Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Wednesday--October 31st 2012

Mrs Blog and I made it home. Our plane was the third into reopening Manchester. Power was out at our house and we read by the light of our propane camping lanterns until we went to bed. Power is on this morning.

Hope all of the UMass family is OK and everyone is making progress about getting their life back in order after Sandy.

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UMass got a practice in before Sandy hit.

Nick Speller still in Limbo.

Harry Plumer has a story about walk-on Al Leneus. He was going to be a defensive lineman--then things changed.


Plumer looks at FBS mascots from Aggies to Zips.

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The Boston Herald says UMass is working to shake off Hurricane VAndy.

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This week UMass travels to NIU. The Huskies have a 19-game winning streak going at their home stadium.

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The Chicago Tribune has news and notes from the MAC.

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Monday, October 29, 2012

Monday--October 29th, 2012

Good Morning from Nashville. Our flight home has been canceled due to the hurricane. Southwest says they'll try again tomorrow to get us to Manchester via Tampa.

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The UMass Daily Collegian says UMass was routed at Vanderbilt.

Harry Plumer of MassLive awards helmet stickers for the Vanderbilt game. Note the number of true freshmen earning the awards. This year is tough but better days are coming.

SB Nation says UMass was clocked by the Commodores.

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SB Nation Boston has a post on BC's win over Maryland. The Terps were down to their fourth-string QB due to injuries.

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USA Today says the MAC's banner season continues. Six MAC teams are now bowl eligible. Figures, the year we join, the league has one of its best ever on overall strength.

The Big East is 1-4 against the MAC this season. Who's the "Mid-major league" now?

"Hustle Belt" has the MAC power rankings for Week #9.

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A couple of images from Vanderbilt

There were a knot of UMass fans at the game Saturday. We met one young man who saw my UMass sweatshirt and pulled up his Vandy sweatshirt to show us a UMass t-shirt underneath. He's a UMass grad who is doing a advanced degree at Vandy.

Mrs Blog and I were up in the nosebleed seats in row #57, so there was not much opportunity for good action shots.

Click on the image for a larger view.


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Yesterday we visited Andrew Jackson's plantation "The Hermitage" the image is from the plantation gardens. It came out pretty good for hand-holding. I talked to more former UMies there and at Belle Mead Plantation.


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Sunday, October 28, 2012

Sunday-- October 28th, 2012

The game was by no means an artistic success for either team. Both teams had eleven penalties and Vanderbilt at one time called a time out after three straight mistakes on one possession.

Again, the Minutemen played well in spurts. The UMass defense battled for most of the day. The turnover on the kick return seemed to take the wind out of the defense's sails.

The UMass offense again struggled. Passing by both Mike Wegzyn and A. J. Doyle was not very accurate. When UMass was able to hit our receivers, we moved the ball. UMass turned the ball over on downs three times at the end of drives near the Vandy Redzone. Both UMass QB's absorbed some heavy hits during the game.

I should say a few good words about Hafis Williams and Michael Cox. I don't know why they didn't get a lot of reps at their former schools, but both continue to play hard. Williams was encouraging his defensive teammates all day.  Cox ran hard despite the score and the fact he was not getting a lot of daylight.

They probably didn't mention it on the TV commentary, but Coach Molnar had the second offense in for the last series of the game. He could have left the first string in to try to make the score look a little better, but it gave the second string some game experience.

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Matty V. said UMass football continued to struggle.

Boston.com has UMass remains winless.

MassLive has Khary Baily-Smith becomes the latest freshman to play for UMass.

MassLive has UMass trounced by Vanderbilt 49-7

Fox Sports has UMass loses to Vandy 49-7, remains winless.

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The Tennessean said Vanderbilt breezes past UMass 49-7.

"Anchor of Gold" has Vandy routs UMass 49-7.

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The MAC conference continued knocking off OOC opponents as Ball State beat Army and Kent State knocked off unbeaten Rutgers.

UMass gets another very good team next week as N. Illinois beat Western Michigan 48-34 to run their record to 8-1 --and the one loss was by one point to Iowa.

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Saturday, October 27, 2012

Game Day--Vanderbilt

Well, it's a chilly morning in the Music City. Game temperatures are going to be in the mid-50's with partly sunny skies.

The blog poll on the UMass-Vandy game in the sidebar continues to act up. I'm going to pull it. I don't what's up with it. The poll is not even editable after even one vote, so I don't know why it keeps resetting to zero votes.

Mrs Blog and I will be leaving early to pick up our tickets at "Will Call". The Minutemen will be close to full strength on starters except for Nick Speller, so we'll see how we do.

We'll be there cheering for UMass. Vandy's stadium is not that large (41,000), but sometimes the smaller stadiums can be loud.

Go UMass!!!!
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Matty V. says the Commodores are focused on winless UMass.

Harry Plumer states UMass will try its hand at containing "SEC speed".

He also has the Minutemen are a 32+ underdog, plus MAC links.

Plumer runs NCAA13 and gets Vandy 24-UMass 7.

Keepers College football ratings has the Commodores by almost 37.

SB Nation says UMass is hoping for the upset.

Boston.com says winless UMass is looking for a turnaround.

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A Bleacher Report writer says Vanderbilt's offense is too "Cute".

DNI.com says Vandy coach Franklin is not worried by overconfidence.

The Tennessean says Vanderbilt's next step is to get to .500.

They'll be Blue Grass at Vandy Stadium tonight.

ESPN features Commodores' RB Zac Stacey.

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Akron Sports Now previews this week's MAC games.

MAC Game Day.

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Friday, October 26, 2012

Friday--October 26th, 2012

Good Morning from Nashville, TN.

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Matty V. has a story about former Minuteman Charles Walker who is now a graduate assistant for Vandervilt. Walker's UMass bio. Walker's Vandy bio. Great to see another former UMass player getting into coaching.

MassLive's Harry Plumer has his Week #9 campus review. This week it's Vandy. He also does lineups for each UMass game, which is handy if you are watching or listening to the game.

Boston.com says a better performance by Mike Wegzyn is critical to a UMass turnaround.

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Vanderbilt and LSU lead the SEC in graduation rate.

Inside Vandy remembers the 1982 Commodores team.

Opposing views predicts Commodores 52-UMass10

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Last week's opponent Bowling Green's coach Dave Clawson discusses on how to set up a MAC---design the team to win the conference or win BCS games

The Indy Star looks at the MAC knocking off big time teams.

The MAC Blog "Hustle Belt" says college athletes and Twitter is a bad idea.
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College Football News says non-BCS teams are not getting a fair shake in bowl bids.

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Questions & Answers with "Anchor of Gold"

One of the nice things about running a blog is getting to know other football fans obsessed enough to spend an inordinate amount of time writing about their team. Somewhat surprisingly, given the general state of the internet, (see some of the comments in this blog), they tend to be a sane and thoughtful bunch.

Today I swap questions and answers with Christian D'Andrea from "Anchor of Gold" a Vanderbilt blog. Check out my efforts to respond to a list of questions about UMass over on their site.

My Questions:
  1. Vanderbilt certainly seems to be a program on the rise. What has changed for Commodores football?
JamesFranklin’s tenure as head coach has been about as big of a change as we’ve ever seen at Vanderbilt. He came in and immediately worked to alter the culture and make Vandy a true SEC program. He got the players to buy in by challenging them to be better, and he used that tactic – essentially telling recruits that they can have it all at Vandy and comparing being a link in a chain at other schools versus starting a tradition in Nashville – on the recruiting trail.

The result has been significant. Vanderbilt is getting better recruits than they ever have before. More impressively, Franklin has taken a group of players that went 2-10 in consecutive years under Bobby Johnson and Robbie Caldwell and turned them into a bowl team. This team stands to improve in the future; hopefully that will create a rolling snowball of more recruiting momentum and bigger wins. The change is coming around, and the level of excitement revolving around this team is slowly starting to spread out to Nashville. The next step will be turning Tennessee fans into Commodore fans in the Music City.
  1. Could you tell us a little about Game Day traditions and atmosphere at Vanderbilt Stadium?
The team is working hard to introduce new traditions that shake off the apathy of the past. Before the game, the team will walk down the Star Walk – with the captains carrying the team’s anchor in the front of the group - from the locker rooms and into Vanderbilt Stadium. The team is also pushing new chants – like screaming “Anchor Down” on kickoffs and emphasizing the importance of some long running traditions like singing the Alma mater after games.

The atmosphere around the stadium is pretty laid back. Fans tailgate in a spot known as Vandyville, and you’ll find plenty of people grilling and drinking beers before the game. Fans are typically pretty friendly, so if you’re a Minuteman fan in town for a game, don’t be shy. Your 0-7 start to the season has been rough, but Vandy fans – especially the older ones – can relate.
  1. What kind of offense and defense does Vandy run? Zac Stacy seems to be a premier player. Who else should Minutemen fans be looking at?
Offense: Fairly straightforward. Lots of I-formation and shotgun sets. Zac Stacy will run the ball 20-25 times in tight games, but he may have a performance similar to his showing against Presbyterian this weekend. In that game, he only ran the ball eight times...but gained 174 yards on the ground.

If Stacy gets pulled early, expect to see guys like Wesley Tate, BrianKimbrow, and Warren Norman running the ball. All three are capable players, but the true freshman Kimbrow is the most explosive of the bunch. If he finds a gap, he’s gone.

Expect some looks downfield but a mostly conservative passing game that uses plenty of bubble screens as well. Also, if the Minutemen don’t double-cover Jordan Matthews from the start, they could be in for a long night. He and Chris Boyd make up the best Vanderbilt WR tandem since…well, let’s just say it’s been a while.
Defense: Lots of 4-3 looks and plenty of rotations across a deep defensive line corps. Vanderbilt’s defense has been improving all season, and they have a secondary that can make you pay. The ‘Dores have been very good against the pass this year, with the exception of a blowout loss to Georgia. They’ll make things tough for Mike Wegzyn all day.
  1. Barring a total collapse in the second half of the Commodores season, Vanderbilt looks to be a sure bet for a bowl game. Do Vanderbilt fans have any favorite that they would like the team to play in?
Well, first off, I have to exorcise my superstitious demons and knock on wood. We Vandy fans have been burned before, so we’re especially careful about getting our expectations up. So, this whole answer comes with a huge “if” caveat.

Vanderbilt played in the Music City Bowl after the 2007 season, and that one worked out pretty well for us. Playing at LP Field gave Vandy a strong home-crowd edge (although playing against Boston College and their six-member fanbase helped as well). The Liberty Bowl, which is just three hours away in Memphis, was a good fit for the team last year as well.

Ideally, I’d like to see Vandy get a little further away from the state of Tennessee if they qualify for a bowl this year. The Gator Bowl, for instance, would be a great honor for this team. However, I’m also partial to ESPN’s projection of an Independence Bowl matchup with Duke. Two nerd schools playing before a packed crowd of hundreds in Shreveport? Sign me up!
  1. Tell us how you think the UMass-Vanderbilt game will play out and your prediction for the score.
My prediction? Pain.

First, let me say that I’m pretty happy about the four-game UMass series. I think it’s a great thing for a Vandy team that needs out-of-conference wins. While the Minutemen are growing, I don’t think they’ll be able to compete with the Commodores over the span of this pact. If this were the Vandy of old, I would be much more concerned, but this team looks like it will only get better in the near future. Aside from the solid matchup for Vandy, it also gives me a chance to travel home (I grew up in Rhode Island) and see the new Gillette Stadium, but that’s a selfish reason.

Anyway, off-topic rambling aside, I think Vandy uses Saturday’s matchup to fine tune their offense. We’ll see plenty of quarterback AustynCarta-Samuels, who was a former Mountain West Freshman of the Year before transferring to Vanderbilt, along with young guys like Kimbrow, Josh Grady, Steven Scheu, Dillon van der Wal, and others getting reps. I’m not sold on UMass’s ability to stop Vanderbilt early, and I think that the Commodore defense is too solid to let them out of that hole later on.

I do think UMass gives us something to think about for future matchups, though.

Final score? Vanderbilt 34, UMass 9

Thursday--October 25th, 2012

Mrs. Blog and I are off to Nashville for our only football-related trip this year. I know of at least one other couple who are going. There will be at least four people cheering for the Minutemen!

As usual, I'll try to keep the blog going.

FoxSports South is going to carry the  UMass-Vanderbilt game. That's channel 420 for Dish subscribers.

The UMass-Vanderbilt Results Poll is showing zero replies this morning. I didn't have anything to do with wiping the results. Blogger, as you have probably figured out by this time, is fairly buggy. Maybe the results will come back.

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Matty V. has more on Coach Molnar's scholarship prank.

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Harry Plumer of MassLive says UMass MLB Perry McIntyre is finally getting some attention.

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The Bradenton Herald and the Sports Chat Place both preview the UMass-Vanderbilt game.

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CBS Sports has a bit about Vandy's Zac Stacey and a UMass defense that "isn't loaded with future NFL talent".

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One ex-NFL player urged Victor Cruz to sit it out until his contract is renegotiated.

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Wednesday-- October 24th, 2012

Matty V. has more medical and academic updates for the Vanderbilt game. Alan Williams will be definitively back. Nick Speller is still uncertain.

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Harry Plumer of MassLive also has some updates.

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Two more articles on Coach Molnar's scholarship prank: USA Today and FoxNews Boston.

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The Tennessean says Vanderbilt can't take any win for granted.

Two Vanderbilt  players were honored as SEC players-of-the-week for their efforts against Auburn. Zac Stacey became the Commodores all-time leading rusher. Center Joe Towsend was SEC lineman-of-the-week.

BTW, Vandy played FCS team  Presbyterian earlier in the year and won 58-0.

Vandy's tradition when the Commodores score a touchdown--- a battleship horn

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CBS Sports has its week conference power rankings and says the MAC now has four teams bowl eligible. BTW, the MAC now has the same number of non-conference FBS wins as does the ACC.

Also, MAC teams are 3-1 against the Big East this season.

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Victor Cruz is hoping the Giants will work on a new contract for him this season.

In some technical football stuff, the NY Times breaks down Victor's 77-yard TD against the Redskins.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Recruiting 2015 -- Bradley Mayes

Joseph Brown image
Tampa Bay Times reports UMass has offered to Bradley Mayes, a 6-2 180 pound sophomore QB from Berkley Prep in FL.

Tampa Bay Times article here.

Rivals page here.

This June 2012 article features Mayes.


Mayes is receiving interest from Florida, Florida State, Maryland, South Florida, Tulane, Vandy and Virginia amoung FBS schools.

Tuesday--October 23rd, 2012

Yea! Matty V. reports that a number of UMass players may return for the Vandy game. Rob Blanchflower, Alan Williams, and Nick Speller are vital to the offense. The Minutemen are a different team with them in the game. Let's hope that Blanchflower stays healthy as #2 TE Derek Beck was on crutches with an ice bag on his leg in the second half of the Ball State game.

Matty also talks about Coach Molnar's approach to discipline. Glad to see that talented freshman D'Metrius Williams was not going to be suspended for this Twitter goof. Coach Reid liked to assign stadium steps runs as punishment. He even ran them at least once himself for cussing in public, if I remember right.

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Harry Plumer of MassLive also has some updates on Minutmen personnel.

Plumer also has his "UMass High Five" with five good FBS teams without a conference title. Next week's opponent is one of them.

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Vanderbilt's coach sticks with tunnel vision.

The Commodores are staying focused for the Minutemen.

Inside Vandy said the Commodores went aggressive on offense against Auburn.

Vanderbilt blog complains about the student turnout (at the end of the blog post).

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Bowling Green LB Dwayne Woods was named MAC Defensive player-of-the-week for his efforts against UMass last week.

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CBS Sports has their latest bowl predictions. Lots of MAC teams on the list.

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Recruiting 2013--Andrew Barton

Barton #50/ John Rearick image
On 10/20/12, the Register Citizen reports UMass is interested in Andrew Barton, a 6-3 230 pound LB from Ridgefield, CT.

Article here.

Rivals page here.


Barton is also drawing interest from Army, Boston College and Temple.

Monday--October 22nd, 2012

The Boston Herald said the UMass offense looked green and the defense looked terrific.

Harry Plumber of MassLive hands out three helmet stickers for the Bowling Green game.

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Over on "Hustle Belt" Mike Paquette and "geeves" debate D'Metrius Williams twitter faux pas

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The MAC scoreboard and game reports for Saturday.

Ohio is in the top-25 of three different polls.

Toledo knocked off unbeaten Cincinnati and Eastern Michigan beat Army to total 14 non-conference win for the MAC so far in 2012.

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Vanderbilt beat Auburn.

The Commodores are backing out of a series with Northwestern and Ohio State.

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SB Nation says the misery continues for UMass, Boston College and UConn.

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Victor does it again!


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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Sunday--October 21st, 2012

Well, it was a tale of two different units yesterday. A stellar defensive performance by the Minutemen defense was negated by a UConn-game level result by the offense.

Ball State was expected to be very good on defense---and they were. But, we seemed to have a real bad game by our quarterbacks. Mike Wegzyn was 9-25 with 2 INT's one for a TD. His longest completion was 7 yards. Mike was not close to his receivers all day and nearly had a couple of more picks. He was replaced by A.J. Doyle who did not do any better. We only had 6 first downs and 118 total yards.

The UMass defense was excellent however. Despite being on the field for 35 1/2 minutes, the defense held Bowling Green to 17 points, 16 first downs and 282 total yards. D'Metrius Williams had 3 BKUP's and was all over the place in the first quarter. Kessan Messiah had 16 TT. The Falcons averaged 2.5 yards a carry and punted 8 times. Bowling Green was 4-17 on third downs and should have been 0-2 on fourth down tries.

UMass was on the wrong side of several penalty calls, including one I don't think I've ever seen before--- excessive celebration on a fourth down stop.

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Also on the plus side, I thought the UMMB had its best performance of the Anderson era and it was great to see Tom Hannum back directing the UMass percussion section.



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UMass' write up on the game.

Bowling Green's take on the game here.

D'Metrius Williams had a great game on the field and had a major thumb failure at halftime.

Matty V. said the offense failed the team.

Harry Plumer says the offense continues to run in reverse.

He also remarks on the play of Williams and Messiah.

The Boston Herald said the offense failed UMass.

The UMass Daily Collegian said UMass couldn't overcome offensive woes.

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Under more of the "Misery loves company" dept: Boston College has no defense.

It's a really bad year for New England college football as UMass, Boston College and UConn have a combined 3-18 record against FBS teams.

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Saturday, October 20, 2012

Game Day-- Bowling Green

Well, the weather is improving. It's already 61 degrees here in Jaffrey and the Gillette weather says showers this morning and partly sunny with a high of 75 by this afternoon!

Despite the non-threatening name, Bowling Green is a solid club. The Falcons have held four of the teams they played to 13 points or under. They held Florida to 14 first downs and 365 total yards in the the Swamp. That's pretty impressive!

The Falcons definitively have more and bigger athletes than UMass does in our first year in FBS. But so did Ohio and Miami (Ohio) and we gave them a good game.

Come out on Homecoming and cheer for the Minutemen. One of these games we're going to break through and you'll want to be able to say "Hell, I was there!"

Go UMass!!!
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MassLIve says undermanned UMass gets ready to face red-hot Bowling Green.

The Boston Herald says rested UMass looks to upset the Falcons.

Harry Plumer runs NCAA13 and gets a 34-0 Bowling Green simulation.

The UMass Daily Collegian states a nine-day Homecoming event kicks off today.

The Toledo Blade says Bowling Green believes UMass is better than its record.

The Sentinel-Tribune says the Falcons can't look past UMass.

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The MAB Blog "Hustle Belt" previews the league games for Week #8.

Akron Sports Now looks at this week in the MAC.

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The best game in the MAC should be 6-1 Toledo against undefeated Cincinnati tonight at 7:00.

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The Wall Street Journal says Boise State continues to unnerve the college football establishment.

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UConn's season continues to suck as the Huskies lost 40-10 to Syracuse last night.

Boston College is also in a challenging situation against Georgia Tech today.

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In other college football news "Hokies hope to get Wang back in time for Tigers"

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Friday, October 19, 2012

Parking update for Bowling Green


I received the following from the Minutemen Club:

Attention UMass Football Gillette Stadium Parking Pass Holders


For the UMass vs. Bowling Green game, October 20, 2012 lot P5 will be closed, due to the New England Revolution Soccer game taking place at 7:30 pm that evening.
  
All VIP parking pass holders will be directed to park in the P4 parking area which is immediately adjacent to the P5 parking area. The P4 lots will be reserved for only season ticket parking pass holders.
 

Enter the same way as prior games to park as those season ticket parking pass holders who have parking passes will be directed to the correct lot. Questions contact the Minutemen Club Office at
413-545-4290 or minutemenclub@admin.umass.edu.
Thank you for your continued support to UMass Football and we look forward to seeing you at the game.
 

Go UMass!

Recruiting 2013 & 2014--Liam Duddy II, Cody Moore and Drew Broughton

Thanks to the person who sent a link about a trio of potential recruits from Fishers HS in Indiana.

The story is here.

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I've already blogged about LB Liam Duddy. The story has some stats on him.

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247 Sports reports that UMass is interested in Cody Moore, a 6-2 280 pound DT from Fishers, HS.

Image credit unknown
This article features Moore.


Moore is also drawing interest from Indiana

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Also mentioned in the article is 2014 class Drew Broughton, a 6-4 260 pound OL from Fishers.

Image credit unknown

Some stats on Broughton from NCSA.


Broughton is taking visits to Purdue and Ball State. Also drawing interest from Indiana and Central Michigan.

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Friday--October 19th, 2012

Matty V. says the Minutemen are eager for the second half of the 2012 season.

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The UMass Daily Collegian says UMass hosts the first Homecoming game at Gillette.

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The Boston Globe states Mike Cox and UMass are still chasing the first win of the season.

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Harry Plumer has the lineups for both teams in Saturday's UMass-Bowling Green tilt.

He also has his weekly campus report, this time about Bowling Green, Ohio.

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Hustle Belt's Matt Sussman and Mike Paquette preview the Minutemen-Falcons game.

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Falcon DL Ted Ouellet is having a good year for Bowling Green. He's also from Sherborn, MA.

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The Boston Herald says Mike Panepinto, who has verbaled to UMass for Lacrosse, is having a pretty good fall playing football.

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Yahoo Sports has another story about Coach Molnar calling in the law on Rob O'Conner and Daniel Maynes.

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CBS Sports ranks the FBS conferences and has the MAC as # 7.

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The MAC Report Online previews Week #8 in the league.

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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Recruiting 2013-- Jordan Roberts

Rivals inage

Tampa Bay Home Team reports UMass is recruiting Jordan Roberts, a 6-1 WR from Zephyrhills, FL.

Tampa Bay page here.

Honor Roll student.

Won high jump and 100 meters events in track.

Also receiving interest from Florida, Louisville, Navy, Michigan State and Iowa State.

Thursday -- October 18th, 2012

UMass has its game notes for Bowling Green up. The Minutemen have not had a lot of help from the weatherman in our first season Gillette. However, the latest forecast looks like we will dodge the rain and have improving conditions for Saturday afternoon.

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The UMass specialty licence plate #1 and #1863 will be part of a special presentation at Saturday's game in Gillette. UMass alums, order yours now!

More here on the presentation.

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UMass received more bad news than good about the availability of players for Saturday's game with Bowling Green. Three starters, Alan Williams, Nick Speller and Rob Blanchflower will not be available for the trip to Gillette.

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The UMass Daily Collegian says the Minutemen special teams look to make a big contribution Saturday.

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Harry Plumer of MassLive has another story about the status of the injured/suspended players and a neat video link of a trick played on Daniel Maynes and Rob O'Conner by Coach Molnar.

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The Toledo Blade has a column on the UMass-Bowling Green game. Note that the writer says UMass most closely resembles ------ Temple.

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The MAC Blog "Hustle Belt" looks at BCS teams the league has managed to attract for home games.

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The Montreal Alouettes have announced that Brandon London has had surgery for a meniscus problem and is done for the season.

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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Recruiting 2013--Jonathan Thomas

Globe image photographer unknown
ESPN Boston reports UMass has offered to Jonathan Thomas, a 5-11 195 pound RB from Peabody/ St. Johns Prep.

ESPN article here.

This article from ESPN Boston talks about Massachusetts recruits as well as UMass recruiting.

This article features Thomas.


Also drawing interest from BC, UConn, Notre Dame, Virginia and Nebraska.

Wednesday--October 17th, 2012

Quotes from Coach Molnar's weekly MAC teleconference.

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Matty V has a story featuring Marken Michel. Michel's UMass bio is here. Matty also mentions Rob Blanchflower and Matt Sparks.

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Harry Plumer of MassLive says UMass players and coaching staff are getting used to changes in the offensive line.

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Bowling Green has their game notes for UMass up.

The Sentinel-Tribune says Bowling Green is facing a trap game against UMass this Saturday.

The Falcons DL Chris Jones has been named the MAC defensive-player-of-the-week three times this year. Jones' Bowling Green bio here.

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MAC Blog "Hustle Belt" says the MAC is the cradle of all-purpose yards.

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Victor Cruz stated that the Niners defense didn't have much to say after Sunday's game.

NJ.com says Victor is off to a historic start after 25 career games.

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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Recruiting 2013-- Craig Mackey

247 Sports image
Rivals.com states UMass has offered to Craig Mackey, a 5-11 174 poud CB from Tallahassee, FL.

Rivals two-star player.

247 Sports page here .

Mentioned in the Nike SPARC Combine article (towards the bottom of the page).

MacKey has offers from Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee State and Western Kentucky in FBS. Florida A&M from FCS has also offered.

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Tuesday-- October 16th, 2012

Matty V. has some updates on the status of injuries and academic suspensions.

Starters possibly out for the Bowling Green game:

Non-starters questionable are:
The missing five starters are a big hit to the Minutemen team. If Casselberry and Speller are out, the UMass offense line will starting two true freshmen, a circumstance that would cause most coaches to blanch and walk away muttering. Blanchflower, Williams and Tharpe have been playing well. The two receivers were a big part of the Minutemen's near upset of Ohio.

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Plumer also takes a look at defense in the MAC. This week's opponent Bowling Green leads the league is scoring and total yards defense.

BTW, UMass is a 17 1/2 point underdog according to Vegas.

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MAC Conference Insider says Terry Bowden is waiting for Akron's hard work to pay off.

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UMass-Vanderbilt will be on Fox Sports Net TV. That would probably be Fox Sports South.

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Bleacher Report has the MAC #9 in conference power rankings.

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Brandon London has some quotes after the Larks loss to lowly Winnipeg

Dario  Ayala image
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Monday, October 15, 2012

Recruiting 2013-- C.J. Jones

Rivals image
Rivals.com reports UMass has offered to C. J. Jones, a 6-0 195 pound Safety from Olney, MD.

Rivals.com two-star recruit.

Our Lady of Good Counsel has eight players on defense who could be playing college football.


Besides UMass, Jones holds an offer from Virginia.

Monday -- October 15ht, 2012

Cleveland.com says Bowling Green may be the best team in the MAC East. I have the same feeling. The Falcons are very good. Talent-wise they are probably right there with Western Michigan and will present a significant challenge to UMass.

The Minutemen's MAC schedule will get easier---- but not this week. Hopefully, we will be back to full strength for Saturday.

MAC Report Online says Bowling Green's lines dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage against Miami (Ohio).

Keepers College Football Rankings has the Falcons by 24+

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Ohio made it into the Associated Press Top-25 poll this week.

Nice human interest story about Ohio DE Cory Hasting.

MAC Blog "Hustle Belt" has 10 reason to cheer for the Bobcats. Not to mention that the Minutemen played their best game of the season against them.

USA Today has Kent State as one of seven surprise FBS teams at the half way point.

USA Today says we're ahead of Tulane!

CBS Sports has the MAC in five bowl games. Adding Michigan and Vanderbilt would make seven bowl teams for UMass this season.

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ESPN said Victor Cruz did the Salsa, Carlos Rogers didn't.

Jeromy Miles was involved in a controversial play against the Browns.

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Sunday, October 14, 2012

Sunday---October 14th, 2012

UMass staff physician Dr Rouzier and his son Anthony Rouzier have a plan to fight child obesity. Anthony was a pretty good OLB for UMass and won letters in 2007 and 2008.

CBS3 has more on the UMass players reading to kids during the Holyoke block party.

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MAC Conference results from yesterday. The conference bagged another OOC win with Kent State over Army. Our next opponent Bowling Green handled Miami (Ohio) 37-12.

"Hustle Belt" said the Falcons throttled Miami.

Western Michigan, which crushed UMass, lost to Ball State in overtime.

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It was another bad Saturday for New England FBS teams.

Florida State embarrassed Boston College 53-7. BC Interruption and Eagle in Atlanta react.

I listened to UConn-Temple game on satalite radio on the way back from PA. Don Brown's defense was great as usual, but the Huskies had one first down after the first quarter and lost in overtime.

The UConn Blog reacts.

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The #1 matchup between the Giants and the 49ers today will be Victor Cruz against Carlos Rogers.

Jeromy Miles made a nice play on special teams last week against Miami.

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Saturday, October 13, 2012

Recruiting 2013--Khoury Crenshaw

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ESPN reports UMass has offered to Khoury Crenshaw, a 5-10 165 pound RB/CB from Solon, OH.

Crenshaw's ESPN page here.

Crenshaw won the state championship in the 100 meters this Spring.

He says he ran a 4.3 40 (click on "my statistics" tab).



Besides UMass, Crenshaw holds offers from Akron, Eastern Illinois and Kent State.

Saturday--October 13th, 2012

No UMass dog in the hunt on this weekend. All the action is in league games.

Navy ran past Central Michigan on ESPN last night 31-13. I watched the game and the Chippewas were in it until the late third quarter.

The MAC Blog "Hustle Belt" previews the weekend's MAC league games.

The MAC Daily says Ohio strives to remain at the top.

Next week's opponent Bowling Green meets Miami (Ohio) at home. The Falcons have played a petty tough schedule themselves. They've lost to Florida, Virginia Tech and Toledo.

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Boston College, still searching for a FBS win, draws Florida State this week.

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Another interesting game today will be UConn against run-heavy Temple. Don Brown's nationally ranked defense against the Owls. That's the Big East's #2 rushing offense against the Big East's #2 rushing defense.

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Since UMass will play four MAC teams in basketball, we are kind of an adjunct member of MAC basketball. Yahoo Sports MAC hoops preview.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Recruiting 2013-- Liam Duddy

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ESPN reports UMass is recruiting Liam Duddy, a 6-0 210 pound OLB from Fishers, IN.

Duddy's ESPN page here.

Stats on Duddy from Football Stars of Tomorrow.


Besides UMass, Duddy is receiving interest from Bowling Green, Indiana, N. Illinois, Penn State, Purdue and Toledo.