Well, once more into the breech dear friends. Sometime it would be nice if we caught a break. We get two of the best recruiting classes in the FBS era and promptly there is a global pandemic that cancels Spring practice and then Fall camp.
We get good news UMass is going to play in 2020, but circumstances cancel all our competitive games and we end up playing not just good teams, but probably three of four will be rated in the Top-25. Camus concluded his famous essay on life by concluding that Sisyphus is a happy man. We just have to be happy we're playing. Just keep rollin' that rock uphill...
Against Marshall, I would like to see another effort by the defense like they did against Georgia Southern. I thought the defense was trying to play fast (you remember Coach Brown's motto was "Play fast!". Marshall has a more conventional offense than the Eagles, so the Minutemen's defense should be able to play a more "vanilla" defensive scheme. UMass had 5 TFL against Georgia Southern (the same as the Eagles had against us). It was a good defense effort especially since most of the game was played on our side of the field.
The UMass offense, on the other hand, had a much less successful opener. The only bright spot was both Will Koch and Josiah Johnson both looked mobile. The offensive line had a bad day as there were no holes for Ellis Merriweather. He ran 16 time for a 1.3 yards/carry average. In addition, there were not a lot of passing lanes available for any of the three QB's. The combined QB efficiency rating for the Minutemen was 74.86. We need more offensive production against the Herd.
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Mike Moran of the Gazette has a story about how Avien Peah overcame two knee injuries and made a successful comeback against Georgia Southern.
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Sportsbookreview.com thinks Marshall will cover the 44-point spread.
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The Charleston Gazette and Mail thinks the Herd's special teams will make an impact against the Minutemen.
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An iconic Marshall memorial returns to the Herd's campus.
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