The Chants are a difficult team to preview. It's their first year in FBS. They're missing their HC, Joe Moglia (medical reasons) and they list their QB position six-deep. Coastal Carolina went 10-2 in 2016, so you would think they would be well positioned for FBS. However, they mostly played non-scholarship FCS teams and HBC squads. No CAA teams. No Big Sky teams. No Missouri Valley teams. They do get a fairly gentle introduction to FBS as they play only one Power Five team in 2017 (Arkansas) and apparently only one in 2018. Note that UMass will have played eight Power Five teams in 2016 and 2017.
The Chants are an option team. They averaged 254.3 yards a game in 2016. That would have put them 11th in FBS (one notch ahead of Ohio State). Total offense of 387.7 yards a game would have been good for 84th (about equal with Akron). They gave up 331.8 yards a game, which would have been good for #14 in FBS.
Coastal Carolina returns three starters on offense and five on defense. They must replace their lead RB and the entire offensive line except for the center.
In the past, when UMass played an option team, the Minutemen pulled a LB and inserted an extra safety, effectively playing a 4-2-5 defense. I think Don Brown did that way during his time at UMass. Defending the option means playing your assignment. Hopefully, the Minutemen defense won't miss as many of those as they did last week.
I think UMass has enough offensive firepower to win the game. The Minutemen defense needs to stop missing coverages. I think the front seven (or six if they pull a linebacker) will play well. The defensive backfield needs to improve.
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Matty Vautour has a post and a podcast on this week's game with Coastal Carolina.
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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the Coastal Carolina game.
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Underdog Dynasty previews the UMass-Coastal Carolina game and predicts a Chants victory.
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Chowder and Champions previews the game and picks the Minutemen to win.
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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle looks at the game and talks about how a player from the Berkshires ended up down in Conway, SC.
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In Thursday night games, Holy Cross threw a scare into UConn.
Maine and UNH hooked up in a barn-burner.
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