The Massachusetts Minutemen (1-2, 1-2 ATS, 1-2 O/U) battle the Temple Owls (1-2, 2-1 ATS, 1-2 O/U) in a week three bout on Saturday afternoon. The Minutemen earned their first win of the season after defeating Stony Brook in their previous action. The Owls lost to Rutgers last week. These foes last met in 2017 in a game Temple won by a 21-17 score.
The Massachusetts Minutemen enter this one with confidence. They were dealt two blowout defeats to begin the season, falling against Tulane, followed by a 55-10 defeat at Toledo. The squad rebounded with a convincing 20-3 home win against Stony Brook to cover the one-point spread. It’s nothing to be excited about considering Stony Brook plays in the FCS.
The Massachusetts offense is run-heavy. They have only attempted a total of 47 passes in three games. Gino Campiotti had a season-best 90 passing yards last week. The junior QB has 129 passing yards with a 1:3 TD to INT ratio in three games. Campiotto has added 195 yards on the ground.
Ellis Merriweather collected 76 rushing yards last week. The senior RB hasn’t broken out with any big runs, averaging 3.5 yards per rush. Tim Baldwin will see action as well. He has 133 yards. The Minutemen don’t have any receivers with 100 yards. Cameron Sullivan-Brown leads the way with only 63 receiving yards. The offense only scored 10 points in the first two games of the season and is averaging a meager 245 total yards per game.
Campiotti ?? Sullivan-Brown
Extra point is good and we're on the board on the first drive of the game!#Flagship ?? pic.twitter.com/f7wRuxpcB8— UMass Football (@UMassFootball) September 17, 2022
The Minutemen's defense was exploited in the losses to Tulane and Toledo and were able to hold Stony Brook to only 333 yards. The pass defense is their top strength, landing 34th in the FBS while the rush defense is marked 106th. UMass is scoring an average of 13.3 points, pegging them 125th overall. The defense is squandering an average of 33.3 points, tabbing them 104th.