Rare 1A pigskin matchups, Independent style

 No. 22 #Marshall (4-0, 2-0 Conference USA)  scheduled a Nov. 7 home football game against Massachusetts, their first meeting since Marshall(then a MAC member) beat UMass 49-20 in 2001 when the Minutemen competed in the Atlantic 10 (1AA). The Herd should romp over the Minutemen who lost to Georgia Southern 49-0.  UMass  can be classified as a schedule filler.

A more intriguing matchup  is an intrastate Virginia battle between Liberty(5-0), led by Malik Willis, visiting VT(4-2) of the ACC. VT beat Liberty in 2016

And I'd be ignorant if I forgot to mention  BYU and Boise St ,  who were  once in the MWC together for a year or two. 

I like Liberty and BYU to win and give Independents more respect this season

Nov 7

BYU(8-0) demolished Boise St 51-17. Zach Wilson threw for 359 yards and two TDs and rushed for a TD.

Nov 7 afternoon

Wow what a wild ending  to the Liberty game. VT called a time out  with 11 seconds to go negating the  block of a FG attempt and a  return for a TD, then let  the Flames  get a first down and kick a FG. LIB 38 VT 35
Marshall destroyed UMass 51-10. Knox rushed for 118 yards and  two TDs for the Herd. 

Nov 16: I wonder if Sankey's SEC freeze on Freeze is still in effect. Apparently this stopped Bama from hiring Freeze as an ASST a few years ago. So folks may want to relax on all the chatter about HF leaving taking the South Carolina job.

Nov 17

 Army was snakebit by Tulane last week, and I suspect Werts and his Georgia Southern (Sunbelt) mates will carry some venom into West Point and pull off a 19-17 win. Taggart's FAU bunch should have fun with UMass, and BYU will take care of N. Bama.

Hugh Freeze's coaching stock will soar higher with a win over NC St (ACC) behind  Malik Willis: 122-180, 1645 YDS, 15 TD   98 CAR, 700 YDS, 9 TD 

Nov 21

UMAss 's only score was a safety in a 24-2 loss to FAU(CUSA) . The Minutemen have scored 12 points in three games this season.

Nov 22

BYU had no problems with N.Bama, but I was  was wrong on two squeakers. Army roared back to edge  Ga Southern 28-27. Close call by the refs on whether GA SO got the ball spiked in time for a last gasp long FG attempt. NC ST blocked a Liberty FG attempt to survive 15-14.

Nov 26

 Liberty should handle UMass easily tomorrow. I wonder if the Freeze chase has cooled down since the loss to NCST.

Nov 28, 2020

Willis train rolls on for Liberty in a 45-0 shutout of UMass.  He rushed for 63 yards and a TD, and passed for 223 yards and 3 TDs 

Sept 22, 2022

UMass to hold Pride Day when Liberty football visits this week. Coach Freeze will have the Flames O ignited, and they'll get past this crap: UMass to hold Pride Day when Liberty football visits.  BTW, LU's field hockey team played at Northwestern in field hockey on Sept. 9, when the Wildcats set that day as their Pride Game. Do you see a trend?