PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Perhaps the biggest question about Walt Bell entering Friday night’s season opener at Rutgers was about how he would coach.
Bell had impressed with his talk throughout his first nine months at UMass and his on-field coaching during practice was evident. But how would he deal with the choices that come with being the final authority on the field? What would happen when he had to choose between going for it on fourth down or punting? How would he choose when to take a risk and when to be more conservative and play the long game.
It didn’t take long for fans to get that answer, and it was a response that put to rest any questions about how Bell would handle being the ultimate decision-maker. On the Minutemen’s first possession of the game, Bell decided to keep the offense on the field for two fourth down tries of at least 10 yards. Both of them proved to be successful – albeit in different ways – setting the stage for UMass to score the first points of the game in a surprising first quarter.
Throughout the game, Bell continued to stay aggressive and proved he wasn’t go to be fearful of the moment or nervous about losing.
“The fourth down early in the game, that was more the analytics that we use knowing it was going to be that long of a field goal and knowing we’re going to need to try for touchdowns to extend this game and put some pressure on them,” Bell said. “We really don’t want to make a living kicking 51, 52, 53-yard field goals. … We knew we wanted to play the game aggressively. When all is said and done here, that’s what I want people to know about our team. We’re tough, we’re blue-collar, we play with incredible effort and we’re going to be aggressive on all sides of the ball.”
The first fourth-down attempt was perhaps the most difficult call of the night for Bell. UMass was facing fourth-and-10 at the Rutgers 39, way too long for a Cooper Garcia field goal but perhaps too short to send the punt team onto the field. It also was the first drive of the game, so not converting on the fourth down would give the Scarlet Knights good field position on their first possession.
Instead, Bell called a play that had been installed early in the spring and was a staple of his offense – something simple enough that everyone on the field had run it hundreds of times already. Randall West faced some early pressure on the play and rolled out to his right trying to buy some time. Seeing no open receiver downfield, he had a choice about whether to take off for the first down himself or shovel it off to Cam Roberson.
“It’s a play we’ve run all spring, all summer, all fall camp,” West said. “I went to the first read, didn’t have it, stepped up in the pocket, they were all dropping and he just sort of came into my vision. I could have ran for it or I could have threw it to Cam, I’d rather have the ball in his hands, he’s a better playmaker than I am. So I just dumped it off to him and he made a great play to get the first down and keep the drive alive.”
The 12 yards Roberson picked up on the play sustained the possession, but three plays later, UMass was back to facing fourth-and-long. This time, it was a fourth-and-13 from the Rutgers 30 and a field goal was not a real option for Bell and punting was certainly out of the question. On this play, West tried to connect with Zak Simon, but the sophomore receiver was held on his route, drawing the first of two flags thrown against Rutgers. The penalties, which gave the Minutemen an automatic first down for the second time on the drive – were followed one play later by West’s touchdown pass to Kyle Horn.
Bell’s biggest gamble, though, came at the start of the second half. Courtesy of a personal foul penalty on the final play of the first half, UMass was able to kick off from midfield to begin the second half. Trailing by 17 points, Bell decided to call for an onside kick. James Bowe recovered the loose ball after it caromed off a Rutgers player, but Michael Nesmith was called for targeting on the play while going for the ball, nullifying the recovery.
Despite the fact the onside kick was called back, Bell’s faith in his defense to earn a stop in case it didn’t work in the first place was a sign to his team about his confidence.
“It’s pretty important because he shows he believes in us,” junior defensive end Jake Byczko said. “He chooses to do that and he believes we can make that play. It’s huge and it definitely helps our confidence.”
In the immediate aftermath of the 48-21 loss, Bell said there was one call he made that he might regret. UMass was trailing 31-21 with 1:48 left in the first half when the Minutemen took the field for a fourth offensive possession in the second quarter. Bell knew Rutgers was going to receive the second half kickoff and wanted UMass to try to take some momentum with it to halftime.
After four straight rushing calls to push the ball near midfield, Bell tried to take his shot downfield. It is unclear what route Simon was supposed to run and which one West thought he was running, but the two were not on the same page and Avery Young made the easy interception with 33 seconds left. Two plays later, Bo Melton caught a 52-yard pass that set up a Isaih Pacheco touchdown run, turning a two-score lead into a three-score one heading into the locker room.
“If I could have anything back from the football game, maybe a little too aggressive trying to go create some momentum back and even the score up before the half,” Bell said. “Obviously we have the turnover than we had the bust on defense that allowed them to score and it was a really quick 14-point swing that really hurt us.”