UMass Football News--August 31st, 2021

 The Post-Gazette analyses Pitts 2021 schedule and make predictions.

Pittsburgh Sports Now says there are no surprises on the Panthers recently released two-deep.

Pat Narduzi's weekly press conference here. He says UMass is pretty much an unknown quantity. Mentions Coach Reid and others. 

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BC is a 50.5 point favorite over Colgate.

BC Interruption says it's a new beginning for the Eagles.

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Eastern Michigan opens Friday against St. Francis. The game will be on ESPN3.

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The Blade predicts an 11-1 season for Toledo and a cakewalk over UMass.

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The Sun has five things about Coastal Carolina before their opener against the Citadel.

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BC opens against Colgate, Eastern Michigan opens against St. Francis. Toledo opens against Norfolk State. The Chants open against the The Citadel. UMass opens against Power Five team Pittsburgh. It ain't easy being a UMass fan.

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UMass Football News--August 30th, 2021

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has two position reviews for the 2021 Minutemen:

Defensive linemen.

Linebackers.

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Sports Chat Place thinks Pitt will cover the 38 point spread.

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The Boston Herald says UMass is ready to turn the corner with an influx of new players.

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WSET reports Liberty is facing a new set of challenges this year.

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle reports on the pros and cons of UMass' coordinators being in the press box or on the field.  

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New Mexico State lost to UTEP on Saturday. The full game is available on YouTube. Drag the play indicator to about the eight minute mark to skip a lot of commercials.

The Aggies gave up 452 yards and lost 30-3. New Mexico State did not show much. UTEP was 3-5 in 2020 and two of the Miners three victories were against Stephen F. Austin and Abilene Christian.

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UMass Football News--August 29th, 2021

 I watched UConn lose to Fresno State 45-0 yesterday. The Huskies are long-time rivals, but it was tough to watch the game. Their performance looked like UMass in 2020.

UConn could not run, gaining only 35 total rushing yards. The UConn defense was out there all day against a faster, more athletic team.

UMass opens against a Pitt team that may be a contender in the ACC. I don't think UMass is going to win, but I'd like to see the Minutemen be more competitive than what the Huskies showed against Fresno State.

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Speaking of the Panthers, they just named their 2021 captains.

Pitt's 21 seniors hope to break the cycle of mediocrity. 

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Boston College will require fans to show proof of vaccination to attend home games.

Sports Illustrated has the biggest questions for BC prior to their opener against Colgate. 

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UMass Football News--August 28th, 2021

 Kyle Grabowski has a story on UMass QB coach Frederick Walker. His UMass bio.

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle looks at the Minutemen's strength of schedule.

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UConn opens against Fresno State at 2:00 pm on the CBS Sports Network. 

UConn's depth chart and breakdown for the Fresno State game.

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New Mexico State also opens their season at 9:30 pm ET against rival UTEP. 

The game will be televised by FloFootball.

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UMass Football News--August 27th, 2021

 Kyle Grabowski of the Hampshire Gazetter has an update on UMass practice. Minutemen TE Josiah Johnson is rooting for former teammate Mac Jones. Johnson is a pretty good athlete. He had 12 catches for 139 yards and 2 TD's in 2019. 

Being able to dump down to the TE is a QB's friend when there is a pass rush. Making the defense pay on an all out rush helps the offense compete.

Kyle also said DB Noah Boykin was back in pads. Boykin''s return will make a talented UMass secondary even better.

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College Football News previews the UMass-Pitt game and predicts a 51-6 Panther victory.

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Yahoo Sports thinks Eastern Michigan will go 4-1 against its opening games of Wisconsin, UMass, Texas State and Northern Illinois. 

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The Post-Gazette has 10 thoughts before Pitt's opening game against UMass.

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Maine learns more about itself as Fall practice winds down. 

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BTW, UConn opens TOMORROW at Fresno State. The Bulldogs are a heavy favorite over the Huskies.

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UMass Football News--August 26th, 2021

 Mike Traini of "Fiight Massachusetts" has a position review of the 2021 UMass offensive line.

Offensive linemen don't get any stats, but the offense depends on them. We're a cold-weather team who plays more Power-Five teams than just about any other Independent. A good running game would really help cope with that. The one game we won in Coach Bell's tenure was secured by nine straight carries by Bilal Ally. Let's get started on a run-first offense this year. 

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Kyle Grabowski of the Hampshire Gazette has a post on the UMass wide receivers. Nothing much worked well in the UMass offense last year. With the Minutemen QB's having a full training camp, hopefully the UMass passing game will be better. 

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle says the Minutemen are starting to pivot towards  the opening game at Pitt.

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Joe Starkey of the Post-Gazette says the new Pac-12, Big 10, ACC alliance might not help Pitt or West Virginia in the long run.

He's saying what I've been saying all along. The ultimate goal of all this is a 36 (roughly) team super-conference. The Vanderbilts and Kansas' of the world won't make the cut. I wonder if Boston College would? If roughly half of the ACC was invited, the Eagles would be on edge. They're in a big media market, but don't have much fan interest. Boston College has usually finished  at or below .500 in league wins in the ACC.  I think it would be close.

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UMass Football News--August 25th, 2021

 Kyle Grabowski reports Tyler Lytle will start for the Minutemen. This makes sense. 2021 is Lytle's fourth year in college football. It's now or never. Hopefully, the Minutemen will be better at all aspects of the offense. Better OL play and a better run game will go a long way to make Lytle look good. Opening against two Power Five schools is a tough way to start the season, but after that we should be competitive against many of the teams on the rest of the schedule.

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The UMass website has a podcast featuring assistant coach Luke Paschall who coaches the wide receivers.

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The UConn Blog (good name) previews the Huskies game against UMass and predicts a 36-24 UConn victory.

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247Sports predicts both Pitt and BC will be 4-0 at the end of September.

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Charting plays has made the Pitt wide receivers better.

Pitt HC Pat narduzzi names his two starting OT's.

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UMass football News--August 24th, 2021

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a 2021 position review of the UMass wide receivers.

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BC Round Table considers which Eagle position will improve the most in 2021.

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College Football News predicts the winner of Eastern Michigan's opening game against FCS St. Francis. 

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College Football News says the Big 10, Pac 12, ACC alliance could have a media advantage over the SEC.

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New College football rules for 2021.

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UMass Football News--August 23rd, 2021

 UMass news has been sparse the last two days.

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BC interruption previews common opponent Florida State.

BC Interruption also looks into the implications of a Big 10, ACC, Pac 12 alliance on the Eagles athletic program.

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Army is about where Coach Jeff Monken expected.

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ESPN chronicles the rise of Liberty's QB Malik Willis. Good story.

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UMass Football News--August 22nd, 2022

 Sports Illustrated wonders what Coastal Carolina will do for an encore.

The Myrtle Beach Sun wonders if the Chants have more fun than any other football team.

Coastal in ranked #22 in the AP preseason poll.

The over/under for the Chants is 11.

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Meanwhile, UConn is tired of losing.

Like UMass, UConn is looking to solidify their offensive line. 

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Athlon Sports has game-by-game predictions for Florida State.

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Liberty has a wealth of riches at quarterback. 

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Maine wraps up its final preseason scrimmage.

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New Mexico State copes with COVID and other challenges.

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UMass Football News--August 21, 2021

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a position review of the UMass TE's.

I would like to see Taylor Edwards have a rewarding final season. He's stuck by the program through some tough times and has also battled injuries. A productive final season would be a nice reward for his time at UMass.

Freshmen Eni Falayi 6-6 235 and Jackson Manning 6-5 245, both three-star recruits, are the future of the TE room. Coach Bell has said a number of times he likes his TE roster. Hopefully, they'll be a catalyst for a offensive renaissance in 2021.

The UMass website has a video interview with TE coach Segler.

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Kyle Grabowski of the Hampshire Gazette has a post on how Alex Miller is building a strong foundation with the UMass offensive line. 

A better run game would go a long way in improving the Minutemen offense. Averaging 2.3 yards/carry like 2020, won't win many games (or non at all).

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The Rhode Island Rams are thrilled to be back playing football.

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UMass Football News--August 20th, 2021

 Kyle Grabowski has a post on UMass' latest practice. Potential starters Tyler Lytle and Noah Boykin are on the mend and expected back at practice soon.

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Howard Herman says UMass coaches are feeling good about the Minuteman defensive secondary.

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Saturday Blitz says Pitt is a legitimate threat to win the ACC Coastal Division.

How the Panthers' OL stands before the team's opener. 

Speaking of defensive secondaries, Pitt's defensive backs are ready to go up against anybody---including Clemson.

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Sports Illustrated has notes from BC's latest practice. 

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Eastern Michigan completes their first Fall camp scrimmage.

EMU's Fall camp---Day 12.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Patrick Bowen commits to UMass

 Patrick Bowen, a 5-9 180 pound RB from Independence C. C. has committed to UMass.

I blogged about Bowen back in July.

Coming out of HS Bowen had offers from Southern Msssissippi, Florida Atlantic, UCF  and Western Kentucky. BC and Maryland also showed interest.

Bowen should have a lot of playing time in future years in Amherst. Hope he has a great career with the Minutemen.

UMass Football News--August 18th, 2021

 

Kay'Ron Adams

Ellis Merriweather

Mike Traini of"Fight Massachusetts" has a position review of the Minutemen running backs. The apparent loss of Jonathan White has reduced the UMass RB corps to two recruited scholarship backs. 

Kay'Ron Adams and Ellis Merriweather will be the 1-2 punch. 

This is a thin unit. Most FBS teams carry a lot more than two recruited backs. Eastern Michigan, which is far from the best team we will play this year, has five (three three-star and two two star) RB's.

Issaih Agnew-Beatty, a 5-8 190 RB from Marlboro, MA is new to the roster. Hudl.com has some HS highlights. 

Romeo Holden, 5-10 210 pound RB transfer from Monmouth is also on the roster. Averaged 6.2 yards/carry at Monmouth.

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UMass has announced the kickoff times and TV coverage for the 2021 schedule. 

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The UMass games will be carried on NESN and NESN+. Flo Football, which also carries CAA games, also will broadcast the home schedule. 

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UConn has a TV package through CBS sports, so the UMass-UConn game should be available to UMass fans outside of New England.

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UMass Football News--August 17th, 2021

 Kyle Grabowski has a detailed post on Monday's UMass scrimmage.

Kyle reports Tyler Lytle was still held out due to a groin issue. Garrett Druzo was held to a limited number of throws with a shoulder recovery. Druzo did hit four passes in a row opening the scrimmage. Zamir Wise showed good movement. Brady Olson produced three TD's. 

I had forgotten the rule change in 2019 that players could appear in four games without breaking their redshirt. I would think Olson will get some live fire experience in 2021.

Gravowski also mentioned TE's Eni Falayi and Taylor Edwards looked good with some nice catches. He mentioned WR's "OC" Johnson and new comers Rico Arnold and Michael Fitzgerald showed some flash.

Coach Bell said Kay'Ron Adams or Jamir Roberts could be the kick returners.

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The UConn Blog (good name) previews common opponent Army.

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Sports Illustrated looks at how an ACC, PAC12 and Big Ten Alliance could work. Mentions BC rotating yearly games with UMass and UConn. 

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Yardbarker has UMass (along with UConn and New Mexico State) as one of the 15 worst teams in 2021.

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The Black and gold Banneret previews UCF's QB's including walk-on Andrew Brito.

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UMass Football News--August 16th, 2021

Mike Traini of " Fight Massachusetts" previews the 2021 UMass quarterbacks.

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Kyle Grabowski of the Hampshire Gazette has a post on the candidates for the starting QB position.

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I would think Colorado transfer Tyler Lytle would be likely starter. Why bring him in otherwise? I also think the Minutemen brain trust would like to redshirt Brady Olson so as to get as many years of eligibility for him as possible.

Garrett Dzuro will probably be the #2. I thought Zamir Wise's throwing mechanics looked a lot better than the Spring game. He was throwing tight spirals on his short to medium distances.

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Action Sports has UMass as one of the five best bets for the "over" in 2021.

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Pitt adds a four-star transfer from Ohio State.

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The UConn Blog (good name) looks at the Huskies quarterbacks. Then they look at the UConn running backs.

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Liberty is receiving preseason top-25 votes in the Coaches Poll.

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Coastal Carolina is #24 in the poll and Army, Liberty, BC, Florida State and Pitt are all receiving votes. As an Independent, UMass sure is handed some challenging schedules.

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UMass Football Blog News

 Mrs Blog and I are going up to Maine for a couple of weeks. As usual, I'll try to keep the blog going.

Ya never know how rental Wi-Fi will be. If the blog goes silent, I'll be back on August 29th.

UMass Football News--August 15th, 2021

 I went to the open practice yesterday. Night and day from the practice in 2019. UMass had 15 offensive linemen practicing (as opposed to eight in 2019).  

Apparently Tyler Lytle did not dress. Noah Boykin was not in pads, but not in a sling either.

Click on an image and Blogger displays a larger view.

Coach Reid was working with the DL.

They're pressure washing McGuirk!

Despite some technical difficulties...

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UMass Twitter has some video from the practice.

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UMass Football News--August 14th, 2021

 Kyle Grabowski reports Power Five transfers are raising the bar at UMass.

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Former UMass RB coach Savon Huggins joins the BC Eagles. We must be hiring good coaches as they keep being poached by other schools. I would rather see UMass as a place for up-and-coming young coaches instead of coaches at the end of their career.

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NCAA has six potential FCS upsets over FBS teams in the early 2021 schedule. They have Holy Cross having the chance to beat UConn. Maine over UMass is mentioned for later in the year.

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Athlon Sports looks at the over-and-under for the 2021 Independents. 

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The Post-Gazette says Pitt might have the best linebackers in the ACC.

Panther RB Izzy Abanikanda is the talk of Pitt's early camp.

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BC Bulletin has the best and worse case scenario's for the 2021 Eagles.

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UMass Football News--August 13th, 2021

 Kyle Grabowski of the Hampshire Gazette reports UMass practiced through the heat.

Kyle said the Minutemen defensive backfield looked physical. It would be interesting to see how well the UMass backfield could actually play if they did not have stop the opponent's run game all the time. 

Last year Te'Ray Powell (5th on the team in tackles), Noah Boykin (7th) and Josh Wallace (10th) combined for 47 TT.

Even back in 2017 and 2018 with tackling machines Bryton Barr and Jarrell Addo playing, teams were setting rushing records against us. Better front seven play would really show what the defensive backfield could do.

He also said Coach Bell praised freshman QB Brady Olsen. He's wearing Liam Coen's old #12. Hope he has as good a career.

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle reports on UMass' first full-pad practice.

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247Sports reports Temple will reschedule a covid-canceled game against UMass. 

Temple has a four-game series with UMass, with games scheduled in 2022, 2025, 2027, and 2029.

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Fan Sided previews the 2021 Coastal Carolina team. The Chant's 2020 match-up against BYU is available on YouTube. Both the Chants and the Cougars were 9-0 prior to that game. Worth watching.

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UMass Football News--August 12th, 2021

 The UMass Twitter feed has some quotes and video from Coach Miller on the Minuteman offensive line.

The Fall roster has 17 offensive linemen. That's a big change from the practice I attended in 2019 when they had seven linemen on the field that day. The OL leads the way. Generally, if you can run the ball, you've got a good looking offense and a good looking QB. If I were picking the starting OL (without seeing any of the practices so far), I would think the "1's" would be close to the following :

RT Brian Parrish Gr. 6-6 305

RG Reggie Marks Jr. 6-3 305

C Joe Horn Fr. 6-1 325

LG Max Longman RFr. 6-4 326

LT Willie Allen Gr 6-6 305

The opening game against Pitt should show if we have improved since last year. The Panthers may have the top DL in the ACC and one of the best in the country. If we are competitive against Pitt, we should be competitive against anyone in our schedule.

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CBS Sports has the odds of every FBS team making the Championship game.

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A BYU writer argues preseason polls do matter.

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Yahoo Sports looks at the NFL draft rating of Sam Howell, who flipped from Florida State to North Carolina after Coach Bell left to become HC at UMass.

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UMass Football News--August 11th, 2021

 Sports Gambling Podcast previews the 2021 Minutemen.

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The canceled 2020 UMass-Temple game will be played in Amherst in 2029.

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The legendary Pitt Rib Fest returns for the UMass-Pittsburgh game on September 6th.

The Post-Gazette thinks the Panthers could have a 10 win season. 

The P-G also reports Pitt RB Israel Albanikanda could have a breakout season.

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Would the PAC-12 take BYU as a football-only member?

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UMass punter George Georgopoulos makes the 2021 college football All-Name team.

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UMass Football News--August 10th, 2021

 

The Minutemen will have an open practice on Saturday.

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Kyle Grabowski reports the Minutemen are embracing a competitive spirit early in training camp.

Kyle mentions Evan Deckers, 6-3 240 UMass' long snapper has been named to the Patrick Mannelly Award Watch List, which honors the top senior LS in FBS football. Deckers was also named to Phil Steele's preseason All-Independent team.

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CBS Sports picks the best college football team in each state. You can guess the answer to Massachusetts, but they pick Sacred Heart in Connecticut. 

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ASU puts two more assistant coaches on administrative leave. This situation is weird. The actions described for former UMass star Adam Breneman does not, to me, sound like anything a first year assistant coach would do on his own..

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Former UMass assistant coach Shane Waldron is now OC for the Seattle Seahawks. Waldron served as TE, Run coordinator and OL coach during 2012-2015 for the Minutemen.

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Forbes looks at the FBS teams with the longest bowl drought. UMass is one of them.

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UMass Football News--August 9th, 2021

 Coach Bell stated he had eight scholarship linebackers in Fall camp. That's the good news. The bad news is nearly all of them are freshmen :)

Myles Turner  Fr. 6-1 235. Appeared in all four games 2020

Nahji Logan Fr. 6-4 228. Appeared in all four games. 4 AT 2 UT 6 TT

Raiheem Olalekan Fr. 6-4 210. True freshman in 2021

Zack Magdis Fr. 6-2 225. 0-4 GP-GS 2020 2 UT 4 AT 6 TT

Gerrell Johnson Fr. 6-3 225. 4-0 GP-GS 2020 2 UT 4 AT 6 TT 1 TFL 1 SACK

Abdoul Kone Fr. 6-3 218. 0-4 GP-GS in 2020.

Amadu Mohammed R-So 6-0 235. Transfer from Anna Maria College

Da'shon Ross R-So. 6-1 240. 4-0 GP-GS in 2020 2 UT 1 FF

Drew Harvey Gr. 6-1 225 Transfer from Fort Hays State 

Dominic Schofield Fr. 6-3 240. True freshman in 2021

Mike Saliba R-Fr. 6-0 215. Transfer from Arizona.

Josh Brunelle Fr. 6-0 220. DNP in 2020.

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College Football News has a five page 2021 UMass preview.

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle has UMass opens with a spirited practice.

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UMass Football News--August 7th, 2021

 Thomas Johnson of the Hampshire Gazette says UMass opens camp with a full 110-player roster.

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Western Mass News says UMass opens Fall camp.

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BC Interruption previews UMass and says it's 100% lock for the Eagles.

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Optimism is running wild as Pitt opens their training camp.

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Speaking of the UMass roster:

The Minutemen did not have a fullback last year. They do in 2021.

Charles Payson FB 6-2 260 from Doherty Memorial in Worcester. MaxPreps has video highlights of his senior season. A real fullback adds another offensive weapon. 

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The roster also has four kickers:

Cameron Carson, 6-1 170. Appeared in all four games in 2020

Lucas Aguire, 5-10 175. 2020 walk-on. DNP in 2020.

CJ Kolodziey, 6-1 200. 2021 freshman.

Jay Larosa, 6-0 175. Was on the Ole Miss roster in 2020.

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UMass Football News--August 6th, 2021

 The Fall camp UMass football roster is up.

The roster has 109 players, which is probably the high for the last four years. The roster has 65 freshmen or redshirt freshmen. We are a very young team. However, 109 players means UMass will be able to have a scout team and be pretty much on the level with other Group-of-Five teams.

Additions to the roster include:

Troy Shallow, 6-1 245 DL. His Merrimack bio here. 

Drew Harvey, 6-1 225 LB. Fort Hays bio here. This article from 2019 features Harvey.

Eric Collins, 5-9 180 WR. North Carolina State bio here. 

Two transfers who have a good chance to start are:

Willie Allen, 6-7 340 OL. Michigan bio here.

Brian Parrish, 6-6 305 OL. North Texas bio here.

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Kyle Grabowski of the Hampshire Gazette reports the Minutemen will likely be 100% vaccinated by the start of the 2021 season.

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UConn is hoping to get more leadership from Kevin Mensah.  

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Isaiah Major committs to UMass

Twitter image

 Isaiah Major, a 6-1 220 pound LB from Independence C.C. has committed to UMass.

I blogged about Major back in June.

Hudl.com has some 2021 highlights.

Led "Last Chance U" in tackles/game with 4.3. Had 30 TT in six games plus 1.5 sacks.

Had eleven tackles in season ending win over Coffeyville.

UMass needs bodies at LB and Major could be a significant addition in 2022.

UMass Football recruiting 2021--Mike Saliba

 

Paul Connors image

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" reports Mike Saliba, a 6-0 208 pound LB from Xaverian Brothers HS in MA has joined UMass as a PWO.

Arizona football bio here.

HS career cut short by a knee injury.

The Minutemen need bodies in the LB room. Hope Saliba earns a scholarship and has a rewarding career with UMass.

UMass Football News--August 3rd, 2020

 

Twitter image

UMass changes RB coaches. Savon Huggins has left and Coach Bell has hired Donte Pimpleton as the new backfield coach.

Pimpleton has been RB coach at three FBS teams: South Florida, Florida State and Oregon. He and Coach Bell worked together at Florida State.

This article has quotes from both Bell and Pimpleton from their time at Florida State.

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ESPN's Power Index schedule prediction for Pitt's 2021 season.

UMass at the Panthers will televised on the ACC Network.

How to watch the ACC Network. 

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Noles247 looks at the Power Index ratings of Florida State's 2021 season.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Jaden Thomas comitts to UMass

Twitter image

 Jaden Thomas, a 6-2 225 pound LB from Hueytown, AL has committed to UMass.

247Sports page here.Three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

Magic City Showcase Camp MVP.

Thomas chose UMass over offers from North Alabama and Louisiana-Monroe. He has a big frame and should grow on a college football training program. Hope he has a great career with the Minutemen.