UMass vs. Northern Illinois: Winless Minutemen battle powerhouse Huskies

The winless UMass Minutemen (0-8, 0-4 MAC) try to notch their first FBS win against the powerhouse Northern Illinois Huskies (8-1, 5-0 MAC) on Saturday afternoon at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, IL.

UMass and Northern Illinois have never met before, and the Minutemen are winless in four tries against MAC opponents as a member of the conference.

The Minutemen had seemingly been making progress for the first six weeks of the season, culminating in a 37-34 loss to Ohio. Ever since, UMass has regressed, being blown out by Western Michigan, Bowling Green and Vanderbilt. In the last three weeks combined, the Minutemen have been outscored 125-21.

Last weekend, the Minutemen were routed by the Commodores, 49-7. UMass' offense totaled 264 yards and Mike Wegzyn had 162 passing yards and one pick on 15-of-27 passing.

Northern Illinois lost its season opener, 18-17, against Iowa, but has been perfect ever since. The Huskies took out Western Michigan, 48-34, last weekend behind a 410-yard, six-touchdown performance from quarterback Jordan Lynch. Lynch threw four passing touchdowns and had 274 yards and rushed for 136 yards and two more scores.

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will not be televised.

For more UMass football coverage, visit our MAC blog, Hustle Belt.