NCAAF Dirty Dozen: UMass More Like UMess

Boston College found its way into the Dirty Dozen as the Eagles not only lost to UConn for the first time, but were held to just one field goal during a mistake-prone effort. The Eagles have now lost their last three games to Football Bowl Subdivision teams when listed by the sportsbook as the favorite.

UMass and Akron come in at No. 1 and 2 in the Dirty Dozen for the third week in a row.

Keep on reading to check out the teams trying to play their way out of the rankings that no team wants to be a part of.

Let’s check the latest NCAAF picks, stats, injury reports, and NCAAF predictions. We’ve plenty of NCAAF expert picks for you to consider.

12. Boston College Eagles

About the only sure thing in recent years was that Boston College would beat former conference foe UConn. The Eagles had never lost to the Huskies. However, a difficult season took a turn from the worst when BC committed five turnovers and managed just one field goal in a 13-3 loss to UConn on Saturday.

Quarterback Phil Jurkovec, being touted as a potential first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, had a pair of interceptions and was benched during the game.

Since a wild 34-33 win over Louisville, Boston College has managed 21 points over the last three games.

Boston College has scored just 10 touchdowns in 21 trips to the red zone. Something of note for those who bet online: Boston College has covered in just one of its last 10 games.

11. Arkansas State Red Wolves

Arkansas State was held under 200 yards of total offense for the second time over the last 139 games. The Red Wolves finished with -19 rushing yards in a 31-3 loss to South Alabama.

Arkansas State has lost four games in a row and has been outscored 69-21 over the last two.

The Red Wolves are averaging less than 100 rushing yards per game for the second season in a row.

10. South Florida Bulls

South Florida had its fourth game of the season with more than 400 yards of total offense. However, the Bulls surrendered 490 yards in a 42-27 loss to Houston.

Over the last five games, USF has given up 517 yards and 40.8 points per game.

The Bulls (1-7, 0-4 American Athletic Conference) have lost all seven games against FBS competition. South Florida is one of four teams to allow at least 40 points per game against FBS foes this season. The Bulls rank 129th out of 131 teams in total defense.

South Florida deserves some credit for scheduling games against Brigham Young, Florida and Louisville; those games and losses did little to prepare the Bulls for the conference slate.

A highlight for USF is running back Brian Battle, who is coming off his third 100-yard rushing game of the season.

Doing what he does.@battie941 over 💯 yards today for the third time this season and fifth time in his career!#HornsUp 🤘 pic.twitter.com/aBnlEb2fAE

— USF Football (@USFFootball) October 29, 2022

9. Indiana Hoosiers

The good news is that Indiana had a bye week to deal with a loss to Rutgers. The bad news is that the next two games are against 6-2 Penn State and 8-0 Ohio State.

Indiana has lost five games in a row and, with just one of the last four games against teams with a losing record, will the Hoosiers win again in 2022?

Just two seasons ago, Indiana went 6-2 and almost upset Ohio State. It is a different story in 2022.

Indiana (3-5, 1-4 Big Ten) has allowed more points than any other Big Ten team. Indiana is 12th in the conference in both total offense and total defense.

8. Northwestern Wildcats

There were times when it appeared that Iowa’s front seven spent more time in the backfield than Northwestern quarterback Brendan Sullivan and his running backs.

Iowa had seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss. That resulted in the Wildcats finishing with 18 rushing yards on 37 attempts.

The defense struggled as well, allowing one of the worst offenses in the country to finish with nearly 400 yards. Northwestern (1-7, 1-4 Big Ten) trailed 20-0 at halftime and never put up much resistance in a 33-13 loss.

The college football betting lines list Northwestern as a 38½-point underdog to Ohio State this weekend.

7. Colorado Buffaloes

Colorado’s pass defense got failing grades as the Buffaloes allowed Arizona State quarterback Trenton Bourguet to complete 32 of 43 passes for 435 yards in just his second game of the season.

Colorado had a 100-yard rusher (Deion Smith) and receiver (Jordyn Tyson), but the Buffaloes never led in one of the games that they had a chance to win while at home against a two-run Arizona State team.

Among Power-5 conference teams, nobody is allowing more yards per game than Colorado’s 483.8.

6. Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks

The Warhawks had a bye week to deal with a nightmarish defensive effort when Louisiana-Monroe allowed 441 rushing yards in a 48-24 loss to Army.

ULM (2-6, 1-3 Sun Belt) has allowed 21 rushing touchdowns, six of them coming against Army. The Warhawks have five giveaways and no takeaways during its current four-game losing streak when ULM has allowed 162 points.

Next up is a game against a 3-5 Texas State team. The game is at home so perhaps there is room for optimism.

5. Hawaii Rainbows

Hawaii’s inability to stop the run led to another loss.

Wyoming ran for 365 yards and averaged 8.3 yards per carry during a 27-20 victory. D.Q. James had 179 yards on just 14 carries and Dawaiian McNeely averaged 20.3 yards on his four carries. Quarterback Andrew Peasley added a pair of TD runs.

Only Charlotte, Colorado and Louisiana Tech allow more rushing yards per game than Hawaii. The Rainbows’ 6.14 yards per attempt allowed are the most in the country. Hawaii has allowed four running plays of at least 60 yards this season.

4. Nevada Wolf Pack

Nevada has been competitive in each of its last four games. However, once again the Wolf Pack lost a game that was there for the taking.

Nevada led by 14 points early in the third quarter and by seven points midway through the fourth quarter. San Jose State, playing its first game since the death of freshman running back Camdan McWright, got two rushing touchdowns from Kairee Robinson to rally for the 35-28 win.

Nevada has lost seven games in a row since opening the season with wins over New Mexico State and Texas State.

Eleven penalties proved to be costly and the Wolf Pack spoiled a strong effort on defense. San Jose State was held to 25 yards on 29 carries as Nevada (2-7, 0-5 Mountain West) had five sacks and 10 tackles for loss.

3. New Mexico Lobos

With Charlotte rolling past Rice, the idle Lobos went from fourth to third in the Dirty Dozen.

New Mexico (2-6. 0-4 Mountain West) has lost seven games in a row since opening the season with a 41-0 win over FCS Maine.

After being in games against UNLV and Wyoming, the Lobos have been outscored 62-18 in its last two games. Perhaps a bye week will help plug some of the leaks.

New Mexico is fourth in the Mountain West in total defense, allowing

352.4 yards per game. The offense is last with 246 yards per game. Against FBS foes, the number drops to 218. The Lobos have just eight offensive players of at least 30 yards and that is ahead of only UMass among FBS teams.

Twelve of New Mexico’s last 18 games have finished under the total.

2. Akron Zips

Miami (Ohio) had more points than Akron did during the Zips’ first 12 offensive possessions. All Akron had to show for those drives was a field goal while Miami returned an interception for a touchdown.

Akron outgained Miami 396-268, but there were three costly turnovers for the Zips (1-8, 0-5 Mid-American Conference).

Akron has lost eight games in a row since opening the season with an overtime win over FCS St. Francis (Pa). Three of those losses are by single digits so Akron isn’t too far away from turning things around.

Akron is 129th among 131 teams in rushing offense and it didn’t help that the Zips threw the ball on 49 of 74 offensive plays against Miami.

1. UMass Minutemen

The game against New Mexico State, another regular in the Dirty Dozen, was thought to be one of the better chances for the floundering Minutemen to pick up a much-needed win, especially with Saturday’s game being a home affair.

Kay’ron Adams’ 66-yard scoring run gave UMass a 10-0 lead in the first half. However, the Minutemen were outscored 13-0 in the second half as New Mexico State picked up its first road win since 2018.

The 97 passing yards and failing to convert on 12 of 15 third-down plays proved to be too much to overcome. Other than the TD run, UMass averaged 3.1 yards per carry and that wasn’t enough to overcome the lack of a passing game.

UMass is averaging 245 yards per game, the worst mark among the 131 Football Bowl Subdivision programs. UMass is also last with an average of 78.8 passing yards per game.

Things are bad when the college football odds list UMass as a 15½-point underdog for Saturday’s game against UConn.

UMass’s only win so far is against Stony Brook, a Football Championship Subdivision team. Against FBS competition, the Minutemen have been outscored 244-77.