Game Day--Georgia Southern 2020

 Today UMass kicks off the 2020 season. As usual, the Minutemen are doing things the hard way playing a team with three games under its belt. I expect UMass to have some trouble with execution and assignments. Still, I'm looking for improvement in most areas.

i.e.

1. Quarterback play. You remember Randal West gave us 20 minutes of ecstasy against Rutgers. He got flushed out the pocket in the second period, ran down the sideline, came up limping and left the game. After that he was never the same. Andrew Brito has a cannon arm, but could not see over the OL and repeatedly threw into double coverage. Mike Curtis played well in one game and never hit the same level again.

    I'm looking for a QB who looks like he's an FBS QB. Since it's going to be the first game for whoever starts, I expect some first-game jitters, but I'd like a guy who some command of the offense and moves the team. Last year UMass was #125 in team passing efficiency.

2. Rushing offense. Last year the Minutemen were #114 rushing offense. We've never been above #100 in our eight years in FBS. Being able to run the ball usually means your offense looks good and helps the QB. 

3. Rushing defense. The Minutemen were dead last in rushing defense in 2019 (by a huge 40 yards-a-game margin). Run-offense heavy GSU is a tough team to start against, but I want the UMass defense to look competitive. GSU is currently 3rd in FBS in rushing offense with 299 yards/game. The Eagles are #53 in total offense with 387 yards of total offense a game. Keeping them in the 400's would be a real improvement. 

Anyway, I want to see a lot of players get reps. Today is a building block for 2021.

Go UMass!!!

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Mike Moran of the Gazette says the UMass defense is ready to contend with GSU's triple option.

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GSU will wear its "away" uniforms today to help out UMass who's road uniforms have not yet been received.

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The Action Network's guy picks UMass to cover the spread.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the Georgia Southern game.

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UMass Football News--October 3rd, 2019

Josh Walfish has a post on the progress of James Bowe, Jr at safety and Claudin Cherrelus at linebacker.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a report and interview with 2020 LB recruit Mathieu Masse-Pelletier.

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The  Berkshire Eagle has a story on Mike Curtis' rise to the #1 QB.
53-329
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Last year against FIU the Minutemen ran for 34 times for 199 yards, which was the fourth-most rushing yards the Panthers gave up in 2018. However, FIU ran for 53-329, which was a season high for the Panthers. For the second straight year, FIU scored 63 points on the Minutemen.

This Saturday it would be a goal of the Minutemen defense to contain the Panthers rushing attack and stop those long breakaway runs that killed UMass last year. At least slow the Panthers rushing game down.

Some ball-control offense would also help keep the score manageable.

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Hustle Belt has five things learned from the UMass-Akron game.

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After nearly three years of working without a contract, Randy Edsell signs his UConn contract.

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UMass Football News--October 2nd, 2019

Josh Walfish reports via Twitter that Mike Curtis is listed as the starting QB against FIU, Randall West is #2 and Mike Fallon is #3. Andrew Brito is still out with a concussion. Fallon's 34 yard completion is the second longest pass this season. Fallon looked pretty loose when warming up to replace Curtis. He was laughing and joking with his  receivers.

Josh also has a report on how Coach Bell and the rest of the staff have changed practice to cope with injuries and a short roster.

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UMass has their game notes for FIU up.

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Sports Chat place previews the game and has FIU winning, but not covering the spread.

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The UMass Daily Collegian reports the Minutemen receiving corps are playing the game together.

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BYU QB Zack Wilson has surgery, but he might me back for the UMass game.

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Six foot five Liberty WR Antonio Gandy-Golden is setting records for the Liberty Flames. He was all over the UMass secondary last year. Gandy-Golden had 9 receptions for 205 yards and 2 TD's

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UMass Football News--September 29th, 2019

There were heroes everywhere. Mike Curtis led the Minutemen to the most points and yards of the year. He executed a nifty ball fake that allowed him to walk into the endzone. He ran judiciously and fit the ball into tight sideline passes. He moved the team. The science is settled.

The OL, consisting of all 2's, led the way to the most yards of the season. There were no problems with the snap or QB exchange. Mike Sullivan, Dalton Tomlinson and Helber Fagundes stepped in an did an excellent job.

Samuel Emilus and Sadiq Palmer made nice sideline catches with defenders draped all over them.

You run to win and Bilal Ally and the OL did that in the fourth quarter.

The Zips are a dreadful running team, but the defense insured they did not do better against UMass. The DL developed some pressure and Isaiah Rogers set an all-time UMass record with his third pick-six.

A really satisfying win against adversity. Bite me trolls.

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UMass write-up with stats and quotes.

Josh Walfish says Mike Curtis and a patched-up offense led the way to victory.

MassLive reports UMass picked up its first win.

Hustle said an injury and turnovers were too much for the Zips to overcome.

The Berkshire Eagle reports the Minutemen produced their first win of the season.

UMass Twitter feed with Coach Bell and the team after the game.

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UConn was blown out by UCF.

FAU handled Charlotte 45-27.

Coastal Carolina lost big to Appapachian State 56-27.

LA Tech beat Rice in overtime.

Liberty won their third in a row beating New Mexico.

Northwestern lost to #8 Wisconsin.

BYU lost at Toledo.

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And BC lost to undefeated Wake Forest.

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UMass Football News--August 26th, 2019

Mike Curtis reflects on his senior year.

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Josh Walfish reports the message of Coach Bell and his staff is resonating with recruits.

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The Berkshire Eagle says the UMass starting QB spot is going down to the wire.

Same deal at Rutgers.

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247Sports has college football's Week #1 TV schedule.

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The Herald has game predictions for BYU entire 2019 season.

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The Ashbury Park Press looks at how Rutgers students will reenact the first college football game prior to Friday's UMass-Rutgers tilt.

The Scarlet Knights acquire a transfer punter.

The Knight Report also takes a run at predicting the Scarlet Knights season.

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Inside NU predicts Northwestern's season. Everybody agrees UMass is a "lock".

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UMass Football News--August 12th, 2019

Blog Note: Mrs Blog and I are leaving today for two weeks in Nova Scotia. As usual, I'll try to keep the blog going. There will be one stretch of four days next week when I will not have internet access. We'll be staying in what is described as a "rustic" cabin at Cape Breton National park. No telephone, no TV and no internet.

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Josh Walfish has a notebook about UMass camp including the QB competition. UMass has seven QB's on the roster.

Josh reports Andrew Brito, Mike Curtis, Mike Fallon and Randall West took all the 7-on-7 and 11-on 11 offensive drills.

He also mentions 6-2 245 pound Adam Deese who has been moved to TE. That's a wide open position in the new offense.

Josh also mentions the good performance of freshman CB Josh Wallace. Wallace was ranked the #24 overall player out of Maryland by 247Sports. I think by the end of the season there will be a lot of new faces on the starting defense.

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Auburn senior RT Jack Driscoll has a video interview about the Auburn team. Driscoll is a UMass grad who played two years for the Minutemen.

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Liberty adds three OL verbals including three-star Brian Hannibal, who had a UMass offer.

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Vladimir Ducasse has been released by the Buffalo Bills.

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The Hartford Courant has notes from UConn's camp.

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UMass Football News--April 15th, 2019

UMass QB's from the the practice I attended. Click on the image and Blogger displays a larger view.

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Randall West

Mike Fallon

Jaret Pallotta

Mike Curtis

 I didn't get a shot of Josiah Johnson for some reason.


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Seven stars from Rutgers Spring game.

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Cougar Sports Insider predicts BYU's wins and losses after Spring ball.

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UMass Football News--March 27th, 2019

Image by Thom Kendall/UMass Athletics

The Boston Herald has coach Bell is bringing his enthusiasm to UMass Spring practice.

Josh Walfish reports Bell is making progress installing his offense.

Mike Curtis seems to be in the lead as starting QB so far. Curtis went 6-1 GP-GS 174.52 EFF 26-40-412 2 INT 65.0% 4 TD's in 2018. He actually led all the Minutemen QB's in efficiency (abet by a small margin).

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The UMass Football Twitter feed has some stills and video from the latest practice.

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Football Study Hall has the four main schools of the spread offense.

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Patriots Wire has a mock draft with New England picking Andy Isabella #37 in the third round.

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UMass Football News--March 19th, 2019

Josh Walfish has burning questions at the start of UMass' Spring football practices.

IMHO coach Bell and staff have the biggest rebuilding task since Molnar was fired. On offense, which was the team strength last year, Bell must replace the starting QB, the starting RB, the nation's best WR and and the entire interior offensive line. The return of Bilal Ally will help. Bel will have Mike Curtis who led UMass QB's with a 174.52 efficiency rating. UMass will also add Andrew Brito, a JUCO QB from the College of the Canyons. Brito was a Top-100 player from New Jersey in HS.

Development of the offensive line is more worrying. As I said in a previous blog post, the Minutemen have never finished above the #100 mark in rushing offense since the move to FBS. Jaylan Larry should start at center, but both guard positions are open. In addition to three starters UMass must find at least a couple reserves.

On defense the rebuild is even more total. The two top play makers in the front seven, Bryton Barr and Jarell Addo are both gone from a unit that finished in the bottom-five in any defensive category you wish to name. Last year's coaching staff struggled to put eleven players on the field. The 2019 UMass defense could be Isiah Rogers and ten new starters. Most of the defensive freshmen recruits will see playing time. It's going to take a couple of recruiting cycles before the Minutemen defense is re-stocked.

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Two Texas A&M-Commerce football players are shot and robbed during Spring break.

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UMass Football News--February 14th, 2019

Hudl.com image

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on JUCO QB recruit Andrew Brito ready to get started with the Minutemen.

Things should be wide open at the QB position in 2019 due to the change in staff and the move to the spread offense.

UMass returns only one QB with game experience in 2018.

Mike Curtis 6-1 GP-GS 174.52 EFF (highest among the 2018 QB's) 26-40-412 65% AVE 4 TD's 2 INT's 44 LONG.

Also on the roster:

Mike Fallon 6-2 195
Randall West 6-4 220
Jaret Pallotta 6-5 215
Josiah Johnson 6-5 210

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Fan Sided has college football's Spring Game schedule.

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2019 opponent Akron has added Youngstown State to their 2019 schedule.

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WVNews.com has getting to know Neal Brown.

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Hogs Haven says Andy Isabella could give the Redskins passing game a boost.

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ESPN has Northwestern #19 and Army #25 in this 2019 preseason Top-25 poll.

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UMass Football News--February 11th, 2019

Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle talks with Coach Bell about recruiting, weather and an uptempo offense.

Bell related the UMass playbook will similar to Coach Hal Mumme or Mike Leach's lots-of-reps-with-a-limited playbook practice philosophy.

Leach has successful with the Air Raid offense at Texas Tech and Washington State. Leach's Washington State bio. His Red Raider offense led the nation in passing yardage six times with four different quarterbacks. so it was the system, not player. In this system, the running back has to be able to catch the ball out of the backfield.

Coach Bell was asked about recruiting two QB's in 2019. He said he thought two of the current Minutemen  QB's would be leaving. Randall West is a red-shirt junior, so he could be on track to graduate.

UMass recruit Andrew Brito is 5-10 180. He  threw for 3,071 yards and 30 TD's at College of the Canyons. He also  rushed for 175 yards.

Garrett Dzuro is 5-11 200 pounds. He is a good runner who totaled 1,000 rush yards in his senior season.

Current UMass QB Michael Curtis could be the starter in 2019. His body type is similar to the players Bell recruited.

Jaret Pallotta and Josiah Johnson are both 6-5 body types favored by Whipple. However, Johnson ran the wing-t in high school so there is no reason why they could not compete in Bell's offense.

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URI head coach Jim Fleming complains about UMass poaching a couple of the Rams recruits.

Quote from the article:

“I’d love to go play UMass. Let’s go. You think you’re going to be better than us? Put ‘em on the schedule. I’d love to line up against those guys.”

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Thanks to the blog reader who sent me the Driscoll graphic.

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 Off Tackle Empire reviews Rutgers 2018 season and looks to 2019.

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UMass Football News--September 24th, 2018

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Josh Walfish reports Mike Curtis was successful in his first UMass start.

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Underdog Dynasty said an early surge carried UMass.

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The Niner Times reports Charlotte fell short.

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The Boston Herald said Whipple has confidence in all his quarterbacks.

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The Sports Chat place previews the UMass-Ohio game.

WOUB said the Bobcats coughed up a big lead over Cincinnati.

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In this week's AP Top 25, Georgia stays at #2, BYU is #20 and USF received 50 votes. BC not only fell out of the Top-25, they fell out "others receiving votes".

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UMass Football News--September 23rd, 2018

Well the Minutemen turned it on yesterday. The UMass defense out-hit Charlotte. They pressured the QB all day. When the 49ers completed a pass, the defenders were there. The defense had 4 sacks and we stopped the 49ers on four out of five fourth down attempts.

Bryton Barr had an epic day: 21 tackles, 4.0 TFL 1 sack.

Third string QB Michael Curtis engineered 42 points. He ran for 2 TD's and passed for two. When he ran he took good angles and did not get lit up at the end of the carry.

Marquis Young had a 94 yard kickoff return and averaged 6.2 yards a carry.

Click on an image and Blogger displays a larger view.

New Uniforms

The hair team

Coach McCall and the 2018 hoops team

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UMass write-up here.

Charlotte's write-up here.

Josh Walfish reports the Minutemen started fast.

The Daily Collegian said Mike Curtis willed UMass to win over Charlotte.

MassLive reports UMass ended a three-game skid.

Fox Sports said Curtis accounts for four TD's, beats Charlotte.

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Duquesne played Hawaii tough at Aloha Stadium.

Boston College's stay in the top-25 was brief as they were handled by Purdue 30-13.

Miami was up 31-0 and dominated FIU 31-17.

Ohio could not hold 21 point lead over Cincinnati.

Big plays pushed USF past East Carolina.

Undefeated North Texas crushed Liberty 47-7

BYU ran over FCS McNeese State 30-3.

Georgia used turnovers to defeat Missouri 43-29.

UMass Football News--September 17th, 2018

Josh Walfish has UMass football notes. He said Minutemen third-string QB Mike Curtis earned mixed reviews for his performance against FIU. UMass did ring up 199 yards rushing. Jordan Fredericks is currently 18-129 7.2 AVE. He has zero runs for a loss. Maybe he should get the ball more than an average of six carries a game.

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No line yet on UMass-Charlotte.

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Underdog Dynasty says FIU fired on all cylinders and steamrolled UMass.

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The Miami Herald reports FIU pummeled the Minutemen.

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BC broke into the AP Top-25 for the first time in 10 years .

The AP poll has Georgia #2, BYU #25 and UCF received 12 votes.

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The New Haven Register has five thoughts from the Huskies 56-49 win over Rhode Island. UConn gave up 550 yards of offense and five drives of 70 yards or more to the Rams.

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UMass Football News---July 17th, 2018

There's a new version of the 2018 roster (dated July 9th) up.

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UMass will be deep in quarterbacks this fall.

Seniors:

Andrew Ford RSSR 11-10 GP-GS 151.05 EFF 223-353-4 63.2% 2924 yards 22 TD's 69 LONG 265.8 yards/game. Ford was 18th in FBS in passing EFF and 24th in passing yards/game.

Ross Comis RSSR 10-2 GP-GS 131.57 EFF 49-87-1 56.5% 646 yards 4 TD's 69 LONG 64.6 yards/game. It'll interesting to see how Whipple integrates Comis into the offense. If he came in when it's 3rd-and-7, the defense could not assume the Minutemen would throw the ball, like they would with Ford.

RSJR

Randall West 0-2 GP-GS 0-2 passing.

Michael Curtis 0-1 GP-GS no passing stats.

RSSO

Mike Fallon DNP in 2017

Freshmen

Jaret Pallotta 6-5 205

Josiah Johnson 6-5 197.

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Duquesne adds five FBS transfers to their 2018 squad.

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This article features Don Brown and his  family and coaching career.

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UMass Football News--April 14th, 2018

Click on the image and Blogger displays a larger view.

Matty Vautour reports on the Spring Game. Perhaps the biggest news is that starting right tackle Jack Driscoll is leaving.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has re-cap of the game.

The UMass website has a story on the game.

My take:

• Syracuse transfer Jordan Fredericks looks like the real deal. He looked fast and powerful. The UMass running game looks like it will be improved in 2018.
• The UMass offense in general appears to be the best team we have had since our move to FBS. This squad is deep at QB, RB and WR.
• QB Michael Curtis displayed a nice touch on his throws and looked fast when he ran the ball. I think he'll be in the mix for 2019.
• Jesse Britt was used at both RB and WR. He's real athlete.
• Walk-on WR Jovann Tucker looked like a find. He displayed good hands and some serious speed.

I think UMass fans have reason to be optimistic in 2018. We should score a ton of points.

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UMass Football News--April 11th, 2018

Thomas Johnson of the UMass Daily Collegian features UMass QB Randall West as West will get a lot of reps during the Spring game.

Johnson reports Andrew Ford is only expected to play two series and Ross Comis is being held out because of an injury.

QB Mike Curtis was MVP of the 9th Spring practice. Curtis threw for 2,311 yards and 24TD's in his one year at Trinity College. He could be in the mix for 2019.

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Matty Vautour has a post about Brice McAllister returning to Western Mass as a possible starter at Safety.

The Minutemen should be deep at Safety. In addition to McAllister, UMass has a number of players with game experience.

Bakhari Goodson Junior 12-0 GP-GS 19 UA 9 AT 28 TT 5 PD's

Micah Morel SO 2-0 GP-GS

Claudin Cherrelus SO 2-0 GP-GS

Martin Mangram JU 12-0 GP-GS 3 AT

Tyler Hayes SR 12-12 GP-GS 30 AT 23 AT 53 TT 3.0 TFL 5 PD 1 FR

Tyler Lebeau SO 11-0 GP-GS 8 UT 9 AT 17 TT

Hayes and McAllister would give UMass a strong Safety position.

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BTW, the closing of Mt Ida means the end of Mustang Football. Mt. Ida went 3-4 in the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference. The Mustangs placed 13 players on the ECFC All-Conference team.

Always sad to see a program closing.

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UMass Football News--April 27 2018

AP image

Matty Vautour reports UMass QB Andrew Ford looks to improve in 2018.

Ford finished #13 in passing efficiency in 2017. He was #24 in passing yards per game and #37 in passing yards. I believe two of his four INT's were off the hands of a receiver. UMass was #127 in sacks allowed last year (only Idaho was worse). Ford tends to hold the ball too long, but he needs a better run game and better offensive line blocking. The Minutemen gave up five sacks and were out rushed 148 to 100 yards against Maine.

Also on the Minutemen roster:

Ross Comis SR 10-2 GP-GS 49-87 646 4 TD's 1 INT, also ran for 187 yards and 3 TD's

Randal West RSJR 2-0 GP-GS 0-2 passing.  Became a fan favorite after walking on to the UMass hoops team and playing well.

Michael Curtis RSJR 0-1 GP-GS.

Mike Fallon RSSO.

The Minutemen also signed two three-star QB recruits.

Josiah Johnson 6-5 197

Jaret Pallotta 6-5 205.

The Minutemen appear to be fairly deep and talented at QB. It would be nice if UMass could integrate Comis' mobility into the offense more. The two freshman QB's were fairly highly rated pro-style players. The QB position looks like there is enough talent that UMass won't have a huge falloff in 2019.

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CBS Sports picks BYU as one of five teams likely to improve by at least two wins in 2018.

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Sporting News has the places and dates for the 2018 college playoffs.

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UMass Football News--December 5th, 2017

Matty Vautour has an article about UMass football having an interesting off season.

He mentions the possibility that UMass defensive coordinator Ed Pinkham could get an offer from another staff. While UMass could not match a Power Five offer, the Minutemen currently do not have a "assistant head coach". UMass could offer him a raise or extension and the assistant head coach title. I would hope UMass could keep him. The two best wins of 2017, and they were the two best wins of the program in the FBS era, were Appalachian State and BYU. Both games were defensive gems.

Matty mentions the Minutemen will have six QB's on the roster if no one leaves. Andrew Ford has already said he's staying. Ross Comis, Randall West and JUCO Mike Curtis are currently on the roster. UMass adds Jake Pallotta and Josiah Johnson.

Matty says Whipple stated he's received some feelers about grad transfers and is looking at some JUCO's on defense and punter.

He mentions possible breakout players for 2018. Jordan Fredericks joins the running backs.

Chinedu Ogbonna and Jake Byczko will be available for the defensive line. Ogbonna played in eleven games in 2017 and Byczko in twelve. Byczko had 23 TT and three TFL. Ogbonna had 10 TT.

At linebacker, Mike Ruane and Cole McCubrey will complete for playing time. McCubrey had 14 TT and appeared in eleven games. Ruane appeared in ten and had one tackle.

Claudin Cherulis, Xavier Steele and Tyrus Lebeau will be available at Safety. Steele appeared in seven games and five TT. Cherulus and Lebeau redshirted.

Chris Hunt and Brian Roberts will join the cornerbacks.

Brian Abosi joins the offensive line.

Zak Simon, Silky Brown and Melvin Hill will join the receiving corps.

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The UMass Daily Collegian has a post about Whipple's extension.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2018-- Jaret Pallotta verbals to the Minutemen

Julie Vennitti image

While I was away UMass received its first verbal of the 2018 recruiting season. Jaret Pallotta, a 6-5 200 pound pro-style QB from Canton, Ohio.

247Sports two-star recruit.

Hudl.com has video.

Partial quote from a 03/30/17 article from Scout.com by Michael McCammon:

"As a junior, the 6-foot-5 Pallotta threw for 18 touchdowns with a school record 2,041 yards to earn All-League, All-County and All NEO Inland District honors."

Mike Traini has a post on "Fight Massachusets" on Palotta's verbal to UMass.

Just yesterday (good timing from the blog's point of view) The Surbanite has an article on Pallotta verbaling to the Minutemen.

Friday Night Ohio has a story from November of 2016 that features Pallotta.

Pallotta chose UMass over an FBS offer from Western Kentucky.

FBS teams usually recruit at least one QB per recruiting cycle. UMass added JUCO Michael Curtis for 2017.

Palotta needs to grow into that 6-5 frame. He looks like a player with a big upside. This is a good start to the 2018 recruiting class.