Foxborough, Mass. • Massachusetts is no Boise State in any way, shape or form, and the Minutemen don’t have a defense resembling the one Northern Illinois showed against BYU.
But it is amazing what scoring touchdowns in the red zone can do for a team’s spirit and overall sense of confidence and well-being. Not counting the final two kneel-downs after they reached the UMass 20 late in the fourth quarter, the Cougars scored touchdowns on all five of their drives into the red zone in Saturday’s 35-16 win at Gillette Stadium.
It was a marked improvement for BYU, which cost itself chances to win against the Huskies and Broncos in successive weeks because it couldn’t score enough touchdowns when it got close to the goal line.