UMass Football News--September 30th, 2022

 A Yahoo Sports writer thinks UMass will beat the spread against Eastern Michigan and might even have a chance to win.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass is just behind the three service academies in run rate percentage.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Betting Pros says take the under in the Liberty-ODU game. The big news is Flames QB Kaidron Salter is dealing with a ankle injury. I've blogged before how he smoked Wake Forest's Power Five defense for 337 total yards. If he's gimpy on October 7th, the Minutemen might have a chance against the Flames. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doc's Sports Service says take Miami to cover the spread against Buffalo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If UMass could achieve a little passing balance in the Minutemen offense, we might be competitive in some of our remaining games in 2022.

Rushing defense national rankings:

• Eastern Michigan #96
• UConn # 101
• Buffalo #105
• Army #116
• New Mexico State #117

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 29th, 2022

 The Athol News says UMass' defensive improvement comes from better understanding and execution.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Play Picks looks at the stats for the Eastern Michigan-UMass game.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Spun ranks FBS' bottom 25.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EMU WR Dylan Drummond is named a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell trophy. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liberty looks to host the largest home crowds in its history this year. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UConn is so thin at RB they are considering using 300 pound DT Jelani Stafford in that role.  12 season-ending injuries for the Huskies and it's only September. Independent football ain't easy...

More on UConn's injuries here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bulls want to build off their win over Eastern Michigan last week.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 28th, 2022

 UMass has their game notes for Eastern Michigan up.

As does Eastern Michigan. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a recap of the Temple game. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ohio recently gained 692 yards of offense against Fordham. That broke the Bobcats previous record of 664 yards against UMass in 2018. The Minutemen scored 42 points in that game but lost 58-42. We did not win many of those Whipple Era II shootouts.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The Eastern Echo recaps the Eagles stunning win over Power Five Arizona State.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Old Dominion previews this week's game with Liberty.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Odds:

UConn is a 28.5 underdog to Fresno State.

Liberty is 2.5 favorite over Old Dominion.

BC is a 13.5 underdog to Louisville.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 27th, 2022

Las Vegas has the Eastern Michigan Eagles as -20 over the UMass Minutemen. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Sports Chat Place thinks Eastern Michigan will cover the 20-point spread.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The UMass website has the Minutemen travel to Eastern Michigan Saturday. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Eastern Michigan website has the Eagles have a homecoming date with the Minutemen on Saturday. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liberty Football hopes to have four starters back for Saturday's game against ODU.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

New Mexico State dominated Hawaii for their first win of 2022 season.

KNON TV says it was a humiliating loss for Hawaii.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 26th, 2022

UMass DB Jordan Mahoney continued his fine season for the Minutemen against Temple. He had a INT, a FF, 1 UT and 1 BKUP. The UMass defensive coverage was good all game. Temple QB E.J. Warner made some really nice throws against the Minutemen coverage.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ESPN recaps the UMass-Temple game.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

October 1st will be homecoming for Eastern Michigan. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Niagara Gazette said Buffalo clobbered Eastern Michigan for the Bulls first victory.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liberty beat Akron to run the Flames record to 3-1, but the Zips made it close.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Misery loves company 4a. I watched the Boston college - Florida State game on the treadmill yesterday afternoon. The Seminoles crushed the Eagles 44-10. Boston college is #128 in rushing. Eagles running backs are averaging 1.98 yards a carry.

Meanwhile, Florida State was running straight up the A gap for 10 yards/carry. The Eagles could be looking a three-win season.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

UMass Football News--September 25th, 2022

 Yesterday the UMass defense did all anyone could ask. The Minutemen defense had 1 FF and two INT's. They held Temple to 4-13 on third and fourth downs. In addition, they had 6 TFL and held the Owls to a 3.1 yards/carry.  Temple RB's had 55 total yards rushing. Granted Temple does not have a good offense, but I think the UMass defense is starting to look like a Don Brown outfit.

The difference was Temple had E. J Warner and we didn't. You know I love all UMass players and want them all to do well, but we just did not get acceptable production from the QB position.

I strongly agree with the current coaching philosophy. You win with defense and a running game. Penn State, Syracuse and BC: when they've been good, that's their method. Northeast teams are heavy air, bad weather teams. The Northeast is not San Diego or the mile-high air of the Mountain West.

How many QB's have been through Amherst since Andrew Ford graduated? I think the Minutemen WR's and RB's are fine. We just do not have any spark from the QB position. What we need is Ahmad Haston...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass write-up here.  

Owls write-up here.

The Hampshire Gazette reports UMass was blanked by Temple.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Tulane suffered a close loss to Southern Mississippi.

Toledo had a close loss to San Diego State.

Stony Brook lost to Richmond 51-7.

Eastern Michigan, the week after beating a Power Five team soundly, lost to Buffalo 50-31. 

New Mexico State beat Hawaii handily 45-26. Uh-Oh.

UConn lost to North Carolina State 41-10.

Arkansas State lost to Old Dominion 29-26.

Texas A&M beat #10 Arkansas 23-21.

Army had a bye.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Game Day Temple--2022

 The Owls are a step up from Stony Brook. I'd like to see continued UMass improvement in the application of what Coach Brown preaches. I'm hoping for continued improvement in the passing game. Temple is #18 in the country in total defense and #46 in rushing defense. Run offense is what UMass wants to do. Temple is #114 in passing efficiency defense, so 150 yards passing would be really nice. Maybe give Brady Olsen more than one series.

On defense, the Owls are in our wheelhouse. They are ranked worse than #100 in every offensive category. Temple is starting a true freshman QB. Don Brown's defense should be effective.

As usual, I'll be watching and cheering for the Maroon and White. Go UMass!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" asks four questions of Owls Daily.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

College Football News predicts Temple 26 UMass 16. 

CFN also says take the under in the Owls-Minutemen game.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hampshire Gazette reports on Gino Campiotti's long road to being a starting QB. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The Action Network thinks Temple will cover the spread.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Temple DB leaves the program. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two pending 2022 opponents Buffalo and Eastern Michigan play each other today. 

Statsalt predicts the game. The Game will be on the CBS Sports network at Noon.

College Football New predicts EMU 34 Buffalo 26.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 23rd, 2022

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the UMass-Temple game.

Mike also does a Q&A with Owls Daily.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two Philadelphia Inquirer writers think the Owls will cover the spread. 

Another Inquirer article says Temple "should cruise to victory".

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Backing the Pack reports UConn is bruised, battered and bad.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eastern Michigan plays another 2022 UMass opponent Buffalo on Saturday.  If you want to scout both teams, the game is available on the CBS Sports Network.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News---September 22nd, 2022

 Temple Coach Stan Drayton's UMass presser.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hampshire Gazette says the win over Stony Brook brought a bounce to UMass spirits. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Winners  and Whiners predicts Temple will cover the spread. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sports Chat Place also thinks the Owls will cover.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UConn heads to NC State with a banged-up offense.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 21st, 2022

Hampshire Gazette image

 Jordan Mahoney is UMass' co-athlete-of-the-week for his seven tackles and 94 yard INT against Stony Brook.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Auburn opens its 2023 schedule at home against the Minutemen.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass hires Dan Colleran as Associate AD for Communications. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Temple showed signs of life against Rutgers. 

D'Wan Mathis, former starting QB for the Owls, is practicing at WR. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eastern Michigan makes a habit of beating Power Five teams. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UConn opens as a 40-point underdog against North Carolina State. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 20th, 2022

 UMass prepares for a road trip to Temple (includes game notes).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" recaps the Stony Brook game. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beating Stony Brook gets the Minutemen out of College Football News rankings cellar. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The New England College Football Journal covers UMass' home win over the Sea Wolves.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Temple website has a write-up  on the upcoming UMass game. The story includes a recap of the last UMass-Temple game in 2017. You remember the Owls had nine sacks in that game. In particular, the UMass offensive line made Temple DT Quincy Roche look like an Outland Trophy candidate. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Temple coach Stan Drayton recaps the Owls loss to Rutgers and talks about the next game with UMass Minutemen.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eastern Michigan's win over Arizona State cost the Sun Devils HC his job.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a blow-out loss to Michigan, UConn gets to travel to #12 North Carolina State. 

The Huskies get a rare in-season QB transfer from Arizona.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 19th, 2022

 Temple opens as a 9.5 point favorite over UMass.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The UConn Blog (good name) looks at the Huskies remaining 2022 opponents including UMass, Liberty and Army.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E.J. Warner, the son of NFL Hall-of-Fame QB Kurt Warner started for Temple as a true freshman last week.

Warner, A true freshman should face a challenge against Don Brown's defense. The UMass defense has a chance to confuse a true freshman in his second start. 

Warner was a three-star recruit and had eleven offers including UConn and Temple.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I usually DVD three or four college football games and then watch them over the course of the next week.

Yesterday I watched the Liberty-Wake Forest game and it was a doozy.  If your cable company offers the ACC network, they might replay it.

Liberty's starting QB Charlie Brewer is out four to six weeks with an injury, which means he won't be available for the UMass game.

Enter Flames backup QB Kaidron Salter. He looked raw against Wake Forest, throwing three INT's and fumbled the ball deep in Liberty's side of the field resulting in an eventual Deacons TD. That was his bad side.

On his good side, Salter all by himself almost equaled the offensive output  of the Sam Hartman led Wake Forest offense. Salter accounted for 333 yards of offense (256 passing, 75 rushing). Salter engineered a furious Flames comeback scoring with about a minute to go to make it 36-37 Wake Forest. Liberty went for the two point conversion and the win and did not get it.

When the Flames come visiting on October 8th, UMass better stay in the Nickle and spy Salter with the best-tacking DB or he is going to run the Minutemen out of McGuirk. He's a lot faster than our front seven...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 18th, 2022

 

UMass broke two losing streaks yesterday. The Minutemen stopped the FCS loss streak and also the eight game overall run of losses.

Things improved. Gino Campiotti went 10-15 and had a couple of drops that would have put his total over 100 yards passing. He hit a couple of third-and-longs that kept UMass driving. The one INT was not his fault. It's surely something to build off off. Opposing teams are going to continue to pack the line of scrimmage for the foreseeable future, so the Minutemen rushing will probably continue to be a grind it out game.

The defense held Stony Brook to 3 points, the lowest total since 2008. The defense had 2 SACKS and 4 TFL. They held Stony Brook to 2-14 for third downs. 

Click on image and blogger displays a larger view

UMass only had three penalties for 15 yards. All-in-all a good effort and I think we will have a chance for a couple of FBS wins this year.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass write-up here.

Stony Brook write-up here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MassLive reports UMass topples Stony Brook.  

The Collegian says confidence and control drove UMass to a win. 

The Hampshire Gazette said Jordan Mahoney's 94 yard INT sparked the Minutemen win.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tulane ran it's record to 3-0 with a shocking road win over Kansas State. 

Toledo into Ohio State's semi-pro squad and lost 77-21.

Temple held Rutgers to 201 total yards but lost a close game 16-14.

Eastern Michigan's Samson Evans (good name) ran for 258 yards (!) and led the Eagles to a big win over Arizona State. 

Liberty just missed an upset over #18 Wake Forest.

Buffalo fell to 0-3 with a loss to Coastal Carolina.

New Mexico State lost to Wisconsin 66-7. 

Michigan held UConn to six first downs to beat the Huskies 59-0.

Arkansas State lost to Memphis 44-34. 

Texas A&M ground out a win over #13 Miami. 

Army beat a good Villanova team 49-10.

Game Day Stony Brook--September 17th, 2022

 OK, the Minutemen have lost three straight to FCS clubs. That's got to be some sort of negative FBS record. None of the losses have been by last second field goals or "Hail Mary" heaves into the end zone. In addition, none of the losses have been to FCS playoff teams. All three losses have been to better teams.

The Sea Wolves are going to finish in the bottom half of the CAA. This is a team we should and must beat. UMass needs to start positive momentum sometime. The Minutemen QB's need to get something going in the passing game. Zamir Wise will reportedly be available for today's game. The offense needs to add at least a hundred yards of passing offense on top of the rushing yardage.

The UMass defense needs to get some results from Brown's pressure schemes. Some turnovers and some sacks should be available against the Sea Wolves' anemic offense.

I'll be there for my 46th year of UMass football. Go UMass!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the Stony Brook game.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Collegian sports guys have a podcast on the importance of the Stony Brook game.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hampshire Gazette says the Minutemen are not taking Stony Brook lightly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

App.com sports writers all think Rutgers will handle Temple today. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The PAC 12 network will carry the Eastern Michigan-Arizona State game at 10:00 pm EST. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 16th, 2022

 The UMass Daily Collegian looks at the UMass QB situation going into the home opener.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stony Brook has their game notes for UMass up.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The New England Sports Journal says the Minutemen are sticking together. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

College Football News predicts Rutgers 31 Temple 6.

Rutgers has four Temple transfers on their roster.

Three NJ.com sports writers predict an easy Scarlet Knights victory.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AZ Central looks at Arizona State vs Eastern Michigan. Eastern Michigan is 1-1 for the season. They beat Eastern Kentucky 42-34 and lost to Louisiana 21-49.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UConn starts a three-game murders' row series with Michigan. The Huskies get #16 North Carolina State next and then Fresno State. The bulldogs lost by three to Oregon State and beat Cal Poly 35-7. Fresno State is expected to compete for the Mountain West championship. All three games are away.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--The Ides of September 2022

 The Hampshire Gazette says despite two blow-out losses, the UMass team remains highly motivated.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eight CAA teams are ranked or receiving votes in the latest top-25 polls. Stony Brook is not one of them.

Four FCS beat FBS foes last week.

Holy Cross beat Buffalo on an appropriate "Hail Mary" pass.

Weber State not only won, but they blew out Utah State. 

And Incarnate Word (!) rang up 600+ yards of offense to crush Nevada.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Texas A&M looks to bounce back after their loss to Appalachian State.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UConn, Toledo and New Mexico State all play Big Ten teams Saturday. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eastern Michigan is a 19.5 point underdog to Arizona State.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 14th, 2022

 

UMass donates a signed UMass helmet for 9/11 stair climb event

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The UMass game notes are up. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2-0 Toledo gets Ohio State this week.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Former UMass assistant coach Mike Cassano get promoted by Nebraska to wide receivers coach. He assistant coach at UMass in 1998-2003 and 2014.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass is one of 31 offers for Arizona DE Elijah Rushing (good name for a defensive end).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Video from Stony Brooks' loss to Rhode Island.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yahoo Sports predicts Rutgers 31 Temple 6.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Injury-depleted UConn travels to Michigan who has 140 players on their roster. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 13th, 2022

 UMass prepares for home opener against Stony Brook.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" recaps the Toledo game.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Temple announces a 2:00 pm start for their home game against the Minutemen.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stats:

UMass is 36th in rushing offense.

UMass is 86th in total defense.

UMass is dead last in passing efficiency.

UMass is dead last in passing offense.

UMass is dead last in net punting. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass is -1 against Stony Brook by Vegas Insider.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our old friends over at Maize & Brew report Michigan opened at a 47 point favorite against UConn.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And the mood is gloomy over at BC Interruption.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 12th, 2022

 

Stony Brook, Saturday's opponent wants to run the rock. A week ago at Rhode Island they ran the ball 43 times for 167 yards net. The Sea Wolves star RB Ty Son Watson went 20-46 1 TD. Watson has been named to the 2022 CFPA FCS National performer of the Year Watch list.

Watson led the CAA in 2021 with 1,088 yards rushing. He scored 10 TD's.

The Sea Wolves struggled passing against the Rams. They went 8-24-83 and threw for three INT's. Kinda sounds like us.

If the Minutemen defense can control Watson, I don't think Stony Brook can win against us.

So far in 2022, six FCS teams have won against FBS opponents.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you have not heard, Nebraska fired Scott Frost.

So far, Nebraska has retained all the assistant coaches including Mark Whipple.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

UConn, reeling from a blow-out loss to Syracuse, gets Michigan next.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Temple's new head coach Stan Drayton, is trying to resurrect Owl football.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 11th, 2022

 Despite the score, I thought the Minutemen played a better game than their opener. Against Tulane UMass did not get any defensive pressure. The Minutemen did hurry Dequan Finn; he just ran out of it. Finn was under .500 passing and his scrambles accounted for 74 of the Rockets 234 rushing yards. The Minutemen defense was competitive against the rest of Toledo's offense.

The UMass offense improved by 50 yards and there were no glaring INT's. The 7-of-17 passing was still not what UMass needs to win. The offense again ran for 200+ yards into a stacked defense.

The bad side was 13 penalties. I think the defense was getting as frustrated as the rest of us. Still, everybody ran to the ball even in the fourth quarter. Toledo was only 5-13 on third down conversions. The defense had four TFL and one sack against a very good dual-threat QB.

I think we'll beat Stony Brook next week and we have a chance for a couple of other victories this year.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass write-up.

Toledo write-up.

The Hampshire Gazette says penalties crippled UMass in a blowout loss. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MISERY LOVES COMPANY WEEK #2 (and there was a lot of it).

UConn only had 205 yards of total offense in a blow-out loss to Syracuse. 

Holy Cross rang up 457 total yards and scored a "Hail Mary" TD with no time on the clock to beat Buffalo. The Bulls are 0-2 for the season.

Temple squeezed by Lafayette 30-14 on three blocked punts. 

Appalachian State stunned Texas A&M 17-14. That probably knocked the Aggies out of the playoffs for this year.

Boston College lost to Virginia Tech to drop to 0-2 for 2022. The Eagles are suddenly looking at a very difficult season. BC's leading rusher had seven yards net.

New Mexico State lost to UTEP 20-13.

Notre Dame lost to unranked Marshall 26-21. The Irish are also probably out of the 2022 playoffs.

Liberty's defense had four takeaways to lead the Flames to a 21-14 victory over UAB

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Game Day Toledo--September 10th, 2022

 Another week, another tough opponent for the Minutemen. Toledo returns eight starters on both offense and defense. Most pundits expect the Rockets to contend for the MAC East first place and the MAC title.

The Rockets have under-performed their recruiting in recent years. Toledo has had the #1 recruiting class in the MAC five of the last six years, yet have not won the division title since 2017.

Nevertheless this is a talented, deep team. Last year they lost at Notre Dame by three. The Rockets can play when they want to.

UMass can do better than they showed last week. Special teams gave Tulane a short field all game. Three really, really bad INT's killed any positive momentum. However, the Minutemen ran for nearly 200 yards into a stacked eight man front. If we could throw a little our ground game should be better.

The defense provided four stops and played with intensity. It's going to take some time to get Brown's complicated defense perfected. 

I think UMass will get better game by game and we will thrive under Coach Brown.

Bleep 'em all. Let's get after it today.

Go UMass.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hampshire Gazette says it's not rocket science at Toledo.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the Minutemen-Rockets game.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CBS Sports looks at the odds for UMass vs Toledo.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Action Sports thinks Toledo will cover the spread.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tulane gets Alcorn State this week. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stony Book gets a bye week.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 9th, 2022

 UMass travels to Toledo Saturday.

UMass game notes.

Toledo's game notes.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts previews the UMass-Toledo game.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hustle Belt previews the Minutemen-Rockets game.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

College Football News previews the game and predicts Toledo 41 UMass 7.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sports Gambling Podcast has the Rockets by 28.5.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WNWO reports Toledo looks forward to UMass after blanking LIU last week. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UConn takes on Syracuse at home this Saturday.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Under the misery-loves-company dept: last year BC went 6-6. Three of those six victories were against Colgate, UMass 1-11 and Temple 3-9. This year the Eagles open against  Rutgers (and lost), at Virginia Tech and Maine. 

The Eagles need to beat the Hokies. The only other likely wins are UConn and Duke. If BC loses to Virginia Tech, they could be looking at a sub .500 season.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stony Brook was tied with Rhode Island last week at halftime, but Rhody pulled away to win 35-14.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football Blog--September 7th, 2022

 Things are improving, but the blog will be down for a few more days.

Hope to be up by Friday.

UMass Football Blog News

 Family illness.

I hope to restart the blog on Wednesday.

Keep the faith, Coach Brown will get things squared away.

  

UMass Football Blog

 No updates today.

I'll try to back as soon as possible

Game Day Tulane--September 3rd, 2022

 

Excellent choice for captains: Max Longman, Ellis Merriweather, Josh Wallace and Marcus Cushnie.

In future years, may they be remembered as the guys who led us out of the wilderness..

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

I'm trying not to get ahead of myself with UMass. We were just so bad at nearly everything last year. I want to see something that looks like progress.

On offense, the Minutemen barely averaged 300 yards/game. I'd like to see the new running offense, but we need to be able to throw some too. A completion rate of over 50% and a 150 yards of passing offense would be a good start.

On defense, UMass gave up 485 yards a game, which is really bad. I'd like to see some pressure on the QB and some good tacking against the Green Wave's run game.

I'd like to see UMass look like they belong. If the Minutemen reduce Tulane's scoring to about 32 points (ten points lower than last year's average) and score 24 points ( about eight more points/game than last year), It'll be good.

Go UMass!!!

The Hampshire Gazette says UMass wants to change its identity. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UConn goes for a win against in-state opponent Central Conn. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Action Network thinks UMass will beat the spread. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOLA.com reports after a season of tribulations, Tulane is focused on football. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

I watched the New Mexico State-Minnesota game on DVR yesterday. The Aggies played poorly. They did not look into it. They missed tackles all over the place and gave what looked like a half-hearted effort.  The 38-0 score was deceptive. Minnesota ran the clock down to 2 seconds even on the first drive of the game. The Gophers did not score in the fourth quarter. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also watched Temple-Duke last night. The Owls looked over matched against ACC bottom feeder Duke. Temple only had 179 total yards of offense in a 30-0 loss.

Right now, both the Temple and the New Mexico State games look winnable. We'll know tonight if UMass looks like we can do that.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--2022

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the UMass-Tulane game.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MassLive reports Don Brown and UMass football set to open the 2022 season.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The UMass website previews the 2022 Minutemen quarterbacks.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

College Football News predicts Tulane 45 UMass17.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tulane's radio analyst Steve Barrios has been doing Green Wave games for forty years.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Toledo dominated FCS LIU 37-0 last night.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Big Ten Minnesota held New Mexico State to 91 total yards and won 38-0 at home.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Neal Brown's West Virginia team dropped an exciting opener against Pitt 38-31.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass Football News--September 1st, 2022

 UMass enters a Bowl rights agreement with ESPN making UMass eligible for selection to eight bowls owned by the network.

This is big news people. Back in 2019 I looked at the various bowls and exactly one bowl had an "at large" slot. Half of that bowl and all the other bowls were contractually obligated to various leagues. So UMass, if eligible, had to complete for one open slot in the entire FBS universe---a virtual impossibly. Even if the Minutemen went 8-4 in 2019, it is likely they would not have received a bid.

With no league championship and no bowl affiliations, UMass was playing for pride their whole season.

Now, UMass has a goal. Go 6-6 and their is a chance for a bowl bid. Go 7-5 or more and it's certainty. 

In addition, if Brown can get us to some bowls, it will help us in seeking a conference affiliation. With several of the Power Five leagues going to 9 conference games, it may be more difficult to get pay games in the future. A league will greatly simplify scheduling and provide a peer group to compete in. 

This is second only to Brown's return in good news.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The UMass website has a video with coach Steve Casula about the UMass quarterbacks.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Tulane game notes are up including the Minutemen depth chart.

The depth chart looks pretty accurate. On defense, I think most of the two-deep will get reps under Brown's packages defense. The chart makes sense as far as we know. For example, it lists Jalen Mackie as the #1 MIKE linebacker. He's a FCS All-American and only has one year of eligibility. Why bring him in if he's not going to play? 

On offense, again things look as expected. At QB I think they'll give several QB's a chance to move the offense. 

Only three true freshmen on the two-deep. That's a big change from the last three years.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  

The UMass Daily Collegian looks at what to expect from UMass' first game.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click on Detroit looks a the landing places of ex-Michigan players including two at UMass.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

College Football News previews the Tulane-UMass game and predicts Green Wave 45 Minutemen 17.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The Tulane Hullabaloo looks at Tulane's prospects for 2022.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Analyst previews this weekend's FCS games and predicts Rhode Island over Stony Brook.  The Sea Wolves took Rhody to overtime last year.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------