Can UMass football show improvement in Walt Bell’s third season?

One of the nation’s worst offenses seeks a reboot

The Minutemen played a very small sample of games in 2020, but in four games, the team only managed one touchdown. You don’t need expert analysis to tell you that is not good and UMass hit the transfer portal at several spots to try and ignite what was a dreadful offense, albeit in a small sample size.

The quarterback competition will be between Colorado transfer Tyler Lytle and last year’s starter Garrett Dzuro. Lytle did not play much while in Boulder, but he has potential and that might be just enough to get the starting job at UMass. Dzuro led the team in passing yards last season, but he was inaccurate and that was a major problem for the offense. My guess is Lytle will start the season opener vs. Pitt, but the job is not safe by any means.

The running game should be the strength of the offense and UMass has three pretty good backs that they can use. The top returning starter will be Ellis Merriweather but look for Rutgers transfer Kay’Ron Adams to get carries and be a shiftier option out of the backfield. Hutchinson Community College transfer Jonathan White could factor in as well, but look for Merriweather and Adams to be the main ball carriers.

Jermaine Johnson will be the team’s number one receiver and while he is small, he provides speed for the offense and could have a nice season. Onuma Dieke is a receiver that has good size at 6-foot-5 and 195 pounds and Charlotte transfer Rico Arnold will provide some depth. Taylor Edwards is back to start at tight end and he is another weapon that possesses intriguing size.

The Minutemen return three starters from last year’s offensive line and they have gotten some new additions from the transfer portal in Louisiana Tech transfer Willie Allen, who will play left tackle and North Texas tackle Brian Parish. This offense has the pieces to be better if they get good quarterback play, but it would be harder to be much worse.