Head coach Walt Bell didn’t find many silver linings or moral victories reviewing the film from the UMass football team’s 51-10 loss against No. 16 Marshall on Saturday.
“When the scoreboard looks like it did when we walked off the field there’s not a lot of good,” Bell said Thursday. “There’s so much meat left on the bone. We’re right there to make a lot of plays.”
Many of UMass’ errors came from what Bell called “playing 10-man football.” The Minutemen (0-2) allowed four plays of more than 20 yards and allowed five first downs because of penalties.
“You have 10 guys doing it right and one guy doing it wrong,” Bell said.
Marshall (6-0) ran for 267 yards on 41 carries, good for 6.5 yards per carry. It’s the second game in a row the Minutemen allowed at least 6 yards per attempt on the ground.
Bell did notice improvement in the run defense despite the gaudy totals. He said the Minutemen held the Thundering Herd in check better on first down.
“They had more second and longs in our game than the previous three combined,” Bell said. “On first down, we did a nice job. We gotta eliminate those chunk plays.”
Bell also mentioned improvement in the team’s kickoff coverage, offensive line and punting. The Minutemen were 5 of 14 converting third downs, which was a measurable jump from their 2 of 13 effort against Georgia Southern.
“There’s better, but we’ve still got a long way to go to be good,” Bell said.
QUARTERBACK SITUATION STILL SETTLING — UMass only played two quarterbacks against the Thundering Herd, one fewer than the three that took snaps against Georgia Southern. The only one who played in both was Saturday’s starter, freshman Will Koch. He threw for 99 yards and his first career touchdown before redshirt freshman Garrett Dzuro relieved him at the start of the fourth quarter.
“Both those young guys gave us a chance, not any catastrophic errors. But there’s still some meat on the bone there, we can still improve at quarterback,” Bell said. “We’ve got two good young guys that are options for the long-term solution in the future.”
Josiah Johnson, who played quarterback against Georgia Southern, primarily lined up at tight end and on special teams against Marshall. He contributed two catches for 31 yards.
“I’ve been fortunate in my career to be around five tight ends that were drafted,” Bell said. “He has the athletic ability. He can run, he’s a fearless competitor, he’s got great ball skills. He’s gotta be out there, and he needs to help if we’re gonna be as good as we can be.”
NO COVID SO FAR — The Minutemen completed three rounds of testing since their return from West Virginia with no positives, Bell said. That allowed them to practice Thursday and begin preparation for their next opponent, Florida Atlantic on Nov. 20.
That’s a rarity among college football teams. There have been 11 games scheduled for this weekend postponed due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
“It’s a reminder you’ve got to stay vigilant. Eighteen to 22 year olds coming off Halloween weekend, I don’t want to say it was expected, but you could kind of see this one coming,” Bell said.
QUICK TURNAROUND UPCOMING — UMass had three weeks between the Georgia Southern contest and playing Marshall. There are 13 days between the game against the Thundering Herd and their next matchup against FAU.
After that, they’ll face a brief by comparison seven-day wait before a date at No. 22 Liberty.
“It will probably feel very rushed,” Bell said.
MAKING PLANS — The Minutemen will travel to Iowa for the first time in program history on Nov. 15, 2025, the team announced Wednesday.