Massachusetts (3-7) at No. 25 Liberty (10-0), Saturday at 1 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Line: Liberty by 27 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Series record: Liberty leads 4-1.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Liberty can set a program record with its 11th victory of the season and enhance its bowl destination prospects. UMass seeks its third consecutive win after starting 1-7.
KEY MATCHUP
UMass RB Greg Desrosiers Jr. against the Liberty defense and special teams. He’s coming off a 162-yard rushing day with touchdown runs of 8, 46 and 57 yards in a 31-21 win against Merrimack and touches the ball in many ways. He has 31 rushes for 285 yards and four touchdowns, 12 catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns and 466 kickoff return yards, 15th in FBS.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
UMass: RB Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams. He has carried 201 times for 1,014 yards (14th in the FBS) and nine touchdowns and caught 16 passes for 90 yards. If the Minutemen can exploit his versatility and that of Desrosiers, they might be able to keep the Flames off balance and their high-powered offense off the field.
Liberty: QB Kaidon Salter has thrown for 26 TDs and rushed for nine more. He needs four passing TDs to break the Liberty single-season record of 29, set by Stephen Calvert in 2017, and six total TDs to break the TD responsibility mark of 40 set by Malik Willis in 2021.
FACTS & FIGURES
Minutemen cornerback Jordan Mahoney has a 94-yard interception return for a touchdown, a scoop-and score fumble return and ranks third in the FBS with three fumble recoveries. ... Second-year coach Don Brown is in his second year in this stint at UMass. From 2004-08, he guided the team to a 43-19 record. ... The Flames rank No. 1 in the FBS in four team statistical categories, including rushing offense (278 yards per game), time of possession (33:48), fewest tackles for loss allowed (2.60 per game) and passes intercepted (17, tied with Oklahoma). ... WR CJ Daniels has caught a TD pass in each of the last four games. He's bidding to become the first Flames player to catch a TD in five consecutive games at the Division I level.
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