UMass Football News--July 31st, 2020

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Matty Vautour reports the SEC moves to a conference only schedule. This means the UMass-Auburn game is canceled. The monetary consequences of this is highly variable as Matty discusses in his article.

All the monetary ins-and-outs are moot if the entire season is not played, which IMHO, is highly likely. Like everything else in 2020, the situation will probably change several times.

The Montgomery Advisor wonders if Auburn will be hit with a financial penality for canceled non-conference games

CBS Sports says the SEC is taking a rare reactive approach. 

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The Liberty blog "A sea of Red" previews the Liberty-UMass game. If the 2020 season is played, we might be seeing a lot of the Flames.

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The San Diego Union-Tribune looks at the ramifications of the various conferences (including the independents) going to a league-only schedule.

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Fellow independent BYU loses another game as Missouri drops the Cougars from their 2020 season.

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UMass Football News--July 30th, 2020

Twenty-four UMass players made Dean's list in the Spring semester. The academic turn around in Amherst is in full swing.

Click on the image and blogger displays a larger view and the players names will be readable.

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PennLive.com has a story that features former UMass QB Andrew Ford and the twists and turns of his football career. Hopefully, Ford will get a chance to play or coach in the future. Ford's UMass bio.

Ford's accomplishments at UMass:

• Completion Percentage: 2nd (62.5)
• Passer Efficiency Rating: 2nd (143.7)
• Touchdown Passes: 2nd (57)
• Passing Yards Per Game: 3rd (239.8)
• Pass Completions: 3rd (560)
• Passing Yards: 3rd (6,955)
• Pass Attempts: 4th (895)

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Boston College is told the ACC will play a league-plus-one schedule where the extra opponent must be in-state. That would mean UMass would be the only available FBS opponent in Massachusetts.

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Athlon Sports ranks all FBS teams for pre-season and has the Minutmen as dead last.

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2020 opponent Temple's schedule will not start on September 5th.

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College Football News analyses all 130 FBS program's results over the last five years and UMass is #128. The APR has turned around. Now we need some wins...

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UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Niquan Williams commits to UMass.

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The Minutemen landed their 12th 2021 commit with Niquan Williams, a 6-2 200 pound athlete/OLB verbaling to UMass.

247Sports page here.

I had blogged about Williams just a couple of weeks ago.

Williams chose UMass over three FCS offers. He was recruited by a defensive coach and is likely to play OLB in Amherst. UMass needs athletes at all positions on defense and Williams should see plenty of opportunity for playing time.

UMass Football Recruiting 2021--RJ Davis

MaxPreps image

RJ Davis, a 6-4 230 pound DE from Lanham, MD has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has junior highlights.

MaxPreps has some stats.

Davis has 19 total offers with UMass, Navy, Temple, Howard and Yale in his top-five. Defensive end is a position that is totally open in Amherst. Davis should have an opportunity to play early and often for the Minutemen.

UMass Football News--July 27th, 2020

The Berkshire eagle reports UMass is forging ahead with preparations for the 2020 season.

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The Toledo Blade picks 2020 opponent Akron last in the MAC East in 2020.

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The Times Daily says the SEC has three reasons to play the 2020 season.

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Yahoo Sports looks at what would happen if Army, Navy and Air Force were the only college football teams to play in 2020.

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Meanwhile, Auburn's first practice is a week away.

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ESPN reports on how college football teams are preparing for practice with the COVID-19 restrictions.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Jonathan Martin verbals to UMass

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I have not been doing Sunday blog posts during off-season, but I'll make an exception for a recruiting commit.

Jonathan Martin, a 6-3 300 pound DT from Suwanee, GA has verbaled to UMass.

I blogged about Martin back on July 6th.

Martin held seven total offers including South Alabama and Troy from FBS. Rebuilding the UMass defense is a multi-year project and Martin should have a chance to play early and often for the Minutemen.

UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Jez Janvier commits to UMass

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Jez Janvier, a 6-5 315 pound OT from Montreal, QC has  committed to UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video highlights.

This article from June of 2019 has some background on Janvier and mentions his UMass offer.

Janvier is a big, athletic OL who should have a fine career with the Minutemen. He chose UMass over offers from Buffalo, Kent State and Eastern Michigan.

UMass Football News--July 24th, 2020

Cole McCubrey and Solomon Siskind appear on the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List.

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The New Mexico governor asks New Mexico and New Mexico State not to play college football in 2020. UMass plays both those teams this year and New Mexico State is a fellow independent. New Mexico State's canceling their season would eliminate a possible home-and-home with UMass if the Minutemen should try to play an Independents-only schedule.

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Travel restrictions, testing and canceled games are making life difficult for UConn.

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HERO Sports has 50 teams that have never appeared the the NCAA preseason top-25 poll. UMass is one of them.

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The NCAA Board of Governors could vote today to cancel Fall championships. That would cancel all football below FBS level. It could also result in a permanent   break between the NCAA and the Power Five schools.

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Barry Alvarez warns Wisconsin's athletics are "at risk" if the college football season is canceled.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Aquan Robinson commits to UMass

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Aquan Robinson, a 6-5 250 pound DT from West Orange, NJ has verbaled to UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has junior highlights.

Had seven tackles while playing both ways in this game.

Robinson is an athletic player with a big frame. He should have have a bright future with Coach Douglas and the Minutemen defensive line. Robinson chose UMass over three FCS offers.

UMass Football News--July 22nd, 2020

UMass expects about 7000 students on campus this Fall.

Amherst town council is concerned.

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UMass OT Larnel Coleman has been named to the Outland Trophy watch list.

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The Deseret News says the Independents have discussed playing each other. Lots of quotes from UMass A.D. Ryan Bamford.

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CBS Sports reports the SWAC is the latest league to cancel its season and the Power Five leagues are in limbo.

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Meanwhile, UConn has been on a recruiting roll.

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So has Buffalo.

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KSL.com takes a look at BYU's running back corps for 2020 including Jackson McChesney who set a freshman Cougar record (and 6th all-time for a BYU RB) with his 228 yards against the UMass defense last year.

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Appalachian State has already lost two games and one more is iffy.

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New Mexico State loses a home game against FBS Texas Southern.

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NY Governor Andrew Como has banned fans at sports events. This includes the home games of Army and Syracuse.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Ike White

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Ike White, a 6-0 175 pound WR from St. Francis Academy in Baltimore, MD has a UMass offer.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has some video.

Another potential recruit from Baltimore powerhouse St. Francis Academy. White also has an offer from Toledo. By 2022, the Minutemen offense should be rolling and there will be a lot of playing time available in Amherst.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Lamar Paterson

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Lamar Patterson is a 5-9 171 WR from St. Francis Academy in Baltimore, MD. He has a UMass offer.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has freshman and sophomore highlights.

MaxPreps has some stats.

Tennessee has 15 offers out to St. Francis Academy players.

Michigan has five offers to players at St. Francis.

Patterson has seven total offers including UMass, Arizona State, Boston College, Michigan and Tennessee from FBS. There is a lot of playing time up for grabs at UMass and Patterson see the field early for the Minutemen.

UMass Football News--July 18th, 2020

Amid all the doom-and-gloom for college football, there is some good news on UMass' recruiting efforts. The latest iteration of 247Sports' recruiting rankings has UMass at #97. The Minutemen have six three-star recruits and two two-star. This is a good start on a critical recruiting class. The coaching staff landed the largest ever number of three star recruits ever in the 2020 class.

Four recruiting classes with 20+ three star recruits took Western Michigan from a 0-12 season to a New Years' Day bowl.

I added up all the Group-of-Five schools and there were 60 league teams. Add Army, UMass, Liberty and New Mexico State and that makes 64 teams. There are 130 recruiting slots and the Power Five dominate in the top half. If some Power Five teams drop below #65 and some Group-of-Five rise above the half way rank, UMass is probably competing in the 70 to 130 rankings. UMass needs recruiting classes ranked between say 80 to 100 to stop having 2-10 seasons.

I think UMass will probably take 18 to 20 recruits in the 2021 recruiting cycle. The current totals are a good start.

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Auburn loses another 2020 opponent as the SWAC cancels Fall sports.

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The Atlantic Ten cancels all Fall Sports.

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NJ.com reports Rutgers is looking at a $50 million hole if the Big Ten does not play football.

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Eleven Warriors says college football will have to adapt if they follow the NCAA guidelines.

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The Deseret News thinks it will take a medical miracle for college football to play.

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A Point to Ponder: the above graph has been included in a number of press articles on college football. Readers should be clear on what it represents.

The graph is infection rates per million. The current testing is showing a positive test rate of 0.07%. That's seven hundredths of one percent. The uptick on the graph is 0.01%. That's not exactly the Black Death and it's probably well within the error bars in the testing results.

In addition, two of the "hot" spots are Florida and Arizona. Florida has a huge number of retirees (read old people) and Arizona has been the place to move to for people with respiratory ailments for the last 100 years. The population being tested in those two states may not be typical. Is the NCAA's graph meaningful for young, healthy football players?

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UMass Football News--July 17th, 2020

247Sports reports the CAA will likely cancel its 2020 season. If so, UMass' game with Albany is out the window.

JMU may try to play as an Independent.

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Westfield State and the Massachusetts Collegiate Conference has canceled Fall sports.

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The CT governor says the UConn Team will have to quarantine after visiting hot spot states.

The Big East cancels non-conference games for fall of 2020. Does not include UConn football.

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College Football News has UMass as #126 in power rankings for 2020. Hey, we're not last!

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A 247Sports writer on FBS Independents ponder playing each other to save the 2020 season.

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The NCAA says to test all players 72 hours before a game.

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Army-Navy still expects to play a game in 2020.

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JUCO football moves to a Spring schedule.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Niquan Williams

Hudl.com image

Niquan Williams, a 6-2 200 pound OLB/WR from James Madison HS in Brooklyn, NY has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has junior highlights.

Williams has four offers with UMass as the only FBS school. Williams has a big frame and can play both offense and defense. He being recruited by a defensive coach and there is lots of playing time on defense up for grabs in Amherst.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Ismael Zamor

247Sports image

UMass has offered to Ismael Zamor, a 6-1 170 pound WR/Athlete from Everett, MA.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has sophomore highlights.

This article covers his visit to Michigan.

Besides UMass, Zamor has offers from Michigan and Syracuse.

UMass Football News--July 14th, 2020

College Football News previews the 2020 UMass Minutemen.

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Phil Steele has three Minutemen on his 2020 preseason All-Independent team:
Samuel Emilus, Larnel Coleman and Chinedu Ogbonna.

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The Deseret News wonders what BYU will do with five games already canceled.

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2020 Opponent Temple begins full-scale workouts.

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Yahoo Sports says it's time to face reality and realize no one is playing college football this fall.

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The Patriot League cancels all fall sports for 2020.

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UMass Football News--July 13th, 2020

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Matty Vautour reports on if UMass will still get the $1.9 million guarantee from Auburn if the game is not played and concludes it's complicated.

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The Republican American reports UConn football is in a tight spot.

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OAnow.com looks at local players on FBS rosters around the country including Justin Lewis at UMass. Lewis' UMass bio.

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The Deseret News reports BYU's broadcast partner ESPN is expected to help the Cougars find replacement opponents after the PAC-12 and the Big Ten cancel games with BYU.

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A North Carolina State site previews common opponent Troy.

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As of three days ago, there has been no changes to the University of Albany and the CAA schedule.

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The State of New Mexico cancels high school football for 2020.

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Flywareage.com picks the best player from each of Auburn's 2020 and chooses Cole McCubrey from UMass. McCubrey's UMass bio.

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UMass Football News--July 11th, 2020

Larnel Coleman

Draft Diamonds has a profile of UMass OT Larnel Coleman.

Coleman's UMass bio.

The NFL likes to draft on body type and Coleman at 6-7 300 is the approved NFL tackle size. Hopefully, he'll be the next Minuteman in the NFL.
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The NESCAC becomes the next league to cancel fall sports.

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The War Eagle says Auburn's non-SEC games are unlikely to happen.

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The Indy Star says the Big Ten's cancellation of non-league games signals the beginning of the end of the 2020 season. Mentions UMass.

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KSL.com looks at BYU's options if the conferences go to a league-only schedule. The article mentions the Cougars joining the Mountain West for a season. I read somewhere else (can't find the link) the Mountain West was not interested.

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The ACC is expected to follow the Big Ten and go to a league-only schedule.

The PAC 12 announced Friday it will only play league teams.

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The Advocate says if LSU's season is canceled, state and local businesses will lose millions.

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UMass Football News--July 10th, 2020

The Big Ten moves to a league-only schedule for 2020.

If the other leagues follow suit, then UMass could be left playing an Independent-only schedule in 2020.

The Minutemen could survive this. We already play four Independents (UConn, New Mexico State, Army and Liberty.) Two games each gives a eight game season and that would be OK given it seems the Fall semester will start early and end at Thanksgiving. We could even just play the East independents. We could also add BYU. UMass has options. The big loser in the Independents-only scenario is New Mexico State. They are not near anybody and nobody is going to want to fly there.

The loss of the Auburn money game would be a hit, but not a fatal one. UMass would save on travel costs. UMass could get the money anyway if Auburn cancels the game or there could be a negotiated partial financial settlement. UConn, Army and Liberty are a bus league. We could play those schools and not have to fly. The Minutemen are also not dependent on big media contracts. We have been surviving with essentially no media money since the move to FBS.

However, I don't think this is the last of the changes. I think it's highly likely even some Power Five schools will cancel their season. So, IMHO, Spring football is looking more and more likely...

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I linked to this article two weeks ago, but it shows how UMass A.D. Ryan Bamford is trying to anticipate all options.

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UConn's schedule takes a hit as the Huskies were going to play two Big Ten teams in 2020.

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BYU may have to scramble to add more Independents to their 2020 schedule.

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Notre Dame will likely play an all ACC schedule.

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Watch Stadium has a story on the percentages of college A.D's who think the 2020 season will be delayed, shrunk, extended or moved to the Spring.

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UMass Football News--July 9th, 2020

Matty Vautour thinks 2020 college football should be moved to Spring 2021.

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CollegeandMagnolia.com previews Auburn's 2020 opponent UMass.

Athlon Sports ranks Auburn's schedule and has UMass as #11. Most pundits have the Minutemen behind Alcorn State
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SI.com looks at a regional schedule for Boston College if the 2020 season breaks that way.

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Pittsburgh Sports Now wonders if Mark Whipple's offense at Pitt will be better in his second year.

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The Ivy League has canceled its Fall sports including Football.

ESPN wonders what impact the Ivies' decision will have on college football.

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CBS Sports ranks the job security of all 130 FBS coaches.

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UMass Football News--July 8th, 2020

Matty Vautour reports one UMass football player has tested positive for Covid-19.

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The virus is taking its toll on high school practices. This may be a tough year for HS seniors as they may not get as much exposure as normal and that may affect their recruiting.

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Saturday Blitz previews the 2020 UConn Huskies and reports UConn is looking for a breakout season.

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A Wyoming paper previews common opponent New Mexico.

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A Charleston paper previews common opponent FIU.

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The Las Cruses News reports 26 New Mexico State athletes have tested positive for Covid-19.

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Auburn shows off new LED lighting in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

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Athlon Sports previews the 2020 Army team.

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Monday was move-in day for Temple football.

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Meanwhile, at Akron, Zips players and staff are taking precautions for Covid-19.

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UMass Football News--July 7th, 2020

ESPN ranks UMass' 2020 football strength-of-schedule as #100 out of 130.

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Athlon Sports ranks 2020 opponent Akron at the bottom of the MAC East.

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NFL.com image

Former UMass OL Elijah Wilkinson is in a battle for the starting LT position for the Denver Broncos.

This video link also features Wilkinson giving back to his community.

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The NY Giants hire Hannah Burnett as the NFL's first female football scout. Burnett is a UMass alum and an all-conference lacrosse player for the Minutewomen.

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Power Five schools are still in a wait-and-see mode regarding the 2020 season.

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TigerNet.com thinks a split Fall-Spring season would be better than a shortened one.

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CBS Sports reports Ivy League coaches expect the 2020 season to be moved to the Spring.

Sportsnaut.com says there is increasing momentum to move the 2020 season to Spring.

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Players' helmets may come with a splash face shield this fall.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Jonathan Martin

Recruit Georgia image

Jonathan Martin, a 6-6 300 pound DT from Suwanee, GA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has junior highlights.

MaxPreps has some stats.

Recruit Georgia has a profile of Martin.

Martin has seven total offers including UMass, South Alabama and Troy from FBS. The Minutemen need defensive players and at 6-6 300 pounds Martin could be in the defensive rotation early in Amherst.

UMass Football News --4th of July 2020

Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th! Hang in there and stay positive.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Raiheem Olalekan

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Raiheem Olalekan, a 6-4 190 pound athlete from Owings Mills, MD has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has junior highlights.

MaxPreps has some stats.

Olalekan also has an offer from Morgan State. He mostly played DE last year, but has a big frame and is athletic. Olalekan could play a number of positions in Amherst.

UMass Football News--July 2nd, 2020

Saturday Blitz previews the 2020 Minutemen and predicts a two win season.

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UConn officially joined the Big East yesterday, so Husky football joins the ranks of the Independents.

The UConn Blog (good name) has how the Huskies ended up in the Big East.

Mark Blaudschun says the reaction at UConn football offices is muted.

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Former UMass assistant coach Mike Sollazzo steps down as HC of Naugatuck HS.

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Thanks to the blog reader who sent me this link about Amherst College and Mt. Holyoke canceling their Fall sports.

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ESPN has how college football is trying to answer its biggest return-to-play questions.

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Saturday Blitz previews how New Mexico State hopes to escape FBS' cellar in 2020.

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Meanwhile at Auburn, Tigers fans are ready to see RB "Tank" Bisby play.

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Athlon Sports previews the 2020 Army team.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Nathan Roach

Hudl.com iamge

Nathan Roach, a 6-3 280 pound OG from Cambridge, MA has a UMass offer.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has junior highlights.

His recruiting started in the eight grade.

Roach has eleven offers including UMass and Navy from FBS. With only four recruited OG's on the Minutemen roster, there should be a lot of playing time available in Amherst in future years.