Colorado minus 17 at Massachusetts
Colorado has a young defense, a 2-31 road record since 2008 and is playing on the East Coast at an early start time. So why lay this many points with the Buffaloes?
Because they are playing Massachusetts! The Minutemen are atrocious, so bad they are being kicked out of the Mid-American Conference after next season.
Judging by how the Minutemen have fared the past couple of seasons since moving up to the FBC from the Colonia Athletic Association, the MAC is getting it right.
Massachusetts won one game two years ago. That was against Akron, which went 1-11 that season. Last year, the Minutemen won one game. That was versus Miami of Ohio, which went 0-12.
Massachusetts finished 120th in the nation last year on defense. Its offense could be even worse. The Minutemen scored the fewest points of any FBS team last year averaging 11.7 per game. They were held to 24 yards in the first half of their opening game last week, a 30-7 loss to Boston College.
Colorado, let’s not forget, is a Pac-12 school with a decent offense. Boston College quarterback Tyler Murphy had his way with Massachusetts last week. Certainly Colorado quarterback Sefo Liufau, who I like much better than Murphy, can produce big numbers, too.
Liufa was 24-for-39 for 241 yards and two touchdowns in Colorado’s 31-17 opening week loss to Colorado State. Liufau averaged 10 yards per completion and the Buffaloes put up 22 first downs. The Buffaloes should be able to finish their drives against Massachusetts something they weren’t able to fully accomplish against Colorado State. Junior wide receiver Nelson Spruce showed signs that he could adequately replace star wide receiver Paul Richardson, now with the Seahawks.
Colorado has a decent secondary, but is vulnerable on the ground. However, the Buffaloes hold a huge talent and size edge in this matchup. Massachusetts doesn’t have the offense to take advantage of Colorado’s defensive shortcomings.
The Minutemen are only 2-8 ATS in their last 10 non-conference games.