Make no mistake, this weekend UMass will be playing its most important home game since they became an FBS program. It’s the Battle for the Bay State, and this time Boston College was willing to make the trip to Amherst. Not Chestnut Hill. Not Gillette Stadium. But McGuirk Alumni Stadium on UMass’ campus.
It may not sound crazy, but this was incredibly important to UMass. Boston College likes to big-time UMass, who certainly needs these types of local intrigue games to help build up a fanbase. The Eagles don’t need the game, but the Minutemen do. That’s just the reality, and even when they are willing to play UMass, they’ve never been willing to do it on campus.