Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Wednesday--July 24, 2013

Matty V. has some quotes from the MAC Media Day.

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The MAC Conference website has a replay of the day's video.

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The MAC Report online has a compendium  of the league's various watch lists.

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MassLive has five stories from Media Day:

Coach Molnar wouldn't wish a FCS to FBS transition on anyone.

Coach Molnar thinks Mike Wegzyn didn't really get a chance to show what he could do last year.

UMass will not reach the FBS 85 scholarship limit until about 2015.

Notes on the MAC.

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MassLive also has an article on the UMass offensive line being a priority for 2013.

I've blogged before that probably the #1 thing that went wrong in our initial year in FBS was the offensive line. The Minutemen were last in the MAC in yards per carry and 12th in total rushing offense. And that was with a RB good enough to be drafted into the NFL.

Generally, if you can run the ball, you've got a good looking offense. Remember the first game at Michigan? Being able to run the ball also makes your play-action work, which in turn makes the QB look good. UMass was last in the MAC in QB efficiency in 2012.

UMass was also 12th in the MAC in sacks against.

It all starts with the offensive line.

Phil Steele says the Minutemen had the second highest total of lost starts in the nation last year.

Contrast that with 1998, our National Championship year. Our offensive linemen were:

LT Cliff Bolden
LG Mike Wynne
C Deyate Haygood
RG Tyler Laubeck
RT Mim Hill

How many starts did that group miss? Cover the screen and then guess. UMass played 15 games in 1998, so that means there were 75 individual starts available for the OL. The number of missed starts was..
.
.
.
.
.

One. Corey Mitchell started for Cliff Bolden in the first UConn game. Other than that, the OL unit had the same starters for every game.

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Four RB's will fuel Western Michigan's game this year (includes an image of UMass).

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The University of Buffalo thinks the Bulls could turn the corner in the MAC this year.

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Sports Illustrated says the new NCAA targeting rule will spark controversy.

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