UMass adds Lobos to round out 2020 schedule

The Northeast is set to meet the Southwest.

The Minutemen will travel to Dreamstyle Stadium on Oct. 3, 2020 for the school’s first ever matchup against the New Mexico Lobos. The Mountain West squad will come to McGuirk Alumni Stadium to complete the home-and-home series on Sept. 23, 2023.

The Lobos finished the 2018 season last in the Mountain Division of the conference at 3-9 (1-7 in conference play). Bob Davie currently finished his seventh season in Albuquerque as head coach of the Lobos.

To make room for the new series, a visit to Akron to play the Zips has been moved from Oct. 3, 2020 to Oct. 17, 2020. UMass was originally scheduled to play Mississippi State on that date, but the contest has been moved out four seasons to Oct. 19, 2024 in Starkville.

If nothing else changes, the 2020 schedule for UMass is split with six home and six away contests. Additional road contests that season include games at UConn to open the season, Appalachian State, Auburn and Liberty.

It will also make for a second contest against a team from “Land of Enchantment”, as the Minutemen will host New Mexico State on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Conditioning in 2020 will be crucial for the Minutemen. UMass has only one off week (Saturday, Oct. 31) from when the season starts on Thursday, Sept. 3 and ends Saturday, Nov. 28.

As for the 2019 season, the Minutemen start things off Friday, Aug. 30 at Rutgers.