AMHERST — The UMass football team is still upbeat as it heads into the second half of the season Saturday, when the Minutemen (1-5) host Louisiana Tech (3-3) at 3:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.
“Obviously you want to win. But the whole team is positive. This is the game we play. This is our life. We’re trying to go out to get a win,” said senior fullback John Robinson-Woodgett. “The team is coming together. We have six games. We’re going to take them one at a time and do our best.”
Sophomore quarterback Andrew Ford echoed those sentiments.
“We have to take what we learned and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes and build on the positives we’ve had,” Ford said. “We have to make sure we make the most of the next six opportunities.”
Avoiding 1-6 figures to be a challenge as statistically Louisiana Tech is one of the best teams in the nation.
The Bulldogs are 13th in the FBS with 527 yards per game. They’re fourth in the nation in passing yards at 365 yards per game.
Quarterback Ryan Higgins, who missed the season opener, leads Conference USA with 373.8 yards per game. He’s completed 142 of 216 throws with 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
La. Tech has two of the league’s top three receivers according to yards per game. Trent Taylor has 66 catches for 861 yards (143.5 per game) and eight touchdowns, while Carlos Handerson has 30 receptions for 558 yards (111.6 per game) and five TDs.
“This guy is throwing it around. Their receivers are really good,” Whipple said. “Higgins is very accurate. They don’t throw it down the field much but he puts it where those guys can make plays.”
Their rushing game is solid at 161.7 yards per game, which is seventh in the conference. Jared Craft leads the Bulldogs with 620 yards and four touchdowns on 91 carries.
The good news for UMass is that La. Tech gives up plenty of yards too, especially in the air. Opponents have averaged 297.8 passing yards per game with 17 touchdowns and three interceptions. The yards and touchdowns are both the most allowed among Conference USA teams.
The game will be the first between UMass and La. Tech, but Whipple and Skip Holtz have squared off before. In 1998, Whipple was in the first year of his first stint at UMass and Holtz was in his last year at UConn, which was still I-AA at the time.
Because Boston University had dropped football abruptly the year before, the Minutemen and Huskies played twice that season with UConn winning both.
“I have a history with Mark Whipple. He was at UMass when I was at Connecticut. I know the type of players that he is playing with,” said Holtz, whose father Lou coached at Notre Dame and South Carolina. “They are hard-nosed. They are tough. They are blue collar with great work ethic. They are going to compete like crazy. Mark is an excellent football coach. I know after he left UMass, he has been a coordinator and an assistant coach in the NFL for the last nine years, before he came back to UMass. I have great respect for him and the job that he does.”
UMass defensive coordinator Tom Masella has ties to both sides. He was the coach at BU before it discontinued football, then became Holtz’ associate head coach at UConn for the 1998 season. He left to become the defensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech for three seasons, before joining Whipple at UMass in 2002.”
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage