UMass is coming into this game off of an awful season last year where they finished with a record of 1-11 overall. They have made some improvements in the portal for this year but they still do not have a great team and they are going to struggle heavily this season once again as they usually do. They are going up against a New Mexico State team that was in the same boat for the longest time but now they have been improving a lot under their new head coach Jerry Kill and they will be hungry to take another big step this year. Last year was a huge season for them as Kill took this team that was barely winning 1 game in a season and he improved them to finish with a 6-6 record, actually sending the team to their 1st bowl game in years where they actually won to finish the year 7-6 overall. These players have bought in to what Jerry Kill has been preaching and now they have moved from being an Independent school to the Conference USA where they have a chance to improve even more and actually play for a conference title. This will be their 1st season in the Conference USA but they will be hungry to make a strong 1st impression by winning their 1st game of the season at home and beating up on a bad team. This is not an easy travel for UMass either coming from the Northeast to play in a very hot New Mexico state. New Mexico State will cover the spread in this game.