The UMass Minutemen and the Army Black Knights meet Saturday in college football action from Michie Stadium. UMass had a bye last weekend. The Minutemen fell to 1-7 overall this year after a blowout loss to Penn State in their last outing. As for Army, they played LSU over the weekend. The Knights went on to lose in a blowout to drop to 2-5. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.

UMass Minutemen 

It’s been a tough year for the Minutemen so far, to say the least. UMass has the one victory over New Mexico State 41-30 in their opener, but since then it’s been a string of losses. Those defeats have come 59-14 to Auburn, 41-28 versus Miami-OH, 19-17 against Eastern Michigan, 34-31 versus New Mexico (OT), 52-28 against Arkansas State, 41-24 versus Toledo and 63-0 against Penn State. 

Back on October 14 in the Penn State game, the Minutemen gave up points in every quarter—including 21 points in both the second and third quarters. QB Taisun Phommachanh posted just 25 passing yards in the loss, and George Johnson led the receivers with 24 yards on two catches. Kay’Ron Adams was the top rusher with 31 yards on 14 carries. 

Massachusetts Minutemen Team Facts

• Massachusetts has lost 27 of its last 28 road games.
• Massachusetts has failed to cover the spread in six of its last seven road games in October.
• Massachusetts has lost the first half in 12 of its last 13 games against conference opponents.
• Eight of Massachusetts’ last nine games have gone OVER the total points line.

Army Black Knights 

Over on the Army side, they were just 2-4 over the first six games this year. The Black Knights opened with a loss 17-13 versus LA-Monroe but then beat Delaware State 57-0 and UTSA 37-29, After that came defeats by Syracuse 29-16, Boston College 27-24 and Troy 19-0 in the next trio of outings. 

Over the weekend versus LSU, Army couldn’t get anything going on either side of the ball. The Knights gave up double-digit points in all four quarters in a 62-0 blowout defeat. QB Champ Harris had just 22 pass yards and two picks, but Kanye Udoh had a decent rush game with 108 yards. Casey Reynolds topped the receivers with four catches for 26 yards. 

Army Black Knights Team Facts

• Army has won 21 of its last 22 matches as a favorite when playing with a rest disadvantage.
• Army has failed to cover the spread in seven of its last eight games in October.
• Each of Army’s last five games as a home favorite have gone OVER the total points line.

Matchup/League Facts

• Massachusetts has suffered the equal-most road losses by a margin of 30+ points of any FBS team this season (2).
• Massachusetts has suffered the equal-most road losses by a margin of 35+ points of any FBS team this season (2).

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll probably stay with Army in this one. Granted, there’s not a ton of intrigue involved in this matchup but the Knights should be able to handle anything UMass throws at them here. Army is coming off an ugly blowout loss versus LSU, posting just 193 total yards and four turnovers. The Knights have been outscored 81-0 in the last two outings, but this is a great place to halt the four-game losing streak. 

As for UMass, they realistically weren’t going to do much against Penn State in their last game—and they didn’t, with just 109 total yards (45 passing) and nine first downs. The Minutemen can score when the matchup is right, however; they’ve hit 24 or more points in five of eight games thus far. That said, I don’t think they’ll be able to keep up with Army on the scoreboard for long here if the Knights start hot.