Friday’s game at Liberty will be the last time the UMass football team takes the field in 2020, but that doesn’t change how coach Walt Bell has viewed the contest or the Minutemen’s preparation.
“You’re looking for the same thing every time you get on the bus, be better than you were the week before. Continuous improvement,” Bell said on Wednesday. “When it’s all over with and you’re assessing the battle you gotta make sure you’re trying to beat yourself. You’re trying to make sure you’re a better version of you than you were before.”
UMass (0-3) had a lot of room for improvement this season. Georgia Southern shut the Minutemen out to open the slate, and Marshall hung 51 points on the Minutemen in their second game. UMass’ defense showed strides in a 24-2 loss against Florida Atlantic last week.
And after all of those bumps, bruises and lessons, the road doesn’t get easier. The Minutemen will face the Flames at noon on Friday in Lynchburg, Virginia. They’re coming off their first loss of the season after a strong start.
Liberty opened the year 8-0 and was ranked No. 21 by The Associated Press entering last weekend.
The Flames won their first two games by less than four points and built momentum from there. Liberty improved to 7-0 with a three-point win at Virginia Tech.
“They’ve really improved on defense and that makes them a complete team,” Bell said of their close wins. “They are playing with great confidence and you can tell they are playing with great belief in each other and what they can do no matter who the opponent is.
The Flames lost at North Carolina State, 15-14, on Saturday to fall out of the Top 25.
With 31 points they are essentially the 27th ranked team. Washington is just ahead with 35.
Liberty has gone 2-1 against Power Five Conference opponents. The Flames haven’t lost at Williams Stadium since Aug. 31, 2019 against Syracuse.
“For this program to go toe to toe with Syracuse, Virginia Tech and NC State, we have so much to be thankful and grateful for,” Liberty coach Hugh Freeze said. “That should far outshadow us not winning a game we had a chance to.”
The Flames’ offense didn’t perform to its standard against the Wolf Pack, failing to crack 20 points for the first time all year. They average 38 points per game, which ranks in the nation’s top 20. Redshirt junior quarterback Malik Willis has been their engine in his first year. He’s thrown for 1,817 yards with 17 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also leads the team with 744 yards rushing (ninth in the country) and nine touchdowns (tied for sixth). Willis ranks 10th in the country in total offense per game at 335 yards per game.
Willis did not play in Liberty’s 63-21 win at McGuirk Stadium in 2019. He was sitting the year out after transferring from Auburn.
“To have Malik Willis at quarterback, that gives them a boost and makes their offense a little bit better than it was a year ago,” Bell said.
UMass’ defense bottled Florida Atlantic quarterback Javion Posey outside of two long runs last week.
UMass sophomore safety Tanner Davis, who blocked a punt that led to a safety against Florida Atlantic, hopes the Minuteman defense continues to play well in their final game of the season.
“We’re feeling pretty confident right now,” Davis said. “We’re starting to get the defense down very well, we’re preparing as a group very well and I feel like we’re bonding together. That’s showing when someone makes a big play everyone is getting up, giving high-fives, dapping ‘em up. We’re just encouraging each other throughout the whole game and throughout practices every day. We’re getting better as it goes on.”