Can UMass football avoid dreaded winless season in 2020?

How will UMass football fare in 2020?

This is a five-year rebuild at least. There is some light at the end of this dark tunnel for the Minutemen though. UMass did have their best recruiting class in school history-from 2012 until the present — with 21 three-star recruits. This season, however, will be another long year for Walt Bell and the men from Amherst.

Here’s a look at their schedule with predictions:

• Sept. 3: at UConn (L) — The Huskies are bad, but the Minutemen are much worse.
• Sept. 12: vs. Troy (L) — Troy is one of the best offenses in the Sun Belt. UMass has the worst defense in the country.
• Sept. 19: vs. Albany (L) — This could be a 50/50 game for UMass, but it lost Southern Illinois last year. Albany might be better than the Salukis this season.
• Sept. 26: at App State (L) — The Mountaineers knocked on the door of the New Year’s Six last season. They will contend again this season.
• Oct. 3: at New Mexico (L) — The Lobos were 2-10 last season. Another 50/50 game. Hard to give a win to a team with so many new faces.
• Oct. 10: vs. Temple (L) — Temple is one of the better teams in the American Conference.
• Oct. 1: at Akron (W) — The only reason they get this 50/50 win is they beat them last season. However, this is a road game. It’s been a while since they won on the road.
• Oct. 24: vs. FIU (L) — The Panthers shut them out last season. Maybe they score this season?
• Nov. 7: vs. New Mexico State (W) — The Aggies might be the only program in FBS worse than the Minutemen.
• Nov. 14: at Auburn (L) — The Minutemen just need the check that goes along with playing a high-level SEC opponent.
• Nov. 21: vs. Army (L) — Jeff Monken’s Black Knights won’t be as bad as they were last season. At least not as bad as UMass. It’s hard to see a defense that surrendered nearly 300 rushing yards per game stopping Army’s option attack.
• Nov. 28: at Liberty (L) –They are a program on the rise with Hugh Freeze as head coach.

Prediction: 2-10

This is not a season to be measured by wins and losses. A successful season for the Minutemen is being competitive in at least half of their games this season. If they can hang with UConn, Albany, New Mexico and Liberty, Bell and his staff can say they’ve had a good year. They have three 50/50 games on their schedule this season, maybe they win two of those.

What Bell and the coaching staff are looking for is improvement offensively and defensively. The offense needs to score at least 20 points per game and the defense rank inside the top 100. That won’t translate to many wins, but it will be a step in the right direction.