UMass Football News--August 31st, 2017

UMass has their game notes for Coastal Carolina up.

So does Coastal Carolina.

News 13 has some game notes and Coastal Carolina's weekly video press conference.

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Former UMass player and coach Bill Durkin is the running backs and special teams coach for the Chants.

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Coastal Carolina's stadium has been undergoing renovations does not, as yet have a certificate of occupancy. The state engineer will be inspecting the stadium today.

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Lucas Kotler, who's a 6-4 315 pound member of the UMass offensive line, is featured in this article by Matty Vautour. Kotler has 10 career appearances for the Minutemen.

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Saturday Down South ranks SEC defenses and has Mississippi State #12 and Tennessee as #9.

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Old Dominion's Bobby Wilder calls on his Maine roots to build the Monarchs program.

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The first Thursday night college football slate begins today. The only 2017 UMass opponent playing is Maine and the game is available on College Sports Live. Holy Cross at UConn will be on ESPN3.

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UMass Football News--August 30th, 2017

Matty Vautour has a post on Michael Schreiner being named UMass kicker. As I said Sunday, I thought Schreiner had a strong debut. If we deserve any of the snarky ridicule that comes with our performance in FBS so far, the UMass kicking game has been one area that it's been true.

Kicking has been a negative for years. We missed critical field goals. Whipple has gone for low-probability fourth-and-whatevers a number of times. My particular peeve was kickoffs. The Minutemen would score and then we would kick the ball out of bounds and give the opposing team the ball right back on the 35. In 2016, UMass was in the bottom five is scoring production from field goals. Not to mention we were in the bottom of FBS in field goal percentage.

Let's hope that Schreiner's good beginning last Saturday was the start of a outstanding career at UMass.

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Adam Breneman did alright too.

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Keepers College Football Ratings has UMass a slim 1.72 point favorite over Coastal Carolina.

Vegas Insider has the Minutemen by 2.5.

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This article reports UMass and Coastal Carolina are negotiating a home-and-home series to begin in 2019 or 2012.

The Spokesman-Review picks Coastal Carolina 9th in the 11 team Sunbelt conference for 2017.

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Sports Illustrated says the UMass-Hawaii game was the best contest of  the week zero games.

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North Jersey.com names Victor Cruz the be one of the top players ever to come out of the area.

Speaking of Victor, this article discusses his second career with Bears.

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UMass commit Shatar McClay caught a 92-yard TD in his school's opening game last week.

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IT'S PROBABLY KIM JONG'S MINIONS

The blog got 178 hits from an Asian defense news website yesterday...

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UMass Football News--August 29th, 2017

Matty Vautour has a post on the UMass Coaches are getting the team and themselves back on track. Matty says senior DL Sha-Ki Holines will be a game-time decision Saturday. He also mentions the Minutemen had two DL players make their first game appearance: RSFR 6-3 275 pound Charlie Timite and true freshman 6-3 250 pound Jake Bycko.

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Mike Traini has a post on A.D. Ryan Bamford's question-and-answer session on Facebook Live. A number of replies concern the football program.

• the football schedules for 2018 and 2019 are complete
• future games could include Rutgers and Akron
• priority improvement for McGuirk would include a new scoreboard
• UMass is considering a new indoor practice facility

There's more in the article and it's worth a read. Again, I'm impressed with Bamford. He knows what he's doing and I think we'll see the results in UMass football, basketball and hockey.

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Howard Herman has report on UMass losing to Hawaii on a late TD.

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The Sentinel and Enterprise says the Pop Warner kids at halftime had a great time.

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West Hawaii Today reports Hawaii had some breakdowns too.

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KHON TV reports on John Ursua's big night against the Minutemen. Lots of video of Ursua running free in the UMass backfield :(

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Coastal Carolina adds nine games to future schedules.

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The Virginia Pilot report Old Dominion's new QB will be Blake LaRussa.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Josiah Johnson

Hudl.com image

Josiah Johnson, a 6-5 203 pound pro-style QB from Jacksonville, FL has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Prep Sports Recruiting features Johnson in this article.

Beyond the Hashmarks also has a story featuring Johnson.

UMass is Johnson's first offer. Drawing interest from Memphis, Louisiana Monroe and Old Miss.

UMass Football News ---August 28th, 2017

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" recaps the UMass-Hawaii game.

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SB Nation reports UMass tried a "Hail Mary" screen pass on the last play of the game and it didn't work.

SB Nation also says the Warriors swept UMass on a historic 20,000 mile home-and-home series.

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Hero Sports has a chance to vote for the offensive and defensive college players of the week including Dru Brown, John Ursua, and Jahlani Tavai of Hawaii and Bryton Barr of UMass.

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Off Tackle Empire said UMass ran the worst Hail Mary in history.

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The Virginia Pilot has a look at Old Dominion's starters.

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Philly.com has the keys to the Owls season.

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Tennessee loses their starting MLB.

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Maine and UNH play this Thursday night. Video will be available on College Sports live.

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UMass Football News--August 27th, 2017

Well, the year later, the result was the same. Everyone said it was going to be a close game and it was. It came down to the same thing, the UMass defense could not get a stop when it counted. Hawaii's winning drive took a little longer, but the result was the same. It was an exciting, close fought game.

Adam Breneman had 9 catches for 179 yards. Ford went 21-30 275 yards and 2 TD's. He did have an INT, but it was off the hands of the receiver and wasn't Ford's fault. The muffed punt was the momentum changer.

Freshman kicker Mike Schreiner had fine debut. He averaged 59.5 yards/kickoff and all five extra points were solid.

Hawaii WR John Urusla had a mammoth night going 12-272. His 52-yard catch on the last drive was the game winner.

There was one win for the program though, 12,145 fans showed up and it looked like there were more than that. If that many show up after a 2-10 season, imagine what we'd get if we won. We just need to win some games.

The results poll only two voters out of 60 correctly picked Hawaii by <7.

Let's get after Coastal Carolina next week.

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UMass's write-up here.

Kevin Dillon of MassLive reports UMass faltered in the final minute.

Dillon says Ford, Isiah Rogers and Bryton Barr had strong games for the Minutemen.

Matty Vautour reports UMass let another one slip away.

The Honolulu Star Adviser says the Warriors scored late to win the game.

The Mass Daily Collegian says it was heartbreak again.

The Collegian said Ford, Breneman and Isabella had good nights.

Saturday Blitz report three things about the Warriors-Minutemen game: John Ursula was unstoppable, the UMass defense is still a work in progress and Adam Breneman is one of the top TE's in college football.

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Game Day---Hawaii 2017

OK, it's finally Game Day. Entering our sixth season in FBS, it's been a long tough road for UMass fans, coaches and players. Today the Minutemen have a chance to break the meme and start 2017 with a win. This UMass team has the most talent since we've gone FBS. The Minutemen need to put it together and make some football plays today.

For me, it's the start of my 41st consecutive year with UMass season tickets. I'd really like to drive back to New Hampshire with a win in my pocket.

Win or lose, I'll be there rooting for the Minutemen

Go UMass!!!!

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NOTE: Dish channel 449 has the TV feed for the game here in New Hampshire.

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Long-time Amherst youth football coach Larry Smith will serve as an honorary game captain for the Hawaii game.

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Matty Vautour reports UMass is looking for a rare good start to the season.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a game preview of UMass vs Hawaii.

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Hawaii New Now, with an interview in front of McGuirk stadium, says Hawaii is preparing for UMass with attention to details.

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The Mountain West Connection predicts a 37-31 Warriors victory.

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247Sports picks UMass to cover the spread and win the game.

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West Hawaii Today says the Warriors are familiar with trips to far away places.

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The Boston Herald has three up and three down for Minutemen football in 2017.

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle reports on UMass' opening game.

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Underdog Dynasty predicts a shootout and a close UMass victory.

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Fellow Independent New Mexico State releases some future game schedules, but no games with the Minutemen as yet.

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The Post and Courier reports Coastal Carolina is embracing the challenge of moving up to FBS.

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UMass Football Recruiting--Jaqaun Webb

Scout.com image

Jaqaun Webb, a 6-1 180 pound WR from Oxford, MS has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

This article from June 2017 reports on his in-state recruiting.

Webb has an offer from Old Miss.

Webb holds 14 offers including offers from Alabama and Ole Miss. The rest of his offers are mostly from Group-of-Five schools. It would probably be better for his football career to choose a Group-of-Five team like UMass because teams like Alabama and Ole Miss would very likely be recruiting over a three-star recruit like him.

UMass Football News--August 25th, 2017

A quick look at the UMass-Hawaii game:

Most football pundits (and Las Vegas) rate the two teams as pretty even. The comparisons somewhat show the tough schedule UMass plays as an independent. Hawaii had a feel-good season last year they went 7-5 and won a bowl game, yet the Minutemen played them pretty even. The Warriors did that with a #79th ranked overall offense and a #112 ranked overall defense. They lost to Michigan, San Diego State and Boise State by a combined total of 19-170.

This year they return eight starters on offense including QB Dru Brown (335-209 2,488 19 TD's) and Diocemy Saint Juste who rushed for 1,006 yards and 3 TD's. Last November the Warriors offense rang up 479 yards of offense and averaged 7.5 yards a play against the UMass defense.

On defense, Hawaii returns five starters. They have a new defensive coordinator this year. Hawaii also lost four-year kicker Rigo Sanchez who punted, kicked off and kicked field goals.

My take is this game is that it will come down to the UMass defense. Last year after UMass had scored twice late in the fourth quarter, the Warriors took only three plays to go 78 yards for the game-winning TD.  The UMass defense got beat over-the-top several times in that game. Hawaii was also 4-4 in fourth down attempts.

UMass can win tomorrow if the Minutemen defense can play better. A stronger UMass running game would help control the clock and keep Hawaii's offense on the sidelines. I think UMass can win this game, but it's going to be a nail-biter. Someone from the UMass defense needs to make a play.

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Kevin Dillon of MassLive reports UMass is ready to open its 2017 season against Hawaii.

Matty Vautour says it'll be a rematch of last November's showdown.

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Keepers College football ratings has UMass the favorite by 3.3.

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SB Nation reports UMass and Hawaii will be playing a 20,000 mile home-and-home.

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The Boston Herald says A.D. Ryan Bamford has confidence in Mark Whipple.

The Herald also report UMass players Ford and Breneman look to revive the UMass program.

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The Worcester Telegram relates Leominster's Jerell Addo is embracing life as a UMass LB.

The Telegram also says freshman LB Cole McCubrey could contribute right away.

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Saturday Blitz has three things to watch for in Hawaii-UMass game.

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Sportsnaut has the most dangerous Group-of-Five players in the country. It includes UMass' Adam Breneman as well as Hawaii's Jahlani Tavai. UMass fans will also get to see Old Dominion's Ray Lawry, USF's Quinton Flowers and Appalachian State's Jalin Moore.

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The Knoxville News-Sentinel says in most seasons, UMass would be the weakest team on Tennessee's 2017 schedule.

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Former UMass RB Sekai Linsay gets a lot of coverage in this article on Florida Tech's fifth season.

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UMass Athletics announces some strategic leadership changes.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Trumane Bell II

247Sports image

I've blogged about Trumane Bell, a 6-2 225 pound weak-side defensive end from Lake Highlands, TX before.

This article from Scout.com updates his recruiting and reports UMass is still heavily involved.

UMass Football News---August 24th, 2017

Kevin Dillon of MassLive.com has a post on Shane Huber and his decision to give up football but remain active in the program. It's a shame Huber won't get to play his senior season. Kudos to him to stay positive and try to help UMass this year.

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Matty Vautour has a story about UMass presenting walk-on Alfred Adarkwah with a scholarship.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" also has a post on Adarkwah.

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Matty also has a story about Isiah Rogers being the primary punt and kick returner for the Minutemen.

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The Boston Herald has a story about A.D. Ryan Bamford's plans of McGuirk improvements and flexibility in scheduling.

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Athlon Sports previews the Hawaii-UMass game and predicts a Warriors win 38-34.

West Hawaii Today previews the 2017 Warriors schedule and predicts a 37-34 win in Amherst.

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The Montgomery Adviser reports on Troy coach Neal Brown and his school's future schedules including a 2020 trip to UMass. I think Brown will be HC at a Power Five school by then.

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The Salt Lake Tribune has a story about former UMass LS Emmitt Odegard.

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The Jackson Free Press previews Mississippi State.

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UMass Football News--August 23rd, 2017

UMass will wear a helmet sticker to honor Michael Boland who passed away during the off season.

Matty Vautour reports on the revamped UMass offensive line and the rest of the offensive starters.

One goal for the offense is to run the ball better. UMass was #124 out of 128 teams in rushing offense in 2016. A good part of that came from playing five Power Five teams (not many Group-of-Five teams rack up big rushing totals against SEC teams), but UMass did not do much better against lesser competition. Whipple's FCS offense featured a strong running game to go with his down-the field passing. I think Marquis Young is a good RB, but he needs more room to operate. Did you see the latest two-deep chart? This year Ray Thomas-Ishman weighs 350, Lucas Kotler 315, Derek Dumais 330, Jake Largay 325 and Jack Driscoll 300. Looks like the OL beefed up. Of the ten OL in the two-deep only one weighs less than 300. Let's hope that translates into more holes for Young to run into.

Nearly all the Minutemen wins so far in FBS have been defensive grinds. The lone game where the UMass offense dominated was the 2015 game against Buffalo where Marquis Young ran for 240 yards. It would be beneficial if we could do more of that in 2017.

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Matty also reports Shane Huber is at peace with walking away from football.

Shane Huber's Twitter statement here.

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The UMass Daily Collegian says UMass is getting ready for Hawaii.

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald says the opening game will tell a lot about UMass and Hawaii.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the 2017 Minutemen schedule.

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Hawaii flies east for the UMass game and lands in ----- New York?

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Coastal Carolina transitions from Fall Camp to in-season play.

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The Dispatch previews the Mississippi State-UMass game.

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This article reports UMass will play FCS Southern Illinois in 2020. The currently listed UMass 2020 schedule is here.

Stephen Hewitt of the Boston Herald reports UMass is comfortable as an Independent.

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ESPN ranks UMass fans #117 in fan happiness. We're ahead of UConn and only 8 slots behind BC.

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BTW, this was the best image I took of the eclipse. The air was not very steady here. Note the sunspot group near the sun's equator. Click on the image and Blogger displays a larger view.

UMass Football Recruiting--Anthony Johnson III

Back in 2015 UMass offered Anthony Johnson, a 6-3 185 pound DB from Cleveland, Ohio.

I blogged about him several times before. He took a visit to UMass before signing with Penn State.

He is leaving Penn State and will seek a transfer.

Johnson was a three-star recruit.

According to Black Shoes Diary, Johnson was recruited over (something that happens a lot in Top-25 schools).

UMass Football News--August 22nd 2017

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UMass has their game notes for Hawaii up.

So does Hawaii.

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Matty Vautour reports the UMass defense looks to create more turnovers. He also has a projected two-deep for the defense.

Matty also reports that Sha-Ki Holines DT 6-4 265 will be be a game-time decision. Mario Patton 6-1 315 will back him up.

He wrote:" If the Minutemen start the lineup revealed on the depth chart, they’ll have four players making their first UMass starts — Sadiq Palmer (wide receiver), Malik Lee (fullback), Bryton Barr (linebacker) and Tyler Hayes (safety)."

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GMS Sprots previews the UMass-Hawaii game and predicts the Warriors over the Minutemen 34-30.

Sports Chat Place previews the Hawaii game and predicts a UMass victory.

A Crestview News-Bulletin writer picks the UMass-Hawaill "to be over in minutes" and the Warriors by 18.

Hawaii flies to Massachusetts today.

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A Fan Sided Tennessee writer looks at the Vols opponents and concludes UMass is "basically a FCS team"

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Mississippi State has a story with GIF's for each Bulldogs opponent.

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T.J. Sharpe is back healthy and practicing with Titians.

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Former UMass coach Dave Sollazo isn't wasting any time as new head coach at Naugatuck High School. (fixed link)

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UMass Football News--August 20th, 2017, Hawaii Game week

Matty Vautour has a post on JUCO's Jacoby Herring and Tyler Hayes. Both Herring and Hayes looked good during the season ticket holders scrimmage.

Hayes was playing with the first defense and he has good size at 6-0 215. His strong safety position will be critical in the new 4-3 defense. As the SS, he will be tasked with a lot of run support.

Herring had a least one nice catch at the scrimmage. At 6-4, he should be a physical mismatch for most CB's. At 170 pounds, he needs some muscle to go up against Power Five schools. He'll see a lot of time with Dingle, Palmer and Isabella. JUCO's don't have a lot of time to showcase their ability. Let's hope Tyler and Hayes make an impact this season.

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The Sentinel-Enterprise mentions UMass LB Jarell Addo. Addo moves to LB from safety this year.

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The Deseret News picks BYU to go 10-3 with UMass as one of the wins.

Get More sports predicts the Cougars to have 8 to 9 wins.

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Underdog Dynasty looks at the over-and-under spread of some Group-of-Five teams including UMass opponents Hawaii, Coastal Carolina and Old Dominion.

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Hawaii has a few JUCO's of their own and KHON TV says Rainbow's CB Manu Hudson-Rasmussen is making an impact with Hawaii's defense.

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RB A. J. Ouellette looks to run the football for the Ohio  Bobcats in 2017.

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Chris Ferguson will be the surprise starter at QB for the Maine Black Bears.

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UMass Football News---August 20th, 2017

Get More Sports predicts a three-win season for UMass.

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The Garden Island reports Hawaii eyes UMass in the season opener.

Hawaii News Now says Hawaii is preparing for the Minutemen's offensive weapons.

Hawaii's Twitter feed has some short video interviews with players and coaches about the UMass game.

KHON TV says the Warriors are dialed in.

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Coastal Carolina holds its final scrimmage.

The Chants just started their program in 2003, but they've sent a lot of players to the NFL.

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Sports on Earth predicts Old Dominion third in C-USA east.

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Get More Sports predicts under five wins for Georgia Southern.

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The Deseret News looks at BYU's schedule game-by-game and predicts Cougars 52-Minutemen 9.

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UMass Football News--August 19th, 2017

Seven days until the 2017 season! Man, I hope we get some breaks and some wins this year. We've certainly paid our dues: fans, players administrators. This ain't been easy on all of us.

Go UMass!

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Matty Vautour has a post on how some of the UMass coaches are going to watch the Mayweather -McGregor fight after the Hawaii game.

If the fight was a football game, it would be Mayweather by four TD's.

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The Berkshire Eagle looks at the UMass QB situation going into the 2017 season.

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Pro Football Focus looks at the top TE's in the 2017 college football class.

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Sports on Earth previews the AAC conference including UMass opponents USF and Temple.

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The News-Star previews Coastal Carolina.

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Old Dominion led Conference USA in rushing last year; they're planning on doing it again this year. The Monarchs ran for 274 yards and 5.8 yards/carry against the Minutemen last year. Old Dominion held the ball for twelve minutes more than UMass did.

The Daily Press says despite not having picked a QB yet, Old Dominion is confident.

The Virginia Pilot thinks  Blake LaRussa will be the Monarchs starter.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2018-- Trey Jones verbals to UMass

247Sports image

Trey Jones, a 5-10 195 pound athlete from Fort Worth, TX has Tweeted he's verbaled to UMass.

247Sports page here.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on Jones' commit to UMass and says the Minutemen recruited him as a slot receiver.

Maxpreps has stats.

Hudl.com has video.

UMass Football Recruiting 2017--Evan Padilla

Twitter image

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" reports UMass has added Evan Padilla, a 5-9 155  pound K from San Diego, CA.

Hudl.com has video.

Took part in the Chris Sailor kicking camp.

Also was in the National Kicking Camp.

NCSA profile here.

UMass Football News--August 18th, 2017

Mark Chiarelli of MassLive.com profiles Sadiq Palmer WR 6-2 195 and asks if he can be the Minutemen's big play receiver.

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Matty Vautour has a post on Ali Ali-Musa commenting on Charlottesville.

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Hawaii breaks camp.

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Get More Sports previews Coastal Carolina.

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Artel Foster is healthy and making an impact for Temple in Fall Camp.

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Maine gets one of three suspended players back.

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Peyton Manning fires up Tennessee.

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BYU starting LB Francis Barnard will redshirt for the 2017 season.

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SUDDENLY THE BLOG FEELS OLD.

Commissioning ceremony for USS Rafael Peralta DDG-115. My ship was DDG-5.

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UMass Football News---August 17th, 2017

Mark Chiarelli of Mass Live report both Ross Comis and Andrew Ford will see action against Hawaii.

Matty Vautour also has a post on both QB's playing.

Matty also reports a number of players have played well in training camp and should see increased playing time this fall.

The offensive line was somewhat of a concern in the Spring. Several writers thought UMass might bring in a JUCO to increase depth.

Whipple indicated three new offensive linemen might be in the rotation:

Larnel Coleman 6-7 300 Redshirt Freshman.

Jaylen Larry 6-3 275 True Freshman. Pre-Med major.

James Reilly 6-3 290 Redshirt Freshman.

On defense:

Charlie Timite DL 6-3 275 Redshirt Freshman.

Chinedu Ogbonna LB 6-2 215 True Freshman.

Zeke Edmonds S 6-0 220 Redshirt Junior. Medical redshirt in 2016.

Jarell Addo OLB 6-1 220 Redshirt Junior. 10-0 GP-GS in 2015. DNP in 2016

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Matty also has his second podcast of the season and talks about QB rotation and more.

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Preparing for UMass has Hawaii reinvigorated.

West Hawaii Today reports the Rainbow Warriors are one-point favorites over the Minutemen.

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald tells Hawaii football fans not to get use to the free video feed from UMass.

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This has been covered before, but Liberty officially announces 13 future games including three with UMass.

Interestingly, Liberty will receive no guarantee for playing at Marshall.

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BYU's "Vanquish the Foe" rates 2017's opposing quarterbacks.

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UMass Football News--August 16th, 2017

Thom Kendall image

Matty Vautour has a post on new UMass offensive Leonard Hankerson. Wikipedia has a bio of Hankerson including his college and pro stats.

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The Beverely High School band will attend their first ever UMass Band Day this fall.

UMass Band Day will be back at McGuirk in 2017.

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The Hawaii Football team's haka. Turn your computer speakers all the way up and get psyched for the 2017 season!

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Old Dominion looks to keep it going after a swift rise in FBS.

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Auburn prepares for Georgia Southern's triple-option offense.

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UMass Recruiting 2018---Jaret Pallota II

Hudl.com image

I've blogged about 2018 verbal UMass commit Jaret Pallota before.

In this article in the Akron Beacon-Journal, Pallota talks about his commitment to UMass.

UMass Football News--August 15th, 2017

Matty Vautour has a post on Da'Sean Downey moving to DE. Downey is wearing #4 this year (ex James Allen).

More number changes Isaiah Rogers #9 (not assigned in 2016), Bakhari Goodson #14 (ex Shaquille Harris).

Current numbers not assigned #1 (not assigned in 2016 either), #12 (ex Todd Stafford), #39 (ex Isiah Rogers), #41 (ex Da'Sean Downey), #42 (ex John Robinson-Woodgett), #52 (ex Vondell Langston), #56 (ex Joe Parsons), #60 (ex Enock Asante), #62 #64 (not assigned 2016), #65 (ex Leyshawn Askew), #66 (ex Anthony Fernandez), #68 (ex Elijah Wilkinson), #71 (ex Michael Boland), #83 (ex Cody Banks), #98 (ex D'Shan Harley).

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KHON TV reports Hawaii DB Roe Farris thinks UMass will remember him. That play was right in front of me and I think Farris had some of the UMass receiver's jersey.

Faith keeps Hawaii QB Dru Bbown grounded.

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Tennessee comes into the 2017 season ranked just outside the Top-25.

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This article talks about Georgia's future schedules and the rising price of scheduling Group-of-Five teams including UMass.

Quote from the article:

“We’re all fighting for the same pool of teams,” McGarity said. “Auburn does not want to go play UMass in Boston. You’ve got to basically go pay teams to come play you. They’re sitting in a good seat right now, the Group of Five schools. They are able to kind of dictate the market."

It looks like the Independent Minutemen will continue to be in demand for money games. There are a number of negatives be an Independent, but it appears UMass will have no problem making good money on away games.

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Coastal Carolina players are playing for Coach Joe.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Rashard Jackson verbals to UMass

Rashard Jackson, a 5-10 190 pound RB from Riverdale Baptist in MD has Tweeted he's verbaled to UMass.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on Jackson's signing with the Minutemen.

Chose UMass over an offer from Memphis.

UMass Football News--August 14th, 2017

Matty Vautour has a post on Saturday's scrimmage and an update on Fall camp.

Players Matty reports will likely not redshirt include JUCO transfer 6-0 215 pound safety Tyler Hayes. Also on defense, Chinedu Ogbonna, a 6-2 215 pound LB from Marietta, GA. I've blogged about Ogbonna a couple of times before. Another safety is Tyris Lebeau, 6-1 210 from Vanier College in Canada.

On offense, 6-4 JUCO Jacoby Herring and Jesse Britt, 5-10 205 from Lake Alfred, FL will likely contribute right away. I blogged about Britt yesterday.

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Matt Brown of "Sports on Earth" has an extensive review of 2017's Independents and predicts four or five wins for UMass.

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Hawaii gets a new green helmet.

Hawaii also ran a scrimmage this weekend.

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Coastal Carolina holds its first scrimmage.

The Chants defense is having a good camp.

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Old Dominion also held its first scrimmage.

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UMass Football News--August 13th, 2017

UMass held a football practice that was open to season ticket holders. Everyone got a UMass t-shirt and some more swag. Whipple was upbeat. He said the QB situation was "the best since I've been in college football". Marquis Young is up 10 pounds (he's listed as 215 on the latest roster). He said Shane Huber's college career might be over. Whipple said for the first time since he's returned, the Minutemen have some "3's". He said he felt our "1's" could "play with anybody", but we haven't had the depth to play in the fourth quarter.

Whipple felt UMass has done well the last two years, but "needed one more recruiting class".

In the scrimmage, freshman Jesse Britt made two nifty catches. I've blogged about Britt a couple of times before.

Ross Comis was wearing a knee brace, but moved well. He looks fully recovered.

Andrew Ford was running the first offense. Randall West had a couple of nice passes.

Rayquan Thomas looks visibly slimmer.

Click on the images and Blogger displays a larger view.

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Spectrum and Hawaii Telecom will broadcast the UMass/Eleven Sports production of UMass/Hawaii game.

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UMass Football News--August 12th, 2017

UMass has reached an agreement with ELEVEN SPORTS/NESN to televise Minutemen home games in 2017. In addition, the game will be available FOR FREE, streamed from the UMass web site.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on the TV deal.

This took a while, but it ended well. I doubt UMass receives much in the way of financial compensation, but the Minutemen get a professionally-run production package. Having NESN involved is huge. NESN and NESN+ are picked up nationally by a number of satellite/cable networks. In addition, if all else fails, UMass fans can get live streaming video from the Minutemen website.

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The Utah Daily Herald predicts Cougars 56-UMass 3. After the egg we laid in the second half in Provo last year, we can't blame BYU fans for being confident.

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Matty Vautour has a story on Derek Dumais, the new starting center and the UMass offensive line.

Matty reports the UMass starting OL will be:

RT -- Jake Largay RSJR 6-4 325 12-8 GP-GS

RG--Jack Driscoll RSSO 6-5 300 9-8 GP-GS

C--Derek Dumais RSSO 6-4 330 10-0 GP-GS

LG--Lucas Kotler RSJR 6-4 315 Redshirted in 2016, 17-0 GP-GS in 2016 and 2015

LT--Rayquan Thomas SO 6-5 350 12-12 GP-GS Down about 40 pounds since last year

Backups:

Mike Yeradi--RSSO 6-4 315 7-0 GP-GS in 2016

Larnel Coleman--RSFR 6-7 300 Redshirted in 2016

This is a young offensive line with no seniors in the top six. A goal for 2017 would be more production for the UMass running game. UMass was #124 in rushing offense in 2016. Part of that was playing all those Power Five schools last year. Not many Group-of-five teams rack up big rushing totals against SEC teams, but we need to do better than 3.3 yards/rush that we totaled last year.

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle reports UMass is gearing up for the 2017 season.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Michael Nesmith

Hudl.com image

Michael Nesmith, a 6-0 190 pound Safety from Hallandale, FL has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Also ran track and field.

Twitter image

Nesmith also has an FBS offer from Akron.

UMass Football News--August 11th, 2017

UMass will play Auburn in 2020 and receive a record payout. UMass fans attending will get to see the flight of Auburn's War Eagle.

SB Nation says UMass will get a whopping payout.

UMass A.D. Bamford engineers another lucrative game for the Minutemen. With UMass as an independent, the Minutemen do not receive any funds from TV packages or other league promotional activities. So if you have to play money games, get top dollar. Bamford continues to do an excellent job managing UMass, IMHO.

Also let me point out for the nth time, game payouts are real spendable money, not accounting dollars.

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Ali Ali-Musa is the subject of this article by the Boston Herald.

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Matty Vautour reports Ross Comis is back and healthy.

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The Deseret News says BYU needs to be careful of UMass.

The same newspaper breaks down BYU's schedule game by game.

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Victor Cruz hauls in a TD pass for the Bears.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2018 ---Dionte Gibson

Twitter image

Dionte Gibson, a 6-4 220 pound DE/TE from Stone Mountain, GA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Gibson holds seven offers including three Power Five schools (Minnesota, Maryland and Purdue). UMass is the only offer from the Northeast.

UMass Football News--August 10th, 2017

Matty Vautour has a post on UMass Kicker Logan Laurent goal of no drama in field goals.

If we deserve any ridicule since UMass moved to FBS, it comes in the kicking game. Laurent was #115 in field goals per game in 2016. Our seven field goals puts us in the bottom ten in offensive production from that position. If we were just average, we would get 12-15 field goals per season.

The article says freshman Michael Schreiner will handle kickoffs.

Matty also reports redshirt freshman Avien Peah 6-2 260 has been getting reps at fullback.

Shane Huber is back home in New Jersey dealing with another knee injury. Hope he gets better soon.

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UMass has updated the Fall roster----somewhat. Freshmen are listed but mostly no bios yet.

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The Herald News has a post about Coach Mac during his time at UMass.

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Former UMass LS Emmett Odegard has found success at Utah State.

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Victor Cruz wants to show Chicago he still has gas left in the tank. Cruz's Bears bio.

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