friends there and it’s also bragging rights, too,” UConn interim head coach Lou Spanos said.
There are three Connecticut natives on UMass’ roster: sophomore defensive lineman Cletus Mathurin of Hartford, long snapper Evan Deckers from Avon and kicker Jay LaRosa from Newington.
Connecticut, similarly, has four Bay Staters: Somerville’s Elijah Jeffreys, Worcester’s Kevin Mensah, Will Meyer of Arlington and Jonathan Pace from Boston.
“It felt like New England (this week). It was raining at practice. It was real get it out the mud weather, a get it out the mud environment,” UMass running back Ellis Merriweather said. “It’s probably the rivalry of New England, or one of the biggest rivalries in there. Probably a little extra juice.”
The two schools are approaching Saturday’s contest trending in different directions. UMass has averaged five points per game over its past two after putting up 28 against Eastern Michigan and Boston College. UConn has lost its last two games by a combined four points on a last-second field goal against Vanderbilt in Nashville and a failed two-point conversion against Wyoming at home.
“You can tell from an effort level, after those first couple games like special teams, it’s the same players just a little more strain,” Bell said. “They’ve cleaned themselves up on offense, they’ve something that makes them, them, a little bit of an identity.”
“Little bit” being the operative part. The Huskies are statistically one of the worst teams in the nation, as is UMass. UConn scores 16.5 points per game, sixth worst in the nation. The Minutemen are dead last at 13.8. They gain nearly an identical number offensive yards per contest (270 vs. 270.2).
Freshman running back Nathan Carter leads the Huskies with 264 yards on the ground and has averaged 4.5 yards per carry.
Defensively, UMass has given up 47.2 points per game, the worst in the country, and 519.4 yards each time out, the nation’s second-worst mark. The Huskies aren’t far behind at 39.7 points and 457.9 yards per game.
UConn linebacker Jackson Mitchell does rank second in the nation with 59 tackles.
“We expect the best version of them on Saturday,” Bell said Tuesday.
That may have been premature. Since Bell’s declaration, UConn quarterback Tyler Phommachanh, who has provided an injection of life to the Huskies offense and helped define their identity, was ruled out indefinitely after a lower leg injury against Vanderbilt. Sophomores Steven Krajewski and Jack Zergiotis competed for the starting job this week in practice.
Then Friday, five members of the UConn program tested positive for COVID-19, the school announced. Spanos, offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Frank Giufre, tight ends coach Corey Edsall, senior left tackle Ryan Van Demark and freshman lineman Will Meyer tested positive and won’t factor into Saturday’s game. They are fully vaccinated and currently isolated. Two unvaccinated team members were identified as close contacts and quarantined. All other close contacts are fully vaccinated and produced multiple negative tests.
Defensive line coach Dennis Dottin-Cotter will assume head coaching duties. He previously served as Delaware’s interim head coach for the Blue Hens’ last five games in 2016. They went 2-3.
Nationally, the game is drawing rubberneck, partially sarcastic attention. ESPN featured both teams in its “Bottom 10” column and called the matchup the “Pillow Fight of the Week of the Year of the Century of the Millennium.”
The @SickosCommittee Twitter account, which celebrates college football’s eccentricities, dubbed it the “Sickos Game of the Century.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.