2009 UMass Football Blog Disclaimer

Following the lead of a Milblog I read, I probably should do a disclaimer periodically. This is 2009's issue.

The UMass Football Blog is not affiliated with the University of Massachusetts, the UMass Football team or any other UMass website or organization. The content of this blog is solely the responsibility of the owner of the Blog and does not reflect the views of the University of Massachusetts or the UMass Athletic Dept. Content is copy write to the author.

The UMass Football Blog does not accept advertising, although a recent offer by Playboy Mansions Tickets, was certainly tempting.

I do not receive compensation of any sort or inside information from UMass Football for writing this blog. The UMass Sports Information Office has kindly including me in their mailing list and has allowed me to take part in their Media Days. I sincerely thank them.

The Blog will be five years old in May, which is incredibly ancient by internet standards.

Comments will remain moderated in 2010. Racist or otherwise patently offensive comments will always be removed. Comments about UMass players grades, personal life or character will always be moderated. I feel that it is not proper to make allegations in an anonymous post on a blog. I don't believe I've ever moderated a negative comment about me or the blog or any other topic in which there was some actual intelligence displayed.

Since I am a season ticket holder and a member of Friends of Football, that makes me an "agent" of the program in the eyes of the NCAA. I therefore cannot have any contact with recruits or their families. If you are a recruit and your search engine took you here, you are in the wrong place. Go to the Official UMass Website or call the UMass Football Office now.

After 2,748 blog posts, I am still having fun with the Blog and I intend to keep it going in 2010. Hope everyone has a great new season and I hope we return to the playoffs in this new year.

Wednesday News-- 12/30/09

The Bleacher Report has an article that mentions Vladimir Ducasse being a possible second round pick for Denver in an NFL mock draft.

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There's a senior QB from Mississippi that's not getting much attention in college recruiting. His name is Dylan Favre. I wonder if he'd think of FCS football. You know that the FBS schools will be recruiting over him for his entire career at that level. An FCS team would not.

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If recruiting were not strange enough, now there are fake recruiters.

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Stony Brook adds five mid-year transfers including one from Hofstra.

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Former UMass coach Mark Whipple had a lot of face time during last night's Champs Sports Bowl.

The announcers mentioned UMass' 2003 game with Kansas State.

Not much Whip could do in last night's game. Wisconsin dominated on both lines of scrimmage. The big guys won the game for the Badgers on both sides of the ball.

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Tuesday News --- 12/29/09

Ron Chimelis looks at sports in western Mass and opines that UMass Football's 2006 run to the National Championship game was one of the top events of the decade.

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Vladimir Ducasse and Jeromy Miles make the CSN's "Fabulous Fifty" FCS team. Armando Cuko makes Honorable Mention.

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Mike Leach, the HC of last year's FBS/I-A team Texas Tech has been suspended for allegations of player abuse. The Texas Tech Blog "Double T Nation" has lots of details.

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In another article, Ron Chimelis says UMass is serious about academics.

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Recruiting 2010 Marcus Cunningham

UMass is interested in Marcus Cunningham 6-1 180 pd WR from Lakeland, FL.

His Rivals page is here. Cunningham runs a 4.5 40.

He was a FACA All-Star.

Taking visits to Florida Atlantic and FIU. Interested along with UMass are West Virginia, UCF, FAMU and Troy.

Sunday News---12/27/09

Vladimir Ducasse is listed as the top FCS draft prospect in the latest iteration of JBS scouting's "Top Small School" NFL prospects. I've been following the Minutemen for a long, long time, and I can't remember UMass ever having the top NFL pick in FCS. Interesting to see if the actual draft plays out that way. Jeromy Miles is listed as #43.

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As stated above, I've been watching college football for a long time. During last night's BC-USC game a member of member of the USC punt return team was touched by the ball and the ball was subsequently recovered by the Eagles. The officials ruled Trojan football because the player was blocked into the ball. That's a new one on me. I never knew that exception existed. Any referees read this blog? Can someone explain the call?

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UMass and Georgia Southern hooked up in a couple of memorable football games back in the late 90's. Eagle football has struggled lately with Appalachian State dominating in the Southern Conference. Head Coach Chris Hatcher was fired and the new Eagles's head coach is Jeff Monken. He's bringing back the triple option.

Recruiting 2010- Hans Louis

Rivals.com states UMass has offered to Hans Louis a 6-0 210 pd OLB from Hollywood, FL.

His Rivals page is here.

A seven minute highlight film here.

This preseason article features him.

Louis was the Broward County Defensive Player-of-the-year.

He holds offers from Florida International, Toledo and Utah State

Merry Christmas 2009!

Mrs Blog and I would like to wish all the UMass Football Blog community a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

May everyone have a year of health, prosperity and good fortune.

Hope Santa brings you a gift certificate to a travel company, so that you can start planning your trip to the Big House to watch UMass play Michigan.

While Santa is thinking about us, a Rivals three-star quarterback recruit would be nice as well as a couple of I-A defensive transfers...

Thursday News--12/24/09

Vladimir Ducasse and Jeromy Miles made First Team All-American from The Sports Network. Armando Cuko made Third Team.

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UMass loses one recruiting battle to Delaware.

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Montana's Bobby Hauck has been hired as HC at Nevada Las Vegas.

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South Dakota will play two FBS teams (UCF and Minnesota) in 2010.

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Former UMass assistant coach Bob Shoops lost out to NFL assistant Bog Surace for the Princeton VC job. Surace started his coaching career at Springfield College.

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Recruiting 2010-- Hofstra Transfers

This thread at AGS says that Hofstra coach Cohen sent out an e-mail listing the destinations of Hofstra transfers.

According to the post, UMass has landed:

Anthony Dima a 6-7 271 pd Fr OL from Center Reach, NY.

Anthony Nelson, a 5-10 180 pd Jr WR from Wellington, FL. Nelson was First Team All-CAA as a punt returner in 2007. He was Academic All-CAA in 2008.

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Wednesday News--12/23/09

Former UMass assistant coach Bob Shoop has been named FCS Assistant Coach-of-the-Year as defensive coordination at Richmond.

Footballcoachscoop.com also has him as one of the top candidates for the Princeton HC job.

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Keepers College Football rankings has UMass at #27 in the final FCS standings.

Recruiting 2010 -- Mike Smith

Rivals.com states that UMass has offered to Mike Smith a 5-8 165 pd CB/athlete from Titusville, FL. Smith runs a 4.4 40

His Rivals page is here.

Q and A with him here.

Video interview and highlight film here.

He also holds offers from Louisiana-Lafayette, Bowling Green, Florida International, Florida Atlantic, Iowa State and UCF.

Image from Rivals.com

Tuesday News --- 12/22/09

The Bleacher Report says bad stadiums killed two CAA programs.

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ESPN says Hofstra cut more than football.

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Swampscott's Brian Palangi transfers from Northeastern to Northern Iowa.

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Now that the FCS National Championship game is over, the FCS committee is looking at the bids for the 2010 game.

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Final 2009 Top-25 Polls. UMass is not in any of them.

The Sport Network looks at the final polls.

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Montana's Bobby Hauck is a finalist for the Nevada Las Vegas head coaching job.

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Monday News--12/21/09

Happy Winter Solstice Day! The Sun reaches it's lowest point at 17:47 UTC (12:47 EST).

Tomorrow we head towards Spring.

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The Examiner.com recaps honors won by UMass players in football, basketball and hockey over the last week.

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The Bleecher Report says the money received by FCS teams to play FBS games is climbing.

UMass should fill in for Hofstra at Boston College next year and make nearly a milion dollars for two FBS games. With the recession on it would be a smart move.

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Prairie View A&M's Henry Frazier III became the first HBCU coach to win the Eddie Robinson Award as FCS's top coach.

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Notes and quotes post-game from the 2009 National Campionship.

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Sunday News-- 12/20/09

The Bleacher Report has the top 10 electrifying FCS Offensive players of 2009.

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The Philadelphia Inquirer says Villanova could repeat as National Champions in 2010.

The Missoulian looks at the NC game from Montana's perspective.

Another article from the Missoulian: "The Griz were so close"

Relevant quote from the article:"Since winning the 2001 national title, the Grizzlies have lost to Colonial Athletic Association teams James Madison, Richmond and VU in Chattanooga. The winners' rushing totals: 314, 208 and 351 yards.

That's against a team that generally leads the Big Sky Conference in rush defense."

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The CAA's website has video and transcriptions from the National Championship post game press conferences

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BTW, nice win by the UMass BB team yesterday. Mrs blog and I will be taking in some hoops games after the intercession. We haven't seen the team in person yet this year.

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Saturday News--12/19/09

Congratulations to the Villanova Wildcats, who won their first national championship last night.

The Wildcats looked too strong for Montana. It the first half, the Griz could not run the ball, but scored twice on the sharp passing of Montana QB Andres Selle. In the second half, Villanova held the Griz to six first downs.

Villanova's Matt Szczur looked like a replay of the famous Bo Jackson-Brian Bosworth run-over. Szczur flat ran over a Montana LB (didn't catch his number) for a TD.

A couple of questionable coaching decisions by Villanova had an impact on the game. After missing an extra point, unaccountably Villanova didn't go for two points after either of their next two scores. If Montana had made their onside kick, the Griz were one pass play from a game winning field goal.

The other decision was to let Montana get behind the Wildcat defense with a minute left to play. There should have been a safety deep. If Montana had hit that onside kick...

This Google search will connect you with more than twenty links to articles from the game.

Montana's writeup here.

Villanova's writeup here.

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Found this link over on Matty V's UMass Sports blog: The Chattanooga Times-Free Press lists the five best National Championship games (in Finley Stadium). UMass played in two of them.

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National Championship Friday--12/18/09

UMass gets three transfers from Northeastern. I blogged yesterday about LB Chad Hunte.

Also joining the Minutemen will be All-CAA and All-New England RB John Griffin. He will be joined by 6-5 300 pd OL Greg Niland who started 21 games for Huskies in the last two years. Pre-season All-American Nate Thellan is reported to be leaning towards UMass.

Matty V. also says UMass is in the running for Hofstra DE Deron Mayo.

Some images here.

More than 60 colleges have contacted Northeastern about transfers.

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A blogger at the Hartford Courant says maybe the Big East should go after Villanova and UMass.

The same blogger asks what happens if the Big Ten expansion raids the Big East.

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The recession claims plans for a new stadium at Delaware.

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Bruce Dowd is on the road to Chattanooga .

Terrance Thomas, Sr has his latest "CAA Today" essay here.

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The CAA has updates on Villanova's activities at the National Championship game.

JMU's Arthur Moats won the Buck Buchanan Award for the top defensive player in FCs.

Armanti Edwards won the Walter Payton Award for the top offensive player in FCS.

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William & Mary gets a big I-A transfer at QB.

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Recruiting 2010 -- Irvin Scott Part II

The same article as below reports that QB/SS Irvin Scott from Brookline will take a recruiting visit to UMass in January.

I've already blogged about Scott back on Sept. 29th.

Image from MaxPreps.com

Recruiting 2010-- Chad Hunte

This article says former Northeastern Freshman LB Chad Hunte will transfer to UMass.

Hunte is a 6-0 205 pd LB from Brookline, MA. He was team captain and All-Bay State at Brookline.

Thursday News---12/17/09

Three articles about UMass senior Vladimir Ducasse making AP FCS All-American: Stanford Advocate, Mass Live and the UMass Athletic Dept website.

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Armando Cuko was named to the American Coaches First Team All-American Team.

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CSN writer Kent Schmidt looks at Big Sky Champion Montana's road to the FCS Championship game.

Chuck Burton looks at the record breaking viewership for the Montana-Appalachian State game.

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From the Sports Network:

Villanova enjoys the moment.

Montana looks for redemption.

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Recruiting 2010---Abdullah Sabir

UMass is interested in Abdullah Sabir a 6-1 200 pd DB from the Community College of San Francisco.

His Scout.com page is here. Sabir runs a 4.5 40

He is also drawing interest from Iowa State, Sacramento State and Stony Brook.

Wednesday News---12/16/09

The four remaining CAA North schools plot strategy.

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The CSN's So South columnist Myron Hosea, says it was a game of inches for Appalachian State.

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Richmond hired Spiders assistant coach Latrell Scott as their new HC.

More here.

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The CAA's weekly football press release here.

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Why coaches stay off the internet: the same day new Jayhawks HC Turner Gill was hired, a Kansas fan started a "Fire Turner Gill" website.

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Tuesday News ---- 12/15/09

The Springfield Republican has a story about UMass senior Jeromy Miles being named to the Walter Camp FCS All-America team.

The announcement of the 2009 All-America team from the Walter Camp website. Five CAA players made the list.

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Chuck Burton reprises the Villanova-William & Mary semifinal game.

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Matty Vautour wastes fifteen seconds of your life. Hofstra lost to Maine, who lost to Albany, who lost to Robert Morris, who lost to DII Urbana.

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Speaking of Hofstra, read this question-and-answer with Pride AD Jack Hayes. Note that there was no financial crisis involved in the decision to drop football. Also noteworthy is the fact the administration kept the decision secret for their convenience (scheduling, etc), but never considered the Pride's players, coaches and recruits. Stay classy, Hofstra administrators!

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The Sports Network's Brett Kahn previews the 2009 FCS Championship game.

There are some interesting quotes coming out of the pregame stories about the Villanova-Montana Championship match up.

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Recruiting 2010 --- Mike Gallo

A reader sent in an e-mail saying UMass is interested in Mike Gallo a 6-3 210 pd pro-style QB from Cinnaminson, NJ,

His Rivals page is here.

Scout.com page here.

MaxPreps highlight film here.

He's also hearing from JMU, Oregon, UCLA, Temple, Syracuse, Rutgers and Virginia.

Monday News -- 12/14/09

The Sports Network has a couple of articles: Armanti Edwards' career ends in the snow and Jabin Sambrano sends the Griz to the National Championship game.

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Keepers College Football Rankings has Villanova favored by a little less than a TD against Montana.

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The Philadelphia Inquirer has an article about Villanova's wild man Tim Kukucka.

The Bleacher Report looks at Villanova's unsung hero Matt Szczur.

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Sunday News-- 12/13/09

A big "Thank you" to the blog reader who sent me this link about NFL Draft "momentum" for UMass Senior Vladimir Ducasse.

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Mrs Blog and I had some Saturday errands to run, so I set my DVD and watched the Montana-Appalachian State game starting about 9:00 PM my time. It turned out be a wonderful advertisement for FCS football as the Grizz hung on to beat the Mountaineers in a a snow storm. The best player on the field was not Appy's Armanti Edwards, but a 6-0 195 shifty Montana RB named Chase Reynolds. Who'da thunk it?

Highlights, images and quotes from the Grizz home page here.

The Great Falls Tribune says it was a Thrilla.

The Missoulian says it was a perfect storm.

Interesting footnote from the Mountaineers' write up: Appalachian State is 0-9 in games west of the Mississippi River.

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Thought for the day (quoting former UMass HC Mark Whipple): about not being in the playoffs--- "Stinks doesn't it?"

Recruiting 2010-- Jaryd Rudolph

UMass is interested in Jaryd Rudolph a 6-3 280 pd OL from Silver Lake HS in MA.

This article features him.

Video highlight film here.

Rudolph is receiving looks from UNH, UMaine, Boston College, UConn, Maryland (I bet Don Brown is behind that one) and Marist.

Image from WickedLocal.com. It's unattributed as to the photographer.

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Saturday News--12/12/09

Chris Zardas , Kyle C. Harrington and Armando Cuko have been named to the New England Football Writers Team. Zardas talks about his NFL hopes and there is some more information about Hofstra and Northeastern dropping football.

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Another year, another CAA team in the FCS Championship. Villanova beat William & Mary last night to make the title game.

More here, and here and here.

I watched the game and the Wildcats Matt Sczcur was the difference.

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Friday News----12/11/09

Football Scoop (scroll down) reports that Mike London has offered the Virginia Defensive Coordinator position to former UMass HC Jimmy Reid.

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David Coulson reviews this week's Final Four FCS playoff games and reviews some great FCS playoff games from the past. He mentions the great UMass-Montana contest in 2006. I have that game on tape. It's a real morale booster.

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Recruiting 2010: Eddie Rouxinol hopes to play for the UMass marching band next season.

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CSN's Chuck Burton previews the the center stage for the semi-final playoff games.

Bruce Dowd says the playoffs don't get any better than this.

Terrance Thomas, Sr looks at the CAA rematch ---- again.

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Thursday News----12/10/09

Jeromy Miles was honored at the 42nd meeting the Touchdown Club of South Jersey as the South Jersey FCS Player of the year.

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Three Richmond assistant coaches have followed Mike London to Virginia.

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Former Hofstra RB Miguel Maysonet will transfer to Stony Brook.

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The Villanova-William & Mary Semi-final game should be a good one.

The Daily Press says that to win, the Tribe must run the ball.

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Three Kansas State players have been selected to the East-West Shrine Game.

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Wednesday News--12/09/09

UMass is one of the top contenders for John Griffin, Northeastern's First Team All-CAA and All-New England RB.

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The New Hampshire Football Report says the end of Northeastern and Hofstra football programs will be a loss of opportunity for a lot of New England kids.

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The CAA has its weekly press release with notes and previews for this week's playoff games.

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Brett Kahn previews this week's semi-finals in the FCS championship tourney and predicts Villanova and Appalachian State victories.

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Alabama will not hold classes Jan 6th to the 8th because all the faculty and staff wants to go to the BCS Championship game.

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I watched a spirited contest between Northwest Missouri and California of Pennsylvania in the semi-finals of the DII Football National Championship Tourney last night. The Northwest Missouri Bearcats won 56-31. The California of PA team's nickname is the Vulcans-----Vulcans?

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Boston College will meet USC in the Emerald Bowl.

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Tuesday New---12/08/09

Mike London did, indeed become Virginia's next HC.

More on London's hiring here.
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Another revision of Josh Buchanan's Top 50 "Small School" players with 40 times. It includes Vladimir Ducasse and Jeromy Miles.

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More pushback about the axing of Hofstra's football program.

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A couple of articles from the Sports Network:

Brett Kahn writes about Villanova's rout of UNH in the snow.

David Coulson recaps last Saturday's FCS playoff games and say the Richmond-Appalachian State game lived up to its billing.

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Blogger sent me a comment from October 12th to be be moderated last night...

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Monday News-- 12/07/09

UMass' new recreation center is open.

Ron Chimelis ruminates on UMass football.

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More and more Haitians are playing American football.

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Keepers College Football ratings has Montana and Villanova favorites in the FCS semifinals.

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Former UMass great Bill Durkin lost his job when Hofstra folded.

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Hofstra's Second team All-CAA FB Everett Benjamin (Junior) will be available to transfer without sitting out a year.

So will Pride third team All-CAA OL Derek Moore (Sophomore)

Hofstra's 2009 recruiting class is here.

UPDATE:

Rival two-star DE Matt Huckabee had committed to Hofstra back on 8/22/09. He will now be back in the recruiting pool.

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Northeastern's First team All-CAA RB John Griffin will also be able to transfer.

Northeastern's 2009 recruiting class here.

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Sunday News--12/06/09

There were a couple of unbelievable statistical games in the playoffs yesterday.

Villanova held UNH to -66 yards rushing and the Wildcats did not have a first down until six minutes left in the third quarter.

Montana's defense forced ten --yes ten-- turnovers against Stephen F. Austin.

In another statistical record, the loosing quarterfinal teams scored a playoff low of 41 points and lost by a combined score of 156-41.

Recaps and stats for all the CAA teams in yesterday's playoff games here.

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Hofstra players and alumni are not happy at the demise of the Pride football program.

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Football scoop is claiming that Richmond's Mike London is the leading candidate for HC at Virginia.

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Saturday News--- 12/05/09

Four UMass seniors appear in the Josh Buchanan's latest "Top 100 Small School Players" scouting report.

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New Hampshire says their football program is not in danger, and in fact, is going in the opposite direction.

New Hampshire can reach a milestone in their football history today.

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The Huntington News has another story about the loss of Northeastern Football.

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The CAA "Gameday" page has all the news and information about today's playoff games. All of them are on TV!

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David Coulson has his latest "Around FCS" column here.

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Chuck Burton has his latest "FCS Now" column here.

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Friday News--- 12/04/09

UMass HC Kevin Morris was the keynote speaker at the Western Mass High School Super Bowl luncheon yesterday.

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This Google search contains a dozen or more links to articles about the end of Hofstra football.

Matty V. has another article on the decision.

Could UMass play two BCS/I-AA games next year? Why not? it would be the biggest income for the Athletic Dept in the history of UMass. I think 2010 will be a rebuilding year anyway. Two I-A teams will probably not impact our playoff chances.

This was a loss for Hofstra and for the Northeast. School administrators are being very shortsighted in actions like this. Football is gone at Hofstra and will be replaced by nothing.

At one time America was a nation of joiners. Social organizations like the Elks, the Moose (my grandfather was big in the Moose), the Odd Fellows and a dozen other fraternal organizations were a big influence on people's lives. Television stopped all that in its tracks. Nothing ever replaced the social influence of those organizations.

Likewise, attending college in the past was a life-defining action. You were a UMass or Holy Cross grad for life. School administrators need to realize that ethos is changing fast. Young people today no longer consider their school their "Alma Mater". It's a place where they spend four years. Then leave.

That's what just happed to Hofstra. The school administrators just made the Pride into a four year version of Nassau Community College. And just as loveable.

The same administrators will sit around the conference table and wonder why no one signs up with the Hofstra Alumni Club anymore.

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Former UMass player Seam Smalls was arrested Thursday on the UMass campus on weapons charges.

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CAA beat writer Terrance Thomas Sr. has his "CAA Today" Column for this week up on the CSN website.

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Hofstra Drops Football

Hofstra has announced that they are discontinuing their football program effective immediately.

Letter to the Hofstra Community. Their FAQ.

Bad news all over...

UPDATES:

From Matty Vautour.

From UMass AD John McCutcheon.

Recruiting 2010 -- Jake Meyers

UMass is recruiting Jake Meyers a 6-0 200 pd MLB from Hanover PA.

Meyers' Scout.com page here. This article mentions him. Meyers is a Scout.com one-star recruit. He runs a 4.62 40.

He lists UMass and Lafayette as his favorites at this time.

Also interested are Holy Cross and Penn.

Thursday News -- 12/03/09

Vladimir Ducasse, Jeromy Miles and Chris Zardas were named All-New England.

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More player stories from Northeastern.

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Oregon's Chip Kelly talks about his life as UNH's offensive coordinator (mentions UMass).

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NFL Draft Scout has an article on "Diamonds in the Rough'. The list includes UMass' Vladimir Ducasse and UNH's Scott Sicko.

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CSN's Kent Schmidt reviews Montana's epic comeback against South Dakota State and previews SIU-William & Mary here.

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The CAA website has more on video coverage of all the CAA's teams in the Quarterfinals.

"The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) will carry both the William and Mary/Southern Illinois game (12 p.m., ET) and the Appalachian State/Richmond game (7 p.m., ET) live on its network. The New Hampshire/Villanova game (3:30 p.m., ET), a rematch from the 2009 CAA Football regular season, will be shown live on Comcast SportsNet New England and on WPVI-TV (ABC) in Philadelphia, Pa."

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The Sports Network's Brett Kahn previews the FCS quarterfinals.

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Wednesday News-- 12/02/09

The Bleacher Report has an interview with former UMass, Syracuse and Patriots head coach Dick McPherson.

Few people can tell football stories like Coach McPherson.

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The New Hampshire-Villanova second round playoff game will be televised on Comcast Sports New England. That's Dish Network's channel 435.

Villanova lost one of their top linemen last week to a torn ACL.

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Maryland has announced that HC Ralph Friedgen will be back for his 10th season. That's good news for defensive coordinator Don Brown.

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The CAA has its weekly press release on all league teams and updated information on this week's playoff games.

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Mississippi Valley State's Willie Toten has resigned as HC.

Nichols State had fired HC Jay thomas earlier this month. An interim HC has been appointed.

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Recruiting 2010---Mike Quinn

UMass is interested in Mike Quinn, a 6-3 195 pd pro-style QB from Wayne, NJ. Quinn is a Rivals two-star recruit.

His Rivals page is here.

This article features Quinn.

YouTube highlight film here.

An article from August profiles him.

Besides UMass, Villanova, Richmond and Hofstra are also interested.

Image by Leslie Barbaro/New Jersey.com

Tuesday News--12/01/09

More on Holy Cross' QB Dominic Randolph, who may be New England's hottest NFL prospect.

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Myron Hosea the CSN "So South" correspondent looks at last week's Southern Conference playoff games and previews this week's Richmond-Appalachian State game.

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Edwards, Hudgins and Karim named finalists for the Payton Award.

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Add St. Francis to the number of FCS teams changing their head coaches.

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