The UMass football team will look to put an another ugly loss in the rearview mirror when it plays host to Buffalo at McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Saturday.
Lowly Kent State had its way with the Minutemen last week, winning 42-6, in a lopsided victory that gave the Golden Flashes their first FBS win since the 2022 season.
UMass dropped to 0-6 following the defeat to Kent State, plus failed to register a touchdown for the second straight game.
The Minutemen will surely have a tougher test going up against the Bulls, who have put together a 3-3 record and are one of three programs that are undefeated (2-0) in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) so far this season.
“They’re a scary group,” UMass head coach Joe Harasymiak said. “They’re very talented all over the place. Just watching their last game… the will of their team, in some of their games this year, is impressive. That’s kind of what we’re missing right now, that will to keep coming back and keep fighting.”
Buffalo is averaging 25 points per game and have had considerable success running the ball with 997 total rushing yards through six games. To compare, the Minutemen have scored an average of nine points-per-game and have 350 rushing yards altogether in the same span.
Running back Al-Jay Henderson is the Bulls’ top ball-carrier, as the senior has scored four touchdowns on 418 rushing yards. Ta’quan Roberson and James McNeil Jr. have also each found the end zone twice from the Bulls’ backfield.
Roberson has been under center for Buffalo for two of its past three games, including its 31-30 overtime win versus Eastern Michigan last Saturday. The Bulls QB had a huge hand in their victory, throwing three touchdowns for 272 yards.
Gunnar Grey has seen time as Buffalo’s quarterback too, appearing in three games while tossing 174 yards and a touchdown.
The Bulls are coached by Pete Lembo, who is one win away from win No. 125 of his career. Lembo previously was an associate head coach/special teams coordinator at South Carolina for five seasons, before accepting the Buffalo head coaching position in 2024. Lembo served as the head coach at Lehigh (2001-05), Elon (2006-2010) and Ball State (2011-15).
For UMass, Harasymiak confirmed A.J. Hairston will start again as its QB this week. Although, with all the injuries up front for the Minutemen, whoever was picked to lead the offense was going to have their hands full without wide receivers T.Y. Harding and Jacquon Gibson, to name a couple.
“You look at Saturday, we don’t have Jacquon Gibson, guys got to step up,” Harasymiak said. “I thought that group did a pretty decent job of handling that adverse situation, but that’s very challenging because I think some of the stuff we want to do offensively and defensively, we cannot do right now. We have to figure out a way to simplify it and put our guys in the best position and give the guys a chance to be successful.”
Harasymiak isn’t throwing in the towel on this season though, despite seemingly nothing going right with half of the season now complete. The Minutemen first-year coach reiterated that his mindset hasn’t wavered, but understands there are certainly aspects of the team that must be improved.
“I can’t give up,” Harasymiak said. “I think that’s what everybody wants me to do, just give in, but that is the complete opposite of how I’ve made a. my career and b. the way I was raised. They’re going to get my best every week. I truly believe in that and we just got to believing that what we’ve been talking about is the right stuff. Certainly, yes, we need to perform better and a lot goes into that. But I think our message to the team is we’re all we have, no one else is coming.”
Kickoff for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
