BYU Football: Three reasons the UMass game could be trouble for the Cougars

MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 2: Andrew Ford #7 hands the ball off to Marquis Young #8 of the Massachusetts Minutemen during first quarter action against the Florida International Golden Panthers on December 2, 2017 at Riccardo Silva Stadium in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 2: Andrew Ford #7 hands the ball off to Marquis Young #8 of the Massachusetts Minutemen during first quarter action against the Florida International Golden Panthers on December 2, 2017 at Riccardo Silva Stadium in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
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MIAMI, FL – DECEMBER 2: Andrew Ford #7 hands the ball off to Marquis Young #8 of the Massachusetts Minutemen during first quarter action against the Florida International Golden Panthers on December 2, 2017 at Riccardo Silva Stadium in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – DECEMBER 2: Andrew Ford #7 hands the ball off to Marquis Young #8 of the Massachusetts Minutemen during first quarter action against the Florida International Golden Panthers on December 2, 2017 at Riccardo Silva Stadium in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

Before you mark down UMass as an easy win for BYU Football, let’s take a look at a few matters that Cougar Nation should watch out for.

Some may scoff at this, but there are a few things that BYU Football should be leery of when it comes to UMass.

Last season, there’s no question that the Cougars did not take the Minutemen seriously, and as a result they suffered one of the program’s most embarrassing losses in recent history.

In front of a home crowd, no less.

Though seemingly impossible this time around, it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility that it might happen again.

Here are three reasons why:

1 – BYU Football’s Struggles in the East

BYU football has played 47 games east of the Mississippi River in its history. In those, they’ve accumulated a record of 14-33.  Besides not being impressive, it makes this coming game a little more worrisome.

Before you ask, Lavell Edwards went 5-15 in the eastern time zone.  Gary Crowton was 1-3 during his tenure.  Bronco Mendenhall could only conjure up 5 wins out of his 15 attempts.  Kalani Sitake is currently 2-2.

Some power programs are among these losses, but so are quite a few fairly mediocre teams.  In many of cases, the toll the travel took on players was too much for BYU Football to overcome.

Can such a seemingly insignificant factor play a roll in this year’s matchup?  For the Cougars sake, hopefully not, but If the past tells us anything, it will.

Schedule

Schedule