Texas Tech game settled

Matt Vautour reports that UMass has agreed to play Texas Tech in September 2008 (registration required).

I have previously blogged about this in October.

The Red Raiders are currently 9-2 and will play in the Cotton Bowl against Alabama.

The Texas Tech will be a load. The played two I-AA teams this year. The Red Raiders beat Sam Houston State 80-21 and Indiana State 63-7...

Recruiting #9 Michael Morante

Considering UMass is Michael Morante a 6-1, 245 pd OG from Peters Township in Venetia PA.

Morante runs a 4.84 40 and has a 3.0 GPA.

* Also recruited by Georgetown and Villanova
* Played LB as well as OG
* Team captain in 2005
* This article mentions him

Hope he chooses UMass!

Kervis commits to Eastern Michigan

Andrew Kervis, a 6-5 235 pd DE, who was being recruited by UMass and mentioned in this blog post committed to Eastern Michigan on 12/21/05.

Note that you can search the UMass Football Fanzone by using the "Search This Blog" button at the top.

Look what Santa brought!

Santa was good to the UMass Fanzone and brought a very cool UMass football. It will go in a place of honor in my den.

If anyone from the UMass Administration ever reads this blog: "Hey! How about marketing some UMass replica Football Jerseys!"

I would love one! UMass fans have not been able to buy football jerseys for years. I'd get one with Shipp's/Baylark's number 5, and another with a higher number when I was in a linebacker frame of mind.

Please!

Blogging around the Christmas Tree...

Have a happy holidays!

This blog would like to wish all its readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays!

For all UMass fans here's hoping that Santa has the following in this pack for 2006:

• A trip to Annapolis to see UMass play Navy
• Season ticket for six home games in '06
• A great year following UMass football

For the UMass team:

• A trip to the playoffs
  
• A year free from injury
• A 3.0 gradepoint average to all

For the UMass Coaching staff:

• Recognition for all they do for the team and the University
• Lots of big recruits who run real fast
  
• A chance to coach in the National Championship game.

Hope everybody has a safe and happy holiday.

Navy crushes Colorado State

UMass plays Navy on 09/09/06 as our I-A game. See previous blogs (scroll down) for other info.

Note that Navy blew out Colorado State in the PoinsettiaBowl last night.

Navy rang up 611 total yards of offense. Soph. Slotback Reggie Campbell had 290 total yards of offense with a 7.2 yards/carry. The other two Navy running backs averaged 8.6 and 11.4 yards/carry!

The UMass defense better eat their Wheaties!

UMass legend Jim Reid hired as head coach at VMI

UMass legend Jim Reid has been hired as the new Head Coach at VMI.

This is the official VMI article. The local press has another article here.

Congratulations to Jimmie Reid! VMI will get better quick!

Recruiting #8 Jesse Castillio

UMass is recruiting Jesse Castillio a 6-2 290 pd OG from Cambridge Rindge & Latin in Cambridge MA.

Castillio runs a 5.3 40. He was 2005 First Team Greater Boston League.

Also considering New Hampshire and Northeastern.

Hopefully he will choose UMass!

Recruiting #7 Stefan Stauber

UMass is recruiting Stefan Stauber a 6-3 190 pd WR from Holyoke MA. Stauber runs a 4.5 40 and benches 210.

Some of his stats are here. The Springfield Union has some of his exploits in the Holyoke-Chicopee game here .

Also being recruited by Boston College, UConn and Northeastern.

Looks like good size and speed. Hope he chooses UMass.

UMass Legend Jim Reid finalist for VMI Head Coach

Football Scoop has an article (scroll down) that former UMass head coach Jim Reid is a finalist for the open position of Head Coach at VMI.

Jimmie Reid is a great coach and an even better person. I have blogged before on his hiring as Defensive Line coach at Bucknell.

That Blog details some of Reid's accomplishments at UMass. Here's hoping that he gets the job at VMI!

Recruiting #6 Cedric Odita

Considering UMass is Cedric Odita a WR from Rochester NY. He is 6-3 180 and runs a 4.6 40.

Also being recruited by Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Syracuse and Temple.

This article has some information about him.

Cedric, we'd love to have you!

Partial UMass 2006 Football schedule

For those planning their 2006 vacation schedule (I assume a bunch of UMass folks are going to Annapolis for the Navy game), here is a partial UMass 2006 schedule (unofficial) .

9/2 vs. Colgate
9/9 at Navy
9/16 at Villanova
10/7 vs. William & Mary
10/14 at Towson
11/4 at New Hampshire
11/18 vs. Hofstra

I'll post more when I get it.

Brad Anderson named UMass Fall Scholar-Athlete

Brad Anderson LB (6-0 230 pds) has been named UMass' Fall Scholar-Athlete. Anderson achieved a 3.3 average in his major.

Anderson was the second-leading tackler on the defense with 62 total tackles, 17 solo, 45 ast, 2.5-14 TFL/yds.

The article article also clears up some confusion as to his status. He was listed as a senior on the UMass roster. However, the article states that he is a junior in football eligibility. It seems that he will be back for the 2006 season, which is good news for UMass.

The image above shows one of his eleven tackles against Army (Click to enlarge). He had an excellent season and his return will help the UMass defense in 2006!

Navy's Schedule in 2006

I have blogged about future UMass I-A opponents in this post.

UMass opens with Navy on 09/09/06.

The rest of Navy's 2006 schedule is here (unofficial) :

East Carolina
UMass
@ Stanford
Tulsa
@ Conn
@ USAFA
Rutgers
Notre Dame
@ Duke
@ Eastern Michigan
Temple
Army

More Awards for UMass Players

Awards continue to roll in for UMass football players for the 2005 season.

• Walter Camp All-Americans: Shannon James and Christian Koegel
• New England Coaches All New England:Shannon James, Keron Williams, Serge Tikum and Christian Koegel
• American Football Coaches All-American: Shannon James
  

KAEO Ben Albert

Minuteman legend Ben Albert has been hired by Delaware as their new linebackers coach.

This is a cut-and-past from the article: "Albert comes to Delaware with nine years of college coaching experience, most recently at Atlantic 10 rival University of Richmond where he was defensive line and special teams coach in 2004 under first-year head coach Dave Clawson. He began his coaching career in 1996 at Massachusetts, coached his first stint at Richmond in 1997-00, moved to Rutgers for the 2001 season, and went back to Massachusetts for two seasons in 2002-03 before returning to Richmond. He was a three-year starting defensive lineman at Massachusetts where he earned All-Yankee Conference honors in 1994 and posted career totals of 187 tackles and 14 sacks. He earned both his bachelor's degree (1995) and master’s degree (1997) from Massachusetts"

While at UMass Albert:

• Was a four year starter at DT.
• UMass Co-Captain in 1994
  
• First Team All-Yankee Conference
• Intercepted a pass and rumbled 17 yards to beat Holy Cross 7-3 in 1992. That win broke Holy Cross' longest home winning streak. I was there and the play was right in front of me.

The image above is a scan from the 1994 UMass Football press guide. The image is un-attributed. Click on the image to enlarge.

Delaware's linebackers just got better!

Recruiting #5 Alex Blucher

UMass has offered a scholarship to Alex Blucher, a 5-10 185 pd CB from Chaminade-Madonna in Hollywood, FL.

Blucher has also been offered by Iowa State. He has interest from Iowa, Purdue, Georgia State and Costal Carolina.

This article mentions him.

There are video highlights of his play here .

NCAA Football Recruiting Regulations

Interested in College Football Recruiting? Here are some links towards understanding the NCAA rules that coaches labor under.

First off is the recruiting calendar. It gives the dates that contacts can be made with the athlete.

Definitions of terms found in the calendar such as "quiet period" and the like can be found here.

If you're would really like to delve into NCAA regs, the 18-page coaches manual is available here (PDF).

Letter of intent day is coming in February!

UMass Football Desktop Wallpaper

Above is the image that I have been using on my personal computer as the desktop wallpaper. Click on the image to enlarge.

It is a scan of a post card sent to me by the UMass Alumni Association. All UMass grads should belong to the Alumni Association. They do numerous good works for the University and the Alumni Association has strongly supported UMass Athletics in the past.

There is no copywrite symbol on the postcard and I called the Alumni Association and asked if I could use the image on my blog. They did not seem to know what I was talking about...

Since they are giving away the postcards and no one seemed to care at the Alumni Association, we'll take it that it's ok to use the image.

The game is the UMass-Colgate game of 09/22/04. UMass won 30-20.

Note that I have some images of that same game on my blog archives. See them here (scroll down to last image).

If any one wants the full-rez version of the scan, email me. Have a fat pipe; it's large.

Raw Data: Atlantic 10 OOC Results

With the losses of Richmond and UNH in the second round of the National Championship tourney, the A10's season is over.

The A10 went 25-14 OOC overall.

• Four of those wins were against DII Schools (the A10 went 4-0)
• Five of the losses were against I-A schools (the A10 went 0-5)
• The A10's overall winning percent was 64.1% (25-39)
• The A10's winning percent against I-AA teams was 70% (21-9)
• Three of the nine A10 losses were from Northeastern, who went 0-3 OOC
  

Recruiting 2006 #4 Andrew Krevis

Interested in UMass is Andrew Krevis a 6-5 235 pd DE from Milford Academy in New Berlin NY. Krevis runs a 4.75 40.

Also recruiting him are Boston College, Duke, Iowa, Michigan State, Buffalo and UCF.

Hopefully, Andrew will consider UMass as his choice. One good thing about I-AA football is that because of less scholarships, recruits are looking at more playing time than at I-A schools.

Recruiting 2006 #3 Matt Flynn

UMass is also recruiting a teammate of WR Ryan Abdilla that we talked about in recruiting post #2.

Considering UMass is Matt Flynn a 5-11 175 pd pro-style QB from Mainland Regional in Linwood NJ

Flynn's stats were 121-210, 1818 yds, 21 TDs 4.8 40.

Also recruited by Delaware, Hofstra and DII

Newspaper articles here and here mention both Flynn and Abdilla

Recruiting 2006 #2 Ryan Abdilla

Considering UMass in 2006 is Ryan Abdilla a 6-1, 185 pd WR/DB from Mainland Regional in Linwood NJ.

This year he had 32 rec, 536 yds, 12 TD, 16.7 yds/catch, 4.5 40.

Also recruited by Rutgers, Delaware and Hofstra.

Ryan, if you or your parents are googling your name, and end up here at the UMass Football Fanzone, we'd love to have you at UMass!

UMass Football recruiting 2006 post #1

What does Ashley Judd topless have to do with college football recruiting, you might ask?

Good question! I went to Google Image Search to see if I could find some images to go with posts on the recruiting season. Up came Ms. Judd. Try it yourself. Go to Google Images and type in "Football Recruiting". On the first page beginning of the third row is Ms. Judd. I have no idea what she is doing among all those football players, but who are we to argue with the awesome algorithms of the hottest company in cyberspace.

The only website dedicated to I-AA recruiting is ShowingBlitz.com. This site had been inactive for some time. Recently it has returned. If it stays up, it should be a good source of UMass recruiting news. Last year ShowingBlitz also kept track of I-A to I-AA transfers.

The UMass Football Fanzone does not expect as many I-A transfers as UMass had last year, but I think some activity is possible on the OL and DL.

Time will tell.

Update:

Just received an e-mail from the owner of ShowingBlitz.com stating that he intends to keep the site going.

An additional item of interest on this site is that he intends to publish a ranking of I-AA signings after the recruiting season is over. Last year, one source rated UMass as #2 in the I-AA universe for its 2005 recruits. Interesting to see how we will do this year.