Football Travels To Liberty For Friday Afternoon Kickoff

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS FOOTBALL WEEKLY RELEASE
Game Four	Massachusetts (0-3) at [RV/RV] Liberty (8-1)
Date \| Time	Fri., Nov. 27 \| Noon
Location	Williams Stadium \| Lynchburg, Va. \| Parking Map \| Clear Bag Policy
Series History	Series tied, 1-1 Last: Liberty 63, Massachusetts 21 Nov. 2, 2019 • McGuirk Alumni Stadium • Amherst, Mass.
Game Notes	Massachusetts \| Liberty
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Listen (Online) Listen (Radio)	TuneIn Radio App \| Radio.com \| WEEI.com 105.5 FM WEEI (Western Mass.) & 830 AM WCRN (Worcester)
Tickets	Information available through the Liberty ticket office
Watch Live	ESPN3
Team Information	Massachusetts \| Liberty
Twitter	@UMassFootball \| @UMassAthletics \| @CoachWaltBell
Instagram	UMass Football \| UMass Athletics

2020 SEASON TEAM TIMELINE

UMass Athletics initially announced the cancellation of the 2020 football season on Tues., Aug. 11. Football team student-athletes, who previously returned to campus in groups during the month of June, remained on-campus following the cancellation.
Following a review of the team's stringent COVID-19 safety protocols, the decision was made to return to play and the intention to complete a limited number of games in 2020 was announced on Wed., Sept. 21, 2020.
The first game added to the 2020 schedule following the announcement of the intention to play was on Thurs., Oct. 8 when the department announced the addition of the Sat., Oct. 17 game at Georgia Southern to the schedule.

SPREAD THE BALL AROUND

Massachusetts' 45 completions through three games have gone to 13 different receivers. The two most frequent targets are Samuel Emilus (13 catches, 86 yards) and Jermaine "OC" Johnson, Jr. (12 catches, 63 yards). No other UMass receiver has more than four receptions on the year.

JUCO IMPACTS

Two junior college transfers are making immediate impacts on the UMass offense in juniors Reggie Marks III and Ellis Merriweather.
Marks III started all three games at left guard while Merriweather started each at running back. Marks III converted to offensive line following two years at Lackawanna College (Pa.) while Merriweather spent three years at Garden City Community College (Kan.) prior to his arrival at UMass.

SWARM MENTALITY

The UMass defense posted 14 tackles for loss, including six sacks, at FAU. It was the most sacks in a single game since UMass had eight in the 16-10 win at BYU on Nov. 18, 2017 and marks the most TFLs during the team's FBS history (2012-present).
Jake Byczko and Avien Peah led the team with 3.0 TFLs each while Uchenna Ezewike followed with closely with 2.5 TFLs. Tanner Davis, Cole McCubrey and Billy Wooden added 1.5 each and Gerrell Johnson provided 1.0.
The last time UMass had more than 14.0 TFLs in a single game was when the squad posted 15.0 in a 31-26 win over James Madison on Sept. 27, 2003.

AVIEN TAKES FLIGHT

Redshirt senior defensive lineman Avien Peah had 6.0 TFLs for 18 yards lost among his 19 tackles. He is the leading tackler on the defensive line, six ahead of the next Minuteman at the front of the defense (Viczaril Alobwede - 13).
Peah converted to defensive end from tight end/fullback ahead of the 2019 season but missed the year due to injury. He is playing on the defensive front for the first season after previously appearing at tight end and fullback as a redshirt freshman and redshirt sophomore in 2017 and 2018.

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