AMHERST — UMass football head coach Don Brown may sound a little bit like a broken record when talking to his team about game-plan preparation and handling business, but being around the game of football for as long as he has, he knows just how important it is.

Brown has drilled discipline and preparation into his players’ minds, and after the Minutemen’s 41-30 victory in their season opener on the road against New Mexico State, it seems to be paying off – at least so far. But Saturday holds a much bigger test. Auburn, behind nearly 90,000 fans in a sold out stadium, is ready to put the early-season UMass hype to bed in what will be the Tigers’ first game of 2023 — and the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Kickoff it set for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN.

While the optics of the game may have an entirely different feel to it (SEC opponent, deafening environment, now playing with expectations), Brown has urged the Minutemen to treat Saturday’s game like any other road trip. And since UMass – which is earning nearly $2 million for the trip to Auburn (a program-record payout for an FBS trip) – is coming off an expedition to Las Cruces, the Minutemen already have away-game experience this season.

“Take care of our business and preparation,” Brown said. “[We want to] handle the trip, really, in a very similar fashion as to a week ago. We’ve just got to go ahead and go about our business and make sure we prepare to the fullest; make sure when we get there, we’re ready to go. And we will be. Our guys are excited about this, it’s a big one for us.”

If there is an aspect of the game where UMass undeniably has the upper hand, it’s the fact that the Minutemen do have that New Mexico State game under their belt. Junior quarterback Taisun Phommachanh shook out his early-game jitters, the defense coordinated a clear cohesiveness, and the coaching staff was able to see where it needed to improve. 

Auburn, on the other hand, is going into this weekend essentially naked. Head coach Hugh Freeze – who Brown is very familiar playing against – expressed his concern last week, stating in a press conference that the Tigers were “flat,” and that he “didn’t sense that same energy” he did in previous weeks of practice. Auburn was also very likely to play two quarterbacks, but an oblique strain suffered by Robby Ashford has forced that game plan out the window. Michigan State-transfer Payton Thorne will start at quarterback and most likely be the only one seeing meaningful snaps under center. With all of the question marks surrounding Auburn, Brown joked about the Tigers showing signs of rust on Saturday.

“I hope so,” Brown said with a smile. “But I don’t wish ill on people. I’m sure Coach Freeze will have them ready to play. We just have to meet the challenge. Our second week in a row, on the road, with a sizable trip… we gotta handle the trip like men and make sure we’re prepared to play.”

The Auburn offense didn’t operate smoothly during the majority of 2022, but the Tigers did average over 200 rushing yards per game in a season they went just 5-7 and fired head coach Bryan Harsin eight games in. Enter Freeze, who UMass fans are plenty familiar with due to his stint at Liberty University. In the past four meetings between Liberty and UMass, Freeze’s teams have outscored the Minutemen by a 212-62 margin. They averaged 53 points per game in those four victories, though the closest of the bunch came last year in a 42-24 Liberty win during Brown’s first season back in Amherst.

“I have great respect for [Brown],” Freeze said in a press conference this week. “I think he is one of the best defensive play callers in the country. Last year their record was atrocious, and they had a top 10 defense in the country. I think defensively they play just as hard as any team in the country, and you combine that with Coach Brown’s systems, which are very chaotic and very hard to identify where your offense is at times… they will create negative plays with that. That was a big challenge for us last year when [Liberty] played them up at UMass. They created a lot of negative plays against us. We managed to score enough points to win the game, but it was a challenge. They have our full attention.”

With Auburn star tailback Tank Bigsby off to the NFL, juniors Brian Battie (South Florida transfer) and Jarquez Hunter are sure to step up in his absence. Battie had over 1,000 yards last year, while Hunter tallied 668 and seven touchdowns. The Minutemen may have their hands full with this one-two punch in the backfield. 

Defensively, the Tigers’ line is led by Justin Rogers, a Kentucky transfer who is plenty capable of clogging up the middle. Minutemen running back Kay’Ron Lynch Adams may have a tough time between the tackles, but just as Brown and offensive coordinator Steve Casula showed last weekend, UMass isn’t afraid to use its speed to run around opposing teams’ front sevens – not through them. Phommachanh will have to deal with the lockdown corner duo of DJ James and Nehemiah Pritchett, both of whom are talented enough to play at the next level.

“The number one thing that we’re doing better, is that we’re gaining maturity on how to go about doing our business,” Brown said. “If you were to ask me that two weeks ago, I would have still thought we had a huge hill to climb. I think we’ve done a good job working through it.”

Vegas has the Minutemen as 35-point underdogs, down a bit from the original 40-point line. Five-touchdown dogs along with the fact that not one expert will be picking UMass to win the game provides Brown with some solid bulletin board material. Only one thing: he doesn’t believe in bulletin board material, only execution and focus on the task at hand.

“I don’t think so. We don’t talk about that,” Brown said. “We’re more focused on being prepared, understanding the game plan, and then go execute the best as you possibly can. That’s what it really comes down to. It comes down to how good your execution is and how prepared you are from a mental standpoint and the game plan. Take those things, put them together, that’ll lead to victory. Worrying about what someone’s thinking about you; I mean, cripes, if we did that we wouldn’t get up in the morning.”

Brown acknowledged the cause for concern of an emotional letdown against Auburn after such an exhilarating win against the Aggies in Week 0. However, if his guys are the competitors he thinks they are, he shouldn’t have to say anything to get them fired up for a game of this caliber. 

“There’s some concern about that, but our guys are excited about playing,” Brown said. “The challenge is there in front of us – SEC opponent. If you wanna be the best, you gotta beat the best. So that’s the goal.”

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