Wednesday--May 25, 2011

The CAA's Season Preview is out.

Last year at the preseason Media Day, the assembled CAA brain trust picked UMass 8th in their preseason poll. The Minutemen returned only eight starters in 2010, second lowest in the league.

Lets see how things look this year. Blogger does not do columns, which would make the following easier to read.

The CAA sorted by number of returning starters for 2011.

1. Old Dominion---returns all 22 starters from 2010. Record in 2010 8-3. This year will be the first year playing a full CAA schedule
2. James Madison--returning 8 on offense and 10 defense. Total 18. Record 6-5 in 2010
3. Maine--Returning 8 on both offense and defense. Total 16. Record in 2010 4-7.
4. Rhode Island--Returning 10 on offense and 6 on defense. Total 16. Record in 2010 5-6.
5. UMass--Returning 7 on offense and 9 on defense. Total 16. Record in 2010 6-5
6. Towson--Returning 7 on offense and defense. Total 14. Record in 2010 1-10
7. Willian & Mary--Returning 7 on offense and defense. Total 14. Record in 2010 8-4.
8. Richmond--Returning 8 on offense and 5 on defense. Total 13. Record in 2010 6-5.
9. Delaware--Returning 7 on offense and 3 on defense. Total 10. Record in 2010 12-2.
10. Villanova--Returning 5 on both offense and defense. Total 10. Record in 2010 9-5.

 No CAA team will have as few starters returning as did UMass in 2010. However, two of the stronger CAA programs, Delaware and Villanova have significant rebuilding tasks in 2011.

William & Mary with 14 returning starters probably will be the top vote getter in this year's Media Day.

UMass, Richmond and JMU look like the teams who could make a jump up in league standings.

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Off topic: Philly.com says Bruiser Flint would be a good fit for Penn State basketball.

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BC blog "BC Interruption" says the Eagles could be 6-0 by Judgement Day.

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Three FCS teams will be banned from post season play in 2011 because of low APR scores and ten more will lose scholarships.

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I'll be back tomorrow with some recruiting news as UMass has offered to a big OL from Florida.

Tuesday---Dec 14th, 2010

Nice human interest story about UMass standout Anthony Nelson in the Hampshire Gazette.

Relevant quote by UMass professor john Stifler from the article:"I've almost always been impressed by the UMass football team's attitude toward its students' academic responsibilities. Once or twice I've tried to teach a player who was at UMass only for football and had no clue or no motivation when it came to the classroom. All the others, even if they didn't have Anthony Nelson's academic aptitude, have shown up on time (or early) and contributed to the educational quality of the place. When one like Anthony comes along, it's an extra pleasure."

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This is the fourth straight year the CAA has had two of the final four teams. More info in the CAA's weekly press release.

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The Eastern Washington Eagles game against Villanova just became more difficult as their star running back Taiwan Jones broke his foot in the game against North Dakota State.

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Former UMass football player Dick "Bear" Riley passed away on December 6th. The UMass website has the story here.

According to my UMass press guide Riley won letters in 1958 and 1959.

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Kyle Havens and John Griffin are on Josh Buchanan's latest top 100 FCS NFL prospects list.

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Friday---Dec 10th, 2010

Four JMU football players have been charged with felonies resulting from an assault last month.

One of the players, Peter Rose has a UMass link. It was UMass that requested Virginia Tech release him from his scholarship back in 2008. My blog post of July 11th, 2008 has more info about Rose as well as a blog reader report on a UMass recruit named Tyler Holmes.

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Jeromy Miles gets some accolades for his work on the Bengals special teams.

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This article mentions Trae Weathers, who is being recruited by UMass.

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UNH is out to clear a big hurdle in the playoffs.

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Oregon police are seeking a Duck fan who set fire to his own stadium's field turf by burning an anti-duck T-shirt.

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A look at the CAA South after half the 2008 season

The 2008 season is half over for most CAA teams. While the meat of the conference schedule is still to come for the majority of CAA teams, it's possible to get picture of who's hot and who's not in the CAA South so far.

In the CAA South:

• UP---James Madison. The Dukes are 4-0 in the league and 6-1 overall. JMU is #1 in the league in both scoring offense and rushing offense. Rodney Landers is having a Stacey Tutt kinda year and Scotty McGee is the best special teams player in the counrty. With only four games to go in their regular season, the Dukes look like a lock for the playoffs and a #1 seed. An away game at Villanova seems to be their only chance for loss.
• UP---Villanova. The Wildcats are 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the league. The Wildcats lead the league in rushing defense giving up only 91 yards/game. They do have six league games left and get JMU, UNH and Towson at home. There has been a QB controversy between Anton Young and Chris Whitney. Villanova should be favored against Rhode Island, Northeastern and Delaware away. A 4-2 final and a playoff slot is certainly doable.
  
• UP--- William & Mary. The Tribe is 1-1 in the league and 3-2 overall. They should be favored over Delaware, Rhode Island, Towson and Northeastern. They probably need beat either Richmond or JMU to be considered for the playoffs. The Tribe's defense was last in the CAA in 2007 and they have moved to the middle of the pack in 2008.
• Unchanged----Richmond. The Spiders were picked by many FCS pundits to win the CAA this year. Richmond's two league losses put them in a tight spot for the playoffs. The Spiders should be favored against Georgetown, Hofstra and Towson. They do have to play at UMass and at William & Mary. Two losses would very likely mean no playoff bid. One loss could be trouble depending on how the league plays out.
• Down---Delaware. One year after going to the National Championship game, Hen fans are jumping ship in droves. The Hens are 9th in the league in scoring and total offense. Hen QB Robby Schoenhoff has been having a terrible year .The Hens managed just 41 yards rushing against Maine last Saturday. Delaware has had a lot of injuries and suspensions . At 0-2 in the league and 2-4 overall, the Hens are in big trouble. They probably will be favored only over Hofstra and Towson in their final six games.
• Down---Towson. The Tigers are 1-2 in the league and 3-4 overall. Towson should be a sold underdog to UNH, William & Mary, Delaware, Villanova and William & Mary. Sean Schaefer recently broke the 10,000 career passing yards mark. Outside of Schaefer, there's not much talent in Towson.

JMU and Villanova are looking good for playoff slots at this time. The winner of the Richmond-W&M contest on the last game of the season will probably decide if the CAA gets three playoff teams from the South.