Hey UMass fans! That was a win to be proud of. It's a game we'll reminisce about in future years.
The Minutemen 1st, 2nd, and 3rd string TE's were out, as well as the NT, most of the defensive line and starting safety. Despite the huge size difference, UMass dominated all phases of the game.
Despite not having a TE, UMass rang up 29 first downs and 495 yards of offense. Frohnapfel went 34-42 363 yards and 3TD's. With no blocking TE available, UMass used ex-QB's A.J. Doyle and Todd Stafford in the "heavy" package and that didn't help the short yardage running game. FIU is still #2 in Conference USA rushing defense, BTW.
On Defense, the UMass Smerfs were all over the Panthers' offense. The Minutemen held the much bigger SIU offense to 188 total yards. Kassan Messiah, Joe Colton and Peter Angeh had great games.
And Holy Crap! Logan Laurent kicked a 48 yard field goal! That was the longest field goal since Armando Cuko.
As short handed as the Minutemen were, it was a great effort. Yeah, we should have scored more points, but style counts in gymnastics, not football. Given the circumstances, the UMass effort was memorable.
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| Logan Laurent |
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| Sack! |
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| Another sack |
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| Blake Fronapfel |
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| Marken Michel ices the game |
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UMass write-up.
FIU write-up."Under a cold, lead-gray sky..."
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Bob McGovern says War Daddies on the defensive line made the plays.
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Dan Malone has UMass salvages a non-conference win.
He has five takeaways from the FIU win.
FIU coach Ron Turner said he was embarrassed.
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Matty Vautour says UMass' makeshift defensive line stood out.
Matty has Logan Laurent stepped into kicking.
He said UMass learns to shake adversity.
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The Boston Herald says UMass collects its first win.
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The Miami Herald said FIU couldn't find its offense. Coach Turner blames it on the officials...
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The UMass Daily Collegian said the Minutemen front seven stepped up.
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Boston College lost to Duke.
Colorado lost to Oregon.
Clemson stopped a Notre Dame two-point conversion with 7 seconds left to play to beat the Irish.
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