Tuesday, March 23, 2021

UMass Football News--March 23rd, 2021

 Spring Football starts today! Priorities are:

1. Find a starting QB.

2. Find a running game. This is the Minutemen's eight year in FBS. We have yet to finish higher than #100 in rushing and are usually in the bottom ten. In 2020 we were #126 out of 127 FBS teams.

3. Find an offensive line. UMass lost both 2020 starting offensive tackles and the starting center. Finding a running game is dependent on a much more productive OL in 2021.

4. Continue the resurrection of the Minutemen defense. UMass finished #118 in total defense in 2020, which was a big improvement from 2019. The Minutemen defense gave up 561 yards per game and 7.7 yards a play in 2019. In 2020 the totals were 482 yards a game and 6.91 yards a play. UMass needs to replace two of the three starting LB's from 2020.

Hopefully, UMass will allow some spectators for the Spring game!

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Maine beat Stony Brook Saturday 35-19. The Black Bears are 2-1 this season and the victory over Stony Brook pushed Maine into the FCS Top-25.

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Rhode Island beat Albany in overtime Saturday. That was the second game in a row the Rams beat a Top-25 FCS team. 

Rhode Island is currently #9 in the FCS rankings, which is the highest in decades.

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