UMass visits UConn in a regional rivalry match

UMass coach Don Brown issued a siren call to the Minutemen by rekindling a dormant regional rivalry that dates back to the Yankee Conference.

The Minutemen (1-7) will visit Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn., on Friday night (7) to engage the resurgent UConn Huskies (4-5).

UConn claimed its stake as the top FBS program in New England with last Saturday’s 13-3 upset home victory over Boston College. UMass is coming off a disheartening 23-13 loss to New Mexico State at McGuirk Stadium.

Brown is doing his third stint at the Commonwealth’s flagship campus. Brown served as the Minutemen’s defensive coordinator for two seasons (1998-99) and was head coach for five (2004-08) when UMass was a Division 1A program. He later served at defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach at UConn for two seasons (2011-12).

“More importantly you need a rival, everybody needs a rival game,” said Brown. “I mean, it is such a special week in a season and I’ve been doing this a long time.

“When you don’t have a rival game, I just feel your team is missing out on a great opportunity. To play a school with very similar structure and so forth and you want to play in those games because it is just a little bit special.”

The schools are less than 50 miles apart, but UMass and UConn went their separate ways in football with the dissolution of the Yankee Conference in 1996. UConn and UMass are two of the seven independent FBS programs so they are, in a sense, kindred spirits in the Northeast.

The UConn program is on an upswing under second-year coach Jim Mora. UConn recorded its first victory over BC in the 15-game history of the series and the Huskies will be equally motivated against UMass. The Minutemen’s only win in 2021 was a 27-13 victory over UConn on Oct. 9 at McGuirk Stadium.

“With our schedule and the way that we play virtually all over the Midwest and the East, it is good to play a team that is close to you,” said Brown.

“It is a little bit more special when you play that game that particular week. I’ve been on both sides of this coin in this game so for me the feeling is pretty strong.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/Ubakg9h