AMHERST — Linebacker Bryton Barr is in his first season with the UMass football team. But he knows the recent history enough to embrace a revenge tour.
Before the Appalachian State game, assistant coach Charles Walker told the players about how, in 2006b the Mountaineers had beaten his Minuteman for the 2006 Division FCS title.
The following week, the whole team had wanted to pay back Mississippi State for last year’s loss. A week ago, UMass’ fifth-year seniors didn’t hide still simmering frustration from losing to Maine in 2013, the Minutemen’s second year in the FBS.
A year ago after a close first half, BYU discarded UMass by scoring 37 unanswered second half points for a 51-9 rout in Provo, Utah. So payback is certainly a motivator again for the team’s 3 p.m. game at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
“It’s another revenge week,” Barr said. “We’re treating it that way.”
Senior defensive lineman Ali Ali-Musa shared the sentiment.
“I really feel like we do. Everybody is getting stronger. It’s like a rematch,” he said. “Last year we didn’t do so well against them, but it’s a whole different team. I hope they take us lightly. We’re here to play. We’re here to win. We need to show everybody that UMass is not a team to be taken lightly.”
If revenge is best served cold, the game temperature is never expected to get above 40 at the high altitude and is projected to drop below freezing during the game.
Much like UMass, BYU arrives at the game on a mini-hot streak after a tough start to the year. The Cougars opened with a win over FCS Portland State and then dropped seven straight. But they’ve won two of their last three over San Jose State and UNLV going into Saturday’s game. They’ve been helped by the return of tailback Squally Canada, who missed October losses to Mississippi State and East Carolina. He was at full strength last week with 214 rushing yards against UNLV.
“They’ve played pretty good the last couple weeks,” Whipple said. “They got Canada back, and the young quarterback (Joe Critchlow) is pretty poised. They went down to UNLV and got a big win, so I think they’ve solved some of their problems.”
Senior tight end Adam Breneman said the game represents a potential for a benchmark win for the UMass program.
“That would be the type of win that we haven’t gotten yet,” senior tight end Adam Breneman said. “A signature win against one of the big teams in college football. They’re so prestigious and historic. It would be a big win for us. Hopefully when Saturday comes we can execute.”
Barr agreed.
“They’re a Power Five-caliber team. They’re a good team,” he said. “We’re going to respect, them but we’re going to go in there, play our best and expect to win.”
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage