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UPDATE:
Item Live has a post on Mafo's commitment to the Minutemen.
Mafo had over 1,300 yards of offense as a receiver and RB. Also had 3 INT's and 3 FF's playing defense.
UMass needs athletes everywhere and hopefully Mafo will thrive in Amherst and earn a scholarship.
Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on offensive line commit Brock Taylor. Developing and keeping OL recruits will be a big portion of future Minutmen offensive success.
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The New England Football Journal breaks down the Minutemen's seven commitments from last weekend's OV's.
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247Sports predicts Auburn sixth in the SEC West.
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UMass's first home game in 2023 is against Miami (Ohio) and College Football odds looks at Miami's 6.5 wins over-and-under. Predicts a win over UMass of course.
Seventeen Miami Redhawks have hit the transfer portal.
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The Minutemen's second home game is against Eastern Michigan and Clutch Points looks at the 7.5 wins over-and-under prediction for the Eagles.
Quote from the article :" They will beat up UMASS"...
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Auburn Undercover previews the September 2nd game between the Auburn Tigers and the UMass Minutemen. Predicts 48-7 Auburn.
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Flywareagle.com previews the Auburn-UMass game and predicts an easy Tiger victory.
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Auburn went 5-7 in 2022 so naturally they hired Hugh Freeze from Liberty.
There should be big changes in the Tigers roster. The combination of a Power five program and SEC-level NIL money enabled Auburn to bring in a top-five transfer class.
247Sports has the jersey numbers for the transfers here.
The UMass coach staff should be familiar with Freeze's offensive and defensive schemes. Auburn will be playing their first game against UMass, while the Minutemen will have played New Mexico State the week before. With all those new personnel and new offensive and defensive schemes, UMass can hope for some "Was that my guy?" moments for the Tigers in their opening game.
Auburn will be playing at home and will have a huge advantage in talent ratings. Still, I think Coach Brown's defense will give the Tigers some problems. The issue is if the revised Minutemen offense can get any production against Auburn's SEC defense.
Auburn will also play New Mexico State on November 18th.
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Speaking of New Mexico State, Clutch Points looks at the Aggies 6.5 wins over-and-under for 2023.
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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post about and some quotes from Naples DB Ben Bouzi.
In my previous blog post I missed this article mentioning Bouzi.
Florida, Texas and California are famous for have more college level athletes than the local schools can sop up. So far, the new UMass staff has done a good job recruiting south Florida. Bouzi should have a bright future playing for Coach Brown.
UMass completed a clean sweep of commits for the OV weekend as two more recruits announced their commitment to UMass.
Brahim Wynn, Jr, a 6=3 235 pound Edge from Timber Creek HS in NJ announced Saturday he was committed to UMass.
I had blogged about Wynn twice before on May 4th and May 17th.
Wynn chose UMass over an offer from Power Five Maryland. UConn, Temple and Buffalo were among his 13 offers. The defense end position has been a glaring weakness for UMass since the move to FBS. Wynn should have a fine time in Don Brown's attacking defense.
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Committing on Sunday was Brock Taylor, a 6-3 295 pound OL from Atlee HS in Virginia. His verbal closed the circle for a perfect 8-for-8 sweep from the OV weekend.
I had blogged about Taylor back on June 10th.
Taylor will probably play on the inside of the offensive line for the Minutemen. He should have a bright future playing for Coach Miller. Taylor had 17 total offers including all three Service Academies as well as Buffalo.
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Ben Bouzi, a 5-11 165 pound CB from Naples, FL has committed to UMass
SI.com says Bouzi is a top prospect.
This article covers his offer from Florida State.
Bouzi had 13 total offers including Power Five Florida State, Pitt, Louiville and Maryland. He'll play for the best DB coach in the business at UMass. Bouzi is a big-time recruit and he should have a productive career in Amherst.
Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has two posts on recent UMass Commits:
An article and interview with TE recruit Ludovic Martin.
An article and interview with DB verbal Franck Elokan.
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Injuries are the wild card of any football career. Hope Druzon has a great start in coaching.
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The 2023 issue of Lindy's College Football magazine is out and we're not ranked last!
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UMass to the Mountain West? San Diego State notifies the Mountain West they're leaving.
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Remember Rhode Island QB Kasim Hill, who led the Rams to victory over UMass in 2021?
The NCAA has granted Hill his seventh season of eligibility for 2023. It'll give him time to complete his doctoral dissertation :)
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College Football News previews 2023 opponent New Mexico.
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Andre Weeks II, a 6-6 270 pound OL from St. Francis Academy in Maryland has committed to UMass.
This article covers his offer from Michigan State.
Ranked #28 in 3 on 3's Top Maryland Recruits.
Weeks chose UMass over Power Five offers from Penn State, Old Miss and Michigan State. He's a real steal for the Minutemen and should make a difference in the UMass offense.
Elokan is from Brandon Collier's placement program for European players. Collier said Elokan is UMass' next Sean Smalls. If you don't get the reference, Smalls was one of Don Brown's top DB's during his first stint as head coach. I went to the UMass-Texas Tech game in 2008 and Smalls did an excellent job against Micharel Crabtree, the Red Raiders NFL bound wide receiver.
This article from Europe's Elite features Elokan.
Elokan is a pro-sized DB with a big upside. I'll be interested in following his career with the Minutemen.
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Da'Marion Alberic, a 5-10 171 pound athlete from Del Ray Beach, FL has committed to UMass.
I blogged about Alberic back on June 12th.
Alberic can play DB or RB and can also contribute as a kick or punt returner. The Minutemen need speed and athleticism and Alberic brings both.
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I blogged about Dia-Johnson back on June 14th.
Dia-Johnson could be the highest rated player to commit to the Minutemen. He has the potential to not just impact the offense, but also the program. Hopefully, he'll rewrite the UMass FBS record book.
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More commits from last weekend's OV are pending..
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The New England Football Journal has a post on Martin's commitment to the Minutemen.
Martin chose UMass over a Power Five offer from Maryland and eleven other offers.
It looks like UMass had a strong weekend. As many as six recruits may have committed to UMass. I'll blog about them as the confirmations come in.
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Martin has 13 offers including Power Five Maryland. Charlotte, Arkansas State and Tulane have offered from the Group-of-Five. Tight ends are big factors in modern offenses and Martin could find a lot of playing time in the rising UMass offense.
Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on the eight players who will attend this weekend's first 2023 OV event.
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I really respect Rene's opinion. Anything more than a couple of wins will be balm to the battered psyche's of UMass fans. Let's hope he's right. The November 25th game with UConn would be like old times if there is something actually in play.
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Brandon Collier with Hugo Klages and Magnus Von Saldern.
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Penn State announces tickets for the Nittany Lions-Minutemen game will start at $60.
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Mincey has 13 offers including UConn and Toledo and Bowling Green from the MAC. He could find a lot of opportunity and playing time in Amherst.
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Dia-Johnson has ten offers, mostly from Power Five schools. He would be a good fit, and find more available playing time, in the new Minutemen offense.
Sixteen UMass players are named to the Phil Steele Pre-Season All-Independent team.
The complete All-Independent team list is here.
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UMass offensive analyst Matt Zanellato has been named Wide Receiver coach.
New England Football Journal has a post on Zanellato's promotion.
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Auburn Sports has an early preview of the UMass-Auburn game.
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Jim Mora wants UConn to play for the National Championship in football.
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GREAT FOOTBALL NAMES DEPT:
Kool-Aid McKinstry. Besides a great name McKinstry is an All-American DB with 20 passes defended in 2022 and was also 2nd in the nation in punt return average.
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Will take an OV to UMass on June 16th.
MaxPreps has stats. Over 1000 all-purpose yards in 2022.
The rebuilt Minutemen offense needs offensive production everywhere and Alberic could be a good fit in 2024.
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Taylor prides himself in his run blocking and that's exactly what UMass wants to do. There is a lot of playing time up for grabs in the near future in Amherst and Taylor could be part of it.
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This article from February talks about his recruiting.
Haile has 18 offers including Power Five Penn State, Syracuse and BC. UConn has also offered. Haile would be a good fit with the rapidly improving talent level of the UMass QB room and he could be a featured receiver in Amherst.
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This article covers his upcoming visit to Illinois and also states he will take an OV to UMass next month.
Williams has Power Five offers from Illinois and Miami (FL). He could play for the most creative defense coach in college football if he chooses the Minutemen.
How about the Big 12 striking back at the Big Ten and the SEC by building a basketball super conference?
If the Big 12 invites UConn, how about inviting North Carolina (the ACC is going to break up anyway) and then invite Gonzaga and Creighton as basketball only members.
Apparently, the Big 12 is already thinking of Gonzaga.
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UMass-Army on October 28th will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.
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The New England Football Journal reports the 2023 TV schedule for UMass, UConn and BC is taking shape.
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Rene should be in the Hall-of-Fame.
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Former UMass star CB Isaiah Rogers is facing NFL gambling violations.
Jeeze Isaiah, all that work to get there..
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| Twitter mage |
Rated #9 in the 2023 class by Kohl's kicking.
TarHeel Illustrated has a post on Kendall and his visit to North Carolina.
Numbers of studies have shown special teams decide a win or a loss between one quarter and one third of all games. A long snapper does not get a lot of attention---unless you do not have one. He has FBS size and should have a bright future (and a scholarship) in Amherst.
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Rivals.com says UMass lands productive dual-threat QB AJ Hairston.
AllHurricanes.com mentions Hairston verbaling to UMass.
Margate.com has a post on Hairston committing to UMass.
Scorebooklive.com has an article on Hairston's commitment to the Minutemen.
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Hairston looks like a big addition to the 2024 recruitment cycle. It looks like the totally-revamped QB room will be a strength going forward.
In addition, recruiting of Broward County was very productive for the Minutemen during the Whipple I and Brown I coaching eras. It's good to see UMass getting results in that talent-rich area.
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This article covers Hairston.
This article focused on Broward county recruits has a section on Hairston.
QB's are the heart of offense and FBS schools like to recruit at least one per recruiting cycle. Hairston threw for over 5500 yards and 55 TD's during the last two years. He had a over 70% completion ratio and only 14 INT. Besides UMass, Hairston had a Power Five offer from "The U" and Western Michigan from the MAC.
The SEC voted to retain 8 conference games and four non-conference contests.
UMass is scheduled to play three SEC teams next year (2024). If the SEC had voted the other way, there could have been a real scramble for replacement opponents.
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The 2023 Athlon College Football Magazine is out.
They rank UMass dead last at #133 and predict a 1-11 season.
For the three MAC teams UMass plays in 2023, Athlon predicts Toledo to win the MAC East and the MAC championship. They predict Eastern Michigan 2nd in the MAC east and Miami to win the MAC west.
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Colorado will be getting some major TV time in 2023.
Have you seen the Buffs schedule? Colorado plays TCU, Nebraska, Colorado State, Oregon, USC and Arizona State in the first half of their season. There could be some interesting press conferences if the Buffs open 1-5.
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Boston College releases TV and starting times for some of their 2023 games.
Should be an interesting season for the Eagles. Last year BC played two non Power Five opponents (Maine and UConn). This year they play four (Northern Illinois, Holy Cross, Army and UConn). In addition, they swap Notre Dame for ACC bottom-feeder Georgia Tech. Also they play Miami, a quintessential warm weather team in Boston on November 24th. So, this is as good a schedule as it gets for BC.
Athlon predicts the Eagles to go 5-7 win one ACC win.
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UConn to the Big 12 talks are ongoing. The Hartford Courant says the Huskies banner year puts them in elite company.
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Josh Schreiber continues his breakdowns of potential QB starters for UMass. This time it's Tyler Phommachanh. At 6-4 Phommachanh looks like a Power Five QB and he probably will start. Josh thinks Phommachanah could be the Minutemen's best FBS QB, but he probably never saw Andrew Ford or Blake Frohnapfel play.
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The New Mexico State and Auburn games will be on ESPN, so there will be a potential national audience.
Penn State's UMass game announcement.
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Former UMass assistant coach Bill McGovern has died of cancer at age 60.
McGovern had two coaching stints with UMass: 1987-90 and 1992-93.
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