UMass Football News--October 31st, 2022

 The Albuquerque Journal reports New Mexico State ended a four year road skid at UMass.

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The NMSU newspaper says the Aggies clutched a win.

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The Hartford Courant says UConn's historic win over BC keeps a hope of a bowl bid alive.

The Journal Inquirer reports a stifling defense led the Huskies to a win over BC.

UConn LB Jackson Mitchell won the New England Gold Helmet award for his efforts against the Eagles.

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Texas A&M starts a freshman QB.

Conner Weigman was a 247Sports five-star QB. 

Lane Kiffin thinks Texas A&M faked a lot of injuries Saturday. 

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UMass Football News--October 30th, 2022

 Well, that's probably it for the 2022 season. I don't see any other wins on the horizon. We just need more talent on the offense. We can't pass long (as in more than 15 yards), we can't throw on the run, we don't have the speed for jet sweeps and it's tough running against eight or nine-in-the-box.

The defense played well. I expect them to continue to improve with more playing time. The Minuteman defense had 3 SACKS and 10 TFL's. In addition, New Mexico State was held to 0-12 on third down conversions.

Special teams were excellent. CJ Kolodziey averaged almost 40 yards/kick and put three inside the 20. He has had an impressive turnaround. Cameron Carson was 2-for-2 on field goals.

UMass really needs to recruit more talent and speed on offense. 

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UMass write-up here.

Aggies write-up here.

The Hampshire Gazette said the offense floundered.

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Tulane had a bye.

Toledo became bowl eligible with a win over Eastern Michigan.

Stony Brook was blown out against Albany.

Temple lost to Navy in overtime. 

Liberty had a bye.

Buffalo plays Ohio Tuesday in a weekday MACaction game.

UConn scored a historic victory over BC with a dominate defensive performance. BC Interruption says it was an utter dumpster fire for the Eagles.

Arkansas State lost to Southern Alabama 31-3. 

Texas A&M lost to #15 Ole Miss.

Army had a bye.

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Game Day--New Mexico State--October 29th, 2022

 Today the Minutemen play the New Mexico State Aggies. They are probably the best chance for UMass to get a FBS victory. We need to take advantage of the opportunity.

The UMass offense needs to score more than 15 points. I think the Minutemen defense will do well against the anemic Aggie offense. Offensive production is the key today.

I'll be there cheering for the Minutemen. Go UMass!!

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The Hampshire Gazette report both UMass and New Mexico State are coming off bye weeks.

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CBS Sports has how to watch the game and some stats.

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Yahoo Sports predicts a UMass win.

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On the other hand, VSin thinks New Mexico State is one of the best bets in college football in week #9.

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In a game filled with a lot of New England angst, BC plays UConn today. If UConn wins, Husky fans should storm the field.

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UMass Football News--October 28th, 2022

 UMass has played some pretty good teams so far in 2022. Buffalo, Toledo and Eastern Michigan all have five wins and unless they go 0-for-the-rest-of-the-season will be bowl eligible.

Tulane is 6-1 and have beaten a Power Five team (Kansas State). If the Green Wave win their season finale in Cincinnati, they could go 11-1 and be in line for a major bowl.

Liberty is already 7-1. They play UConn and New Mexico State, so the Flames are looking at least nine wins. They also play Virginia Tech (2-6) and Arkansas (4-3). If Liberty wins those two, they could be looking at a major bowl.

New Mexico State is not one of the above. The Aggies are #128 in total offense, #127 in scoring offense and #113 in third down conversion. 

Playing the Aggies at home should give the Minutemen their best shot at a FBS win in their remaining schedule. We really, really need to take advantage of the opportunity. 

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the New Mexico State game.

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The Daily Collegian has a podcast on the New Mexico State game.

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Sports Chat Place thinks the Aggies will cover the 2.5 point spread.

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The Eagles unlimited relates how Hartford, CT almost became the center of sports for New England.

BC Interruption previews this week's UConn-Boston College game.

BTW, the Eagles are dead last in rushing offense, averaging 2.1 yards/carry.

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UMass Football News--October 27th, 2022

 The New England Football Journal reports Coach Brown is still in the rebuilding mode.

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UMass has its game notes for New Mexico State up.

As does New Mexico State. 

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ESPN has UMass #4 in its Bottom Ten.

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The UConn Blog (good name) considers the Huskies remaining 2022 opponents.

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UConn coach Jim Mora is convinced his rented house is haunted.

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Texas A&M suspends three freshmen for a "locker room incident".

Sporting News names the Aggies as "2022's most disappointing team"

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Arkansas State prepares for a home game against South Alabama.

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UMass Football News--October 26th, 2022

 I usually make a post when I go away in case I have connection problems. I did not do that for a short trip to Lebanon, NH.

Right on cue, Blogger would not let me log on to my UMass Football blogger account. This, despite the fact I was using my travel laptop with five years of Google cookies on it.

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The Hampshire Gazette says it's not been an idle week for UMass Football.

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Sports Chat Place thinks New Mexico State will cover the 2.5 point spread. 

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The ESPN computer, on the other hand, says UMass has a 60% chance of winning. 

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The Sun-News reports New Mexico State will return to action against Massachusetts. 

The Aggies are actively looking for a replacement game for the San Jose State cancellation.

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UMass Football News--October 24th, 2022

 New Mexico State opens as a three-point road favorite over the Minutemen.

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A VSIN writer has UMass #131 in his power ratings. 

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With a 3-4 record, Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher is on the hot seat. 

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BYU still remembers their 16-10 loss to UMass in 2017.

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Tulane is up to #23 in the the latest AP Top-25 poll.

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Boston College is only a 9.5 point favorite over UConn Saturday.  BC has major problems with their offensive line.

Could UConn upset BC? It's possible. 

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Arkansas State also has injury problems.

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UMass Football News--October 23rd, 2022

 It turns out UMass has played some pretty good teams on its road to 1-6 record. Saturday's results continued the trend.

Five of six FBS losses are to likely bowl-bound teams.

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Tulane ran their record to 7-1 against Memphis. The Green Wave are already bowl eligible and were ranked #25 before the Memphis game. They're probably the  biggest turnaround story of 2022.

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Toledo and Buffalo matched up in a battle of MAC unbeatens and the Bulls scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to win. Both teams are likely bowl-bound.

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Stony Brook beat Maine in a come-from-behind victory.

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Eastern Michigan beat Ball State to move to 5-3 for the season. The Eagles need only one win to be bowl eligible.

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Liberty scored maybe their biggest win ever with a 41-14 domination of BYU. The Flames held BYU to 258 total yards and 12 first downs. Liberty also had a sell out crowd at Williams Stadium. The Flames play Arkansas, UConn, Virginia Tech and New Mexico State next. The Hogs are 4-3 and the Hokies are 2-5. If the Flames win both, they could be playing on New Years Day.

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Arkansas State lost to Louisiana 38-18.

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Texas A&M lost to South Carolina in a prime-time match-up. 

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Army had 448 rushing yards and rolled over ULM. 

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Boston College fell to 2-5 in a 43-15 loss to Wake Forest.

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George Georgeopolos averaged 41.8 yards a punt in Mississippi State's 30-6 loss to Alabama.

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UMass Football News--October 22nd, 2022

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" recaps UMass' loss to Buffalo.

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New Mexico State vs San Jose State has been postponed due to the death of a San Jose player in a bus accident.

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Temple fell to 2-4 after last night's loss to Tulsa. Tulsa only has 2,600 undergraduates. One in every 31 Tulsa students plays football for the Golden Hurricanes.

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The Adviser previews today's Arkansas State-Louisiana game.

The Red Wolves will sport a new uniform combination for the Cajuns game.

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Texas A&M fans practiced the "Aggie Yell" in front of the South Carolina statehouse for their road contest with the Gamecocks. 

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Yahoo News predicts Army will get their first FBS victory against Louisiana Monroe today.

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Boston College is a big underdog to Wake Forest. 

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UMass Football News--October 21st, 2022

 ESPN grades 2022's new coaching hires at mid-season.

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At the half way point, UMass is dead last in passing offense, team passing efficiency and scoring offense. 

The Minutemen are #34 in rush defense, #64 in passing efficiency defense and #109 in scoring defense. UMass was #130 in scoring defense, #126 in rushing defense and #100 in pass defense in 2021. Quite a turnaround on defense. The numbers would be even better if the defense was not on the field the whole game.

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Temple plays Tulsa Saturday. The Owls scored 28 against UMass, but have not scored more than 14 against anybody else.

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Mountain West Wire previews Saturday's New Mexico State-San Jose State game.

The Aggies are # 126 in scoring offense with just 15 points/game. However, that's better than UMass' 12.0 points/game. 

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The national media pick Texas A&M as a slight favorite over South Carolina.

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With a mid-season record of 2-4, Army insists the 2022 season is not lost. 

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UMass Football Recruiting 2023--Darrell Johnson

Twitter image

 Darrell Johnson, a 6-7 315 pound OT from Dodge City CC has a UMass offer.

Dodge City CC bio here. 

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has mid-season highlights.

Johnson has 10 offers, including Toledo, Akron and New Mexico State. He'd be a welcome addition to the UMass O-Line.

UMass Football News--October 19th, 2022

 UMass falls to #1 in the Bottom-25.

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New Mexico State is a 22-point underdog at home vs San Jose State.

Flo Football says the Aggies are seeking two in a row.

The New Mexico State win seemingly sparked a brawl between the fans.

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Arkansas State prepares for a road game with Louisiana. 

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Texas A&M is "inches" away from turning around their season. 

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Army had one of their helmets on display to promote the upcoming Army-Air Force game. Somebody stole it.

Army backups came up big in the Cadets win over Colgate.

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UMass Football News--October 18th, 2022

 The UMass-New Mexico State game will be available on ESPN3.

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The Daily Collegian reports it does not matter who is the starting QB for the Minutemen.

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Penalty issues cost UConn in their loss to Ball State.

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Bristol Central, in the 2000's had a football squad that would go on to have three former players who would commit murder.

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Texas A&M cancels practice after a bomb threat. The Aggies are 3-3 and fans are not happy..

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WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

SMU game suffers a lengthy delay after Southern Methodist's pony mascot poops on the field. Let me get this straight, their mascot is a horse and their staff was totally unprepared if it pooped?

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UMass Football News--October 17th, 2022

 

UMass QB recruit Ahmad Haston visited for the Buffalo game. Hopefully, a future Minutemen dual-threat quarterback record holder...

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MassLive reports UMass struggled offensively Saturday.

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Coastal Carolina celebrates 20 years of college football recalling the Chants first ever win, which was over UMass. 

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After the loss to Buffalo, Yahoo Sports ranks UMass #130 out of 131 college football teams. 

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The Hartford Courant says it was a crushing loss for UConn.

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The Las Cruses Sun reports New Mexico State made some strides in their win over New Mexico. 

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UMass Football News--October 16th, 2022

 Well I was wrong about Buffalo being within our wheelhouse. The UMass defense did OK. They dropped two INT's and gave up four long scoring plays. But Buffalo scored 50 points on Eastern Michigan and 38 on Bowling Green, so overall it was not a bad performance.

However, with ten minutes to go in the fourth quarter UMass had 165 yards of total offense. Outside of the one scoring drive, the Minutemen never came close to threatening another score. Garrett Druzo, possibly still feeling the effects of his last game injury, did not provide the spark he did in his previous start. In addition, the Bulls defense controlled the line of scrimmage all game. UMass only had 108 yards rushing and went 4-14 for third downs. The Bulls had 15 TFL...

The coaches tried Zamir Wise for the last couple series, but he went 1-6 passing and most of his passes were not close to the receiver.

The only bright spot on offense was the receivers had two really nice contested catches, but that was it.

Right now, a second win looks like it's going to be hard to come by.

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UMass write-up here.

Bulls write-up here.

The Hampshire Gazette says big plays burned the Minutemen.

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Tulane is bowl eligible after a win over USF.

Toledo flattened Kent State.

Stony Brook fell to 0-6 after a loss to Fordham. 

Thursday, Temple was blown out by UCF 70-13. 

Eastern Michigan only had 226 yards of offense in a 39-10 loss to Northern Illinois.

Liberty squeaked by Gardner-Webb 21-20 to run their record to 6-1. That makes the Flames bowl eligible.

UConn lost to Ball State 25-21. 

Arkansas State lost to Southern Mississippi 20-19.

Texas A&M had a bye.

Army rushed for 467 yards in a 42-17 win over Colgate.

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Game Day--Buffalo, October 15th, 2022

 I'm hoping to see more improvement today in Amherst. If the defense plays the way they did against Liberty, we should see some fun football on the defensive side.

The UMass offense showed some life with Garrett Druzo at the controls in last Saturday's first half. We can't win games scoring 10 points. I'd like to see the Minutemen build off Greg Desrosiers' running and score 20+ points this week. If we do, it could be a close game.

I'll be there, cheering for the Maroon & White. Go UMass!

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

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The Hampshire Gazette reports patience and persistence paid off for Greg Desrosiers.

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The Buffalo News says it's UB Game Day against UMass. 

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UMass will play at Rutgers on September 5th, 2026.    A game against a Power Five Northeast school is always good. The Minutemen now have six games scheduled for 2026. 

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Sports Chat Place thinks Buffalo will cover the 16 point spread. 

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UMass Football News--October 14th, 2022

 Buffalo, like us had a rough entry to FBS football. After being a doormat for more than a decade, the Bulls turned it around in the late 2010's. In 2018, '19 and '20 they went 24-10 and were invited to three bowls (and won two of them). The Bulls did it with a solid running game and good defense.

In 2015, UMass won at Buffalo 31-26 on the legs of Marquis Young, who had 240 rushing yards that day.

This year the Bulls lost their first three games: Maryland, Holy Cross and Coastal Carolina. Maryland and the Chants are good teams. In MAC play the Bulls are undefeated. They crushed common opponent Eastern Michigan 50-31 and dominated  Bowling Green 38-7.

Nevertheless, the Bulls should be within our wheelhouse. They are not the Group-of-Five powerhouse that Liberty is. The UMass defense has improved every game. If we can get some offensive production, I think the Minutemen can make it close. UMass needs to score 20+ points to make it a game.

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Tony's Picks predicts Buffalo Bulls 31-UMass Minutemen 17.

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It's Family weekend for UMass Football this Saturday.

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The Daily Collegian reports Greg Desrosiers has added his skills to the UMass offensive backfield.

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The New England Football Journal reports Coach Brown is in it for the long haul. 

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I watched last Saturday's Pitt-Virginia Tech game on the treadmill yesterday afternoon. Great performance by Pitt's Israel Abanikada. He rushed for 330 yards (broke Tony Dorsett's single game Pitt record) and six TD's. If your cable system replays the game it's worth a watch.

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UMass Football News--October 13, 2022

 The Hampshire Gazette has news from UMass football going into the Buffalo game. Coach Brown related the Minutemen would have some of the nine players who were inactive for Liberty back.

Garrett Druzo certainly gave the UMass offense a lift in the first half against the Flames. He had 83 of the 88 total passing yards for the game. If he could have matched the first half production in the second half, UMass would have had its biggest offensive outing of the season.

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Bleacher Report predicts Buffalo 28 UMass 14.

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UMass is dead last in passing offense out of 131 FBS teams.

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The Minutemen are #4 in ESPN's bottom ten teams.

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Sports Book Wire predicts a blow-out Buffalo win.

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Saturday's New Mexico State-New Mexico game will be broadcast in Navajo.

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UConn will be minus its top three RB's for this week's game against Ball State.

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UMass Football News--October 12th, 2022

 UMass has its Buffalo write-up and game notes available.

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Play Picks has UMass-Buffalo odds, predictions and picks.

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Doc's Sports Service says Buffalo will cover the spread.

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The Buffalo News reports the Bulls hit the road to Amherst this Saturday. 

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The UConn Daily Campus recaps Northeast teams struggles last Saturday.

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A UMass student discovers the UMass Marching Band. The UMMB has been great this year and the Band Day was awesome. I've been a fan of the UMMB for as long as I have been going to Minutemen games. I've got a couple of band CD's from the George Parks era that I occasionally play on the long drive down to Amherst.

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Temple plays UCF Thursday night. The Owls are 2-3 for the season.

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Boston College joins UMass in this week's Bottom 25. The Eagles have a bye this week. Of their remaining schedule BC should beat UConn and Duke, but Wake Forest, NC State, Notre Dame and Syracuse are going to be tough. A possible 4-8 season for Boston College?

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UMass Football News--October 11th, 2022

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" recaps the UMass-Liberty game.

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SCPN has UMass-Buffalo lines and info.

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The UConn Blog (good name) looks at the Huskies remaining opponents and wonders if they will be bowl eligible. 

The Daily Campus says the Huskies made FIU look like UConn. 

Yahoo Sports report the running game and an opportunistic defense led UConn to back-to-back victories.

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Our old friends at Hustle Belt has Buffalo #3 in their current MAC power rankings.

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Army's struggle can be traced to fundamentals.

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The Deseret News reports JMU is undefeated and one of the best stories in college football.

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UMass Football News--October 10th, 2022

 The Hampshire Gazette reports Liberty held off UMass 42-24.

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The 247Sports UMass recruiting page has been updated.  Seven of the eight commitments are rated three-star. The overall ranking is #94, which is in the top half of Group-of-Five ratings.

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Buffalo moves to 3-0 in the MAC after a blow-out win over Bowling Green.

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Buffalo opens as a 16 point favorite over the Minutemen.

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The UConn Daily Campus reports the Huskies have their first winning streak since 2017.

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How Army recruited Andre Carter III, one of the best players in college football.

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Indiana fires their offensive line coach. Indiana is #97 in total offense and #124 in rushing offense. Coach Bell is OC for the Hoosiers.

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Rutgers fires their OC.

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UMass Football News--October 9th, 2022

 The Minutemen defense is flat fun to watch. There has not been many aspects of UMass football that has been enjoyable these last few years. Coach Brown has coached a remarkable turnaround. Liberty is a strong team that could go undefeated in their Group-of-Five games in 2022.

The defense had a terrific goal line stand, the first in memory. They had 3 SACKS, 10 (!) TFL and a fumble return for a TD. Liberty was held to 5-15 on third and fourth downs and UMass held on both fourth down attempts.

Garrett Druzo came in and provided a spark in the first half. He threw accurately and showed the Minutemen offense is not far off with effective QB play. Hopefully , he was not seriously injured and will return next week.

We finally have something to cheer for. UMass football is improving folks!

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UMass write-up here.

Liberty's write-up here.

MassLive said Greg Desrosiers rushed for 110 yards, but UMass fell to Liberty.

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Tulane ran its record to 5-1 with a win over East Carolina.

Toledo bombed Northern Illinois 52-32. 

Eastern Michigan dominated Western Michigan 45-23.

Temple had a bye.

Note UMass FBS opponents have a collective record of 15-8.

Stony Brook lost to New Hampshire 24-14. 

Buffalo ran over Bowling Green 38-7. 

New Mexico State had a bye.

UConn had 295 rushing yards in a road win over FIU.     The Huskies are on a roll.

Undefeated James Madison totaled nearly 600 yards of offense in a road win over Arkansas State.

Texas A&M lost a heart breaker to Alabama 24-20. 

Army lost to Wake Forest 45-10 to drop their record to 1-4.

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Game Day--Liberty October 8th, 2022

 Libery might be the second strongest opponent UMass faces in 2022 (although a Liberty-Texas A&M game would be interesting). The Flames might start their reserve QB Johnathan Bennett. He's not quite the offensive machine of the first and second string Flames QB's, but he engineered a win over Old Dominion.

The rest of Liberty's roster is studded with Power Five level players. UMass is not yet a match for the Flames at most positions.

However, the UMass defense has been playing well lately. A couple of turnovers could make the game competitive. The Minutemen offense has to generate more than 10 points. We can't win games at that level of production. 

I'll be there cheering for the Minutemen. Go UMass!

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the Liberty game.

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How YouTube helped Jack Driscoll meet his next challenge. 

Driscoll was an unsung hero for the Eagles during the week 4 win over the Jaguars.  

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Hustle Belt previews today's game between Buffalo and Bowling Green. 

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New Mexico State has a bye.

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Yahoo Sports predicts UConn will win their second in a row. 

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UMass Football News--October 7th, 2022

 Upcoming Liberty will be a strong challenge for a rebuilding UMass. The Flames are 4-1 with a one-point loss to Power Five Wake Forest. Liberty is currently ranked #66 by College Football News. The Flames are also #66 in total offense and #28 in the nation in rushing offense. They average 29 points a game and give up 22.8.

The Flames play a national schedule. Besides Wake Forest, Liberty will play BYU, Arkansas and Virginia Tech this year.

They are not quite the offensive juggernaut they were with Malik Willis off to the NFL.

Kaidron Salter makes the Flames go. He's a mobile QB with 137 pass efficiency rating. He's been dealing with a groin injury and may not start Saturday.

Liberty is also ranked #16 in the nation in Red Zone defense. 

I think the UMass defense will play well Saturday, but it might not show in the score and the statistics. The Minutemen would have to have a season-high scoring total to make it look respectable. I think the Flames will cover the 25 point spread. 

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The Liberty site "A Sea of Red" has a Q&A with Mike Traini.

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A Bleacher Report writer predicts Liberty 35 UMass 3. 

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The Virginia New & Advance reports on the status of Liberty, which includes a possible start for Johnathan Bennett at QB. 

Coach Freeze's weekly press conference is available here.

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UMass Football News--October 6th, 2022

 The Hampshire Gazette says UMass wants more than a moral victory against Liberty.

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The Virginia News & Adventure has five questions with the Gazette's UMass beat writer.

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UConn's Daily Campus reports the Huskies have a path to bowl eligibility.

The UConn Blog (good name) has takeaways from the Huskies' win over Fresno State.

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Andy Isabella signs with the Ravens practice squad.

Cliff Kingsbury has words of praise for Andy after his departure from the Cardinals.

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UMass Football News--October 5th, 2022

 SGPN previews the UMass-Liberty odds and stats. Two of their pundits pick UMass to beat the spread and one picks Liberty to cover the -25.5 odds.

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The Cardinals release Andy Isabella. MassLive wonders if he would be a good pickup for the Patriots.

CBS Sports reports on the Cardinals releasing Andy.

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UConn, believe it or not, is a four point road favorite over FIU.

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Vsin has UMass ranked #188 in college football, behind FCS Campbell and Abilene Christian.

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247Sports has UMass ranked #4 in its bottom-25 rankings.

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UMass Football News--October 4th, 2022

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" recaps the Eastern Michigan game.

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UMass has the Liberty game notes and preview up on the athletic dept website. 

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The Eastern Echo reports the Eagles soared in the second half. 

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The Sports Chat Place thinks Liberty will cover the 25.5 point spread. 

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The UConn Blog (good name) previews the remaining games on the Huskies schedule. 

The Daily Campus recaps UConn's stunning road victory over Fresno State.

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College Football News has UMass as #126 in its latest power rankings.

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UMass Football News--October 3rd, 2022

 Liberty opens a 25.5 favorite over UMass.

The Flames are probably going to put a dent in UMass' defensive renaissance. Liberty features a mobile QB Kaidron Salter who accounted for 358 yards of offense all by himself against Wake Forest.

In addition, Liberty's defense is excellent too. The Flames defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage all day against the Deacons. Wake Forest rushed 26 times for 21 net yards (a 0.6 yards/carry). Liberty averages 418 yards/game and 5.78 yard/play.

Liberty is going to be a big challenge  Saturday.

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Liberty WR Jaivon Lofton made maybe the college football catch-of-the-year against Old Dominion.

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Victory over Fresno State sparks a new beginning for UConn football with more winnable games pending. 

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After an 0-5 start, Colorado fires HC Karl Dorrell and defensive coordinator Chris Wilson.

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Wanna be a college football coach? Wisconsin fired Paul Chryst. Under Chryst the Badgers won a Cotton Bowl, a Orange Bowl, three Big Ten West titles, won 10 games or more three times and went 9-4 in 2021...

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UMass Football News--October 2nd, 2022

 Wow! I thought we were going to win that game. The UMass defensive turnaround continued. After yesterday, the Minutemen defense is ranked #50 in total defense and #38 in team passing defense efficiency. The defense is giving up 353 yards a game as opposed to 458 yards/game in 2021. Against Eastern Michigan the defense had 6 TFL, 1 SACK, 2 INT's 1 FF and 3 QB hurries.  

This was an excellent performance against a EMU offense that rang up 458 yards of offense against Power Five Arizona State.

Special teams did well also. CJ Kolodziey averaged 46.8 yards/punt and dropped three inside the 20. Cameron Carson went 2-2 on field goals.

I can't blame Gino Campiotti this time. He was the offense's only spark. Again, there were two uncontested drops that would have been first downs. The UMass offense seriously lacks firepower and the margin is razor thin. We can't have drops.

I think we have a chance for two more victories against UConn and New Mexico State. In addition, an upset against Buffalo, Arkansas State and Army is within the realm of possibility.

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UMass write-up here.

EMU write-up here. 

The Hampshire Gazette reports EMU rallied past UMass.

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Tulane won Thursday night.

Toledo handled Eastern Michigan 38-17.

Stony Brook lost to William & Mary 27-10. 

Temple lost to Memphis 24-3. 

Liberty rang up 478 yards of offense to beat ODU 38-24. 

Buffalo edged Miami 24-20. 

New Mexico State only had 221 yards of offense in a 21-7 loss to FIU. 

UConn stunned Fresno State 19-14 for their first FBS win since 2018.  Congrats to the Huskies!

Arkansas State blew out ULM 45-28.

Texas A&M got handled by Mississippi State in Starkville.

Army fell to 1-3 with a home loss to Georgia State.

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Game Day Eastern Michigan--October 1st, 2022

 Coach Bell said last year Eastern Michigan had a program that UMass would like to emulate. Indeed, the Eagles usually go .500 or better, are selected to a bowl game and routinely knock off Power Five teams. And EMU is doing that this year. The Eagles results would certainly make Minutemen fans scalp tingle.

If we had an offense, this year would be a great year to play Boston College...

Today's game is another chance for improvement. The defense has played well and everybody will benefit for more reps.

On offense, we need more production from the QB position. With most opponents playing eight or nine in the box, that means there are a lot of defenders available to stop the short passing game, which is all we have. No turnovers would certainly help. Some long time-eating drives would keep the ball away from EMU. The QB's need to make some positive plays.

I'll be watching and cheering for the Minutemen. Go UMass!

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

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The UMass Daily Collegian grades every UMass Football position after the first four weeks.

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The Hampshire Gazette profiles UMass DB Josh Wallace.

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The Sports Chat Place thinks Eastern Michigan will beat the spread.

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Tulane ran their record to 4-1 with an overtime victory against Houston last night. The Green Wave are looking good in 2022. Their 4-1 record includes a road win over Power Five Kansas State.

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