After a heartbreaking loss to Boise State, BYU (4-5) will look to keep its bowl hopes alive as they head out east to take on UMass (4-6).
Vegas released its opening line for the game and BYU opened as a 13-point favorite over the Minutemen. The game will be played at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots.
With a home game versus lowly New Mexico and the Holy War at Rice Eccles Stadium remaining, Saturday’s matchup will go a long way in determining BYU’s bowl eligibility.
UMass is similar in a lot of ways to Hawaii, in that they have a high-flying passing attack and anemic defense. UMass is 29th in the country averaging 35.1 points per game, and is 126th in the nation allowing 41.4 points per game.
UMass is coming off a 62-59 triple OT win over Liberty, which was their first win this season over a team that has a .500 record or better. Backup QB Ross Comis filled in for the injured Andrew Ford and threw for 540 yards and 4 touchdowns. Ford’s availability for the BYU game is unknown, but it seems like the UMass offense is more than capable with Comis under center.
BYU-UMass will kickoff at 12:00 EST; the game can be seen on BYUtv.