#62 UMass

Amherst, MA

McGuirk Alumni Stadium

November 29, 2022

Army 44 - UMass 7 (ESPN Recap)

I’ve been dreading attending a game at UMass for about a decade.

I always knew I would go on the Saturday after Thanksgiving (while I was home 15 mins away), but that was the problem. The last Saturday in November it is always cold, always the day of the Ohio St / Michigan game, UMass is sometimes on the road, and if they are home it is unlikely to be a good game or opponent.

I decided to go for it this year since UMass was home, was playing an interesting opponent in Army, and I had a plan to watch The Game. Was able to close out the state of Massachusetts with 61 stadiums between Chestnut Hill and Amherst in a very fast sub 3-hour football game.

Jon F and Papi made the trip down Route 9 which started with lunch at Antonio’s Pizza (Fresh Side is the best sit-down lunch spot in Amherst, but we were in a rush).

We headed to McGuirk, the 3rd smallest FBS stadium with a capacity of 17,000. There were no signs in downtown Amherst of it being a gameday: no fan support, no overflowing bars, no lines at food establishment…not even signs saying there was a game. We joked that we could poll the people walking around town and ask them “are you going to the game?” and that 90%+ would not know there was a game or what sport we were referring. When we reached the stadium, it felt as homely and concrete as when my college soccer team used to train in and around the venue. To UMass’ credit, there were a lot of fans and a fair amount of

tailgating for a meaningless game. Maybe they were tailgating for the two Big Ten 11-0 teams playing for a spot in the CFP.

We showed up 30 mins before kickoff without tickets, no scalpers in sight, and struggled to find the “box office,” but eventually did and then got ripped off for $23 cheapest seats. We sat 5th row at dead center midfield on the Army side of the field, which also was the sunny side. Had to navigate the picturesque gravel walk up to the stadium which opened up right into the field. We got lucky with weather and had 45 and sunny for three quarters before the chill set in.

There were two streaks of scoring in the game: UMass starting with the ball and marching 75-yards in 4.5 mins for an easy touchdown to go up 7-0. Followed by a 55-minute drubbing that led to 44 unanswered points and a +4 turnover differential for Army. I enjoyed the 28-7 halftime and 44-7 final sitting with an Army -19 ticket.

Ohio St missed a key 4th down conversion early Q2

I got airdropped a random denim couch by someone in the stands

The UMass band was as "good" as the football team

UMass completed the winless FBS season, finishing at 1-11 with a win over Stony Brook (a 2-9 FCS team). They are a disaster of a team with one MAC-caliber player on the roster at WR.

Notable plays in the game featured

1) The UMass QB fumble where the video says it all:

2) There was a punt by UMass in the 2H from the +42 yard line. It was a perfect punt with lots of hangtime where the gunner was able to get to the end zone while the ball was still in the air, but he was running sprints and never looked up for the ball so it bounced on the 1-yd line and snapped back to the 9-yard line. Three other coverage players converged on the ball for the 2nd and 3rd bounces, with one touching it at the 9-yard line, before another guy reaching down for it also touched it with his hand and also ended up kicking it towards the end zone. They frantically chased the errantly kicked ball and dove for it, but it ended up for a touchback. It was spectacular because if no UMass players were downfield, it would have been dead at the 9 or 10.

3) A great one-handed catch by Army on their first pass attempt of the game and seeing 5 pass attempts from Army in the game

4) Army had 3rd string in the game up 38-7, had picked up a first down with under 2-mins left and we started walking to field level to score expecting victory formation. The next snap, house call by QB4 for 54 yards and a missed XP. Fun end to the game. I had no 2H bets, but this play and a series by UMass of 1st and G from the 1 resulting in 4-stops were crazy sequences for whoever did bet anything in the 2H (I had looked at the lines). Michigan ended up taking the lead and then repeating in eerily similar fashion, the 2H rushing beatdown of the Buckeyes to secure a spot into Big Ten championship against Purdue and presumably the CFP.

I enjoy turnover chain-esque takeaway celebrations and took a great video of the final Army interception

And nothing like college football, at a new stadium, in Western Mass, with some Public Killers

I hope to get to more stadiums with either/both of Jon and Papi, but Papi needs to root for the bets if he doesn’t want to get in trouble!

TD celebration in garbage time above.

Random 1H TD for Army above.

Same day of the game local newspaper clips that foreshadowed the outcome below.

EDIT: in 2024, this Twitter user posted a nice video summing up the physical aesthetic at UMass' stadium: https://x.com/GfedGoCrazy/status/1809015611399303602

EDIT: Army beat Navy in 2022 in 2OT