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I can't fault the UMass defensive scheme. The Minutemen tried to crowd the line of scrimmage to at least slow down Malik Willis. We held him to 63 yards and one TD and 53 of those yards came on one carry. However Liberty, unlike FAU has an excellent passing game and the Flames were able to throw three TD's . In addition, if the Liberty running back broke through the line of scrimmage, there was no one left to stop him.
Losing Avien Peah did not help. Peah had been playing well both rushing the passer and getting into opponents backfield on rushing plays. When he went down, so did our defensive line play. The defense did record 1 sack, five TFL, one forced fumble and had 5 pass breakups.
Also by the fourth quarter, the defense was getting gassed. They did not quit holding off Liberty on the final long drive.
The offense produced 227 yards, but no points. The rushing game was again a problem with only 55 total yards. UMass was only 5-13 on third downs and 0-2 on fourth. The rushing game needs to be a major emphasis during the off season. The Minutemen did play a lot of different linemen and backs even in the first quarter. That should pay dividends in the future.
Special teams were generally good. George Georgeopoulos averaged 43 yards a kick and had two inside the 20. Jeremy Martin missed a 41 yard field goal.
Again, I think Liberty is the best team in the Group-of-Five. The Minutemen have a way to go to be competitive with the Flames.
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MassLive reports UMass was shut out.
Mike Moran of the Hampshire Gazette covers the game and the controversial non-interference call in the 2nd quarter.
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