Tuesday--March 31st, 2015

Jean Sifrin's March 30th 2015 Pro Day.

Dan Malone reports Jean Sifrin improved most of his previous stats from the NFL Combine. Sifrin ran an unofficial 4.75, which was a full .1 of a second faster than his Combine time. That would have put him 3rd among TE's at the Combine.

Matty Vautour reports on UMass players trying to impress scouts at Pro Day. Daniel Maynes did 35 reps in the bench press.

Besides Sifrin, other UMass seniors and former players participated: Stanley Andre, Daniel Maynes, Quayshun Smith, Alex Kenney and Brian McDonald, former Minutemen Galen Clemons, Antoine Tharpe and John Griffin.

WWLP gets the number of UMass players previously drafted by the NFL wrong, but reports on UMass Pro Day.

The UMass Daily Collegian reports on Pro Day.

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Former UMass player E.J. Barthel has been named Director of Recruiting at Rutgers.

Another story about Barthel's appointment here.

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Former UMass player Tracey Belton is playing for the New Orleans Voodoo.

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Wednesday -- October 30, 2013

The biggest ass-whipping we've taken since we went FBS? Michigan? Nope. Vanderbilt? Nope. Indiana? Nope ----- it was Northern Illinois. Last year UMass lost to the Huskies 63-0. The Minutemen just could do nothing with NIU. The Huskies totaled 610 yards of offense and averaged  8.1 yards/play.

NIU scored a TD the first eight times they touched the ball. The UMass offense had three fumbles and an INT. The Minutemen turned the ball over on downs four times.

This year NIU could be even better.

Dan Malone says the Minutemen are again faced with trying to contain Jordan Lynch.

Dan also has NIU coach Rod Carey talking about NIU's visit to Gillette.

Malone awards "Helmet Stickers" for Week #9.

Saturday's game will be picked up on a bunch of regional TV outlets.

College Football Performance Awards honored both Rob Blanchflower and Khari Bailey-Smith this week.

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The Chicago Tribune says playing in NFL stadiums is nothing new for Northern Illinois.

CBS Sports previews the NIU-UMass game.

The Global Post has a comprehensive team report on the Huskies.

Rant Sports predicts the MAC results for Week #10.

CBS Local looks at the teams with BCS Bowl potential. Hint--- one of them is NIU.

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I've never coached college football, but if it were me, I'd defense the Huskies like an option run team. I'd pull a linebacker and play an extra Safety. I'd task Khari Bailey-Smith or Antoine Tharpe with being Lynch's shadow...

Weekday MACtion is finally coming.

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More weird news from the football universe:

Did you know you now can invest in individual football players? I'm a life member of AAII. This is a cut-and-past from their weekly Investor Update newsletter:


  The financial services industry seems to have an endless reserve of ideas for how to make money for itself at the expense of investors. Among the latest of these ideas are an investment in a football player and bonds paying coupon payments with additional bonds. Oh boy....

The first is a tracking stock by Fantex Brokerage Services based on Houston Texans running back Arian Foster’s future earnings. He currently ranks fifth in total rushing yards; a hamstring injury he suffered in last week’s game lowered his season-to-date rank. Last year, Foster signed a $43.5 million contract, which included $20 million in guaranteed salary. Part of this guarantee was a $12.5 million signing bonus.

Fantex wants to sell 1.055 million shares, priced at $10 per share, in a tracking unit tied to 20% of Foster’s future income. Specifically, it is tied to Foster’s future earnings derived from his persona as a football player. If he should do something else, such as write a children’s book or become a musician, those earnings would be excluded. If Foster’s earnings diminish enough in the future, the tracking stock may convert into Fantex Inc. Platform common stock. Foster’s stock will trade on Fantex’s website and the company hopes to sign up other athletes in the future. A regulatory filing has been made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the company is waiting for the SEC’s approval.
There is a long list of questions to be asked, with the biggest being: What is Foster’s future earnings potential? The average career of a NFL player is about three years, but Foster is in his fifth year and has so far displayed all-star talent. Running backs, on average, peak at age 27, but some remain very good players after this age. Injuries, however, are a real concern and are unpredictable. How marketable Foster is to national advertisers and what his career will look like after he is done playing is also questionable. Forecasting the future earnings of emerging companies like Telsa Motors (TSLA) and Twitter (TWTR) requires a tremendous amount of guesswork; forecasting Foster’s future earnings is even harder.

New York University professor Aswath Damodaran attempted to calculate the fair value of Foster’s stock and came up with a price of $6.11 per share. He then adjusted his calculations to factor in injury probabilities and determined a fair value of $5.07 per share. The details behind his assumptions are on his blog; it’s an interesting analysis from both a valuation and a football perspective.


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Sunday--October 13, 2013

Justin Anderson

First. I want to congratulate the UMass players. Did you see how happy they were? Losing is tough on fans, it's even worse on players. All that work and nothing to show for it. May they have many more wins in their future.

The game itself, was an eerie copy of last year's win over Akron. The Minutemen have won two games in FBS and the defense has won them both. The UMass "D" held the Red Hawks to 290 total yards and 1-11 in the third downs as well as 1-3 in fourth downs. Like Joey Colton's INT last year against Akron, Khary Bailey-Smith's second INT against Austin Boucher sealed the game. The third straight gutsy game by UMass' defense won the day.

Take a bow UMass fans! Remember all the media coverage of the attendance at Gillette? Think there will be any mention on how good the turnout has been given the fact UMass is 2-17 over the last two years?

Band Day attendance:

• 2010 McGuirk 12, 121
• 2011 McGuirk 11, 736
• 2013 Gillette 21,707

If we start to win, I stand by my belief UMass can draw 30,000 to Gillette.

There were a couple of shadows on the win. The UMass offense struggled against the weakest FBS defense on the planet. A.J.Doyle threw two INT's one of them stopping a scoring drive on the opening possession. Blanchflower's wining TD came on what should have been a third INT. We again were out punted by a substantial margin 47.6 to 34.8 AVE. We went 1-3 on field goals.

Inside the 40, we need to think about banging Jamal Wilson into the line four straight times...

And can we please keep Justin Anderson in the Game? He stopped Miami all by himself on one series and then promptly spent nearly the rest of the first half on the sidelines. Play that kid every down!

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Miami's write-up on the game.

Notes, quotes and video from the UMass website.

The Republican Sports desk says UMass defeats Miami 17-10.

Dan Malone has Khary Baily-Smith helps UMass win the day. BTW, I thought the ejection on Anton Tharpe was bogus. They replay showed he hit the Miami receiver in the shoulder.

I stand corrected. I try to write my impressions of the game before reading the press reports. Dan Malone comments on 2013's attendance at Gillette.

The Gazette has Khary Bailey-Smith has a career day vs Miami.

Matty Vautour says UMass savors its first Gillette win.

The Boston Globe reports UMass gets first win.

The Boston Herald said it was reason to celebrate.

The UMass Daily Collegian said the opportunistic Minutemen sealed the victory.

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BC lost to Clemson.

UConn lost to UCF to go 0-6.

Wisconsin crushed #19 Northwestern 35-6.

Kansas State fell to Baylor 35-25.

Bowling Green lost by one to Mississippi State.

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All the MAC scores and stats.

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Tuesday-- October 16th, 2012

Matty V. has some updates on the status of injuries and academic suspensions.

Starters possibly out for the Bowling Green game:

• Jamie Casselberry OL (medical)
• Nick Speller OL (academics)
• Rob Blanchflower TE (medical)
• Antoine Tharpe CB (Medical)
• Alan Williams WR (academics)

Non-starters questionable are:

• Jamar Smith RB (academics)
• Galen Clemins DL (medical)
• Greg Hilliard LB (medical)
• Iric Harris DB (medical)

The missing five starters are a big hit to the Minutemen team. If Casselberry and Speller are out, the UMass offense line will starting two true freshmen, a circumstance that would cause most coaches to blanch and walk away muttering. Blanchflower, Williams and Tharpe have been playing well. The two receivers were a big part of the Minutemen's near upset of Ohio.

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Harry Plumer looks at the contributions of true freshmen defensive backs Trey Dudley-Giles and D'Metrius Williams.

Plumer also takes a look at defense in the MAC. This week's opponent Bowling Green leads the league is scoring and total yards defense.

BTW, UMass is a 17 1/2 point underdog according to Vegas.

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The Toledo Blade says Bowling Green's offense is shedding a slow start.

MAC Conference Insider says Terry Bowden is waiting for Akron's hard work to pay off.

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UMass-Vanderbilt will be on Fox Sports Net TV. That would probably be Fox Sports South.

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Bleacher Report has the MAC #9 in conference power rankings.

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Brandon London has some quotes after the Larks loss to lowly Winnipeg. 

Dario  Ayala image

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UMass-Ohio image album

I've put up a image album of the UMass-Ohio game on Picasa. The link is here.

The long focal length and the low light made hand holding a challenge. I left in a couple of images with some significant blur, but it kinda gives the image some feel of action.

Click on the images and Blogger will display a larger view.

Antoine Tharpe goes for the block

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UMass Depth chart for UConn

UPDATE:  The 2012 roster is up.

UPDATE II: Ahhh, maybe somebody from football needs to compare notes with whoever is working on the roster. It does not list Blake Lucas or Rob O'Connor and most of the recruits and transfers have no bios.

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Matty V. has a post on UMass' depth chart for the UConn game.

The following is a cut-and-past from part of the article with links added by me.

"Offense

QB- Mike Wegzyn - A.J. Doyle will back him up.

WR- Alan Williams - He'll also play some running back, but he's a starter at receiver
WR - Deion Walker and Tajae Sharpe are still battling a bit to see who'll start, but both will play.
WR - Marken Michel - No surprise here.
TE - Rob Blanchflower - Derek Beck will be the No. 2 at least until Brandon Howard is healthy

RB - Chris Burns, Michael Cox and Jamar Smith are all in the mix to play at running back, which one will start has yet to be determined.

"Jamar Smith has really come on in the last couple of days," Molnar said. "He put himself in the competition. He deserves to have a shot to run out there for the first snaps against UConn."

C - Quinton Sales
Tackle - Nick Speller, Jamie Cassleberry and Stephane Milhim will all play tackle, which ones will start is uncertain.
Guards - If Milhim doesn't start at tackle, he'll start at guard. John Wallace and Michael Boland are competing for the other. Both will play.

DEFENSE

"We're rotating eight guys for the four spots on the defensive line. The four healthiest guys will probably start," Molnar said.

DE  - Stanley Andre, Ryan DeLaire, Kevin Byrne, Brandon Potvin will all see the field in some rotation.
DT - Chaz Thompson, Galen Clemons, Hafis Williams and Daniel Maynes - Same as at end.

LB - Perry McIntyre, Tom Brandt, Greg Hilliard will start. - Tim Brandt. D.J. Adeoba. Jovan Santo-Knox. Rob O'Connor, Leo Krizanovic could all see the field.

S - Darren Thellen, Christian Birt - Ed Saint-Vil is a likely backup here.
CB - Randall Jette and Antoine Tharpe will start. Trey Dudley Giles and D'Metrius Williams will play. "I can see all three of those guys playing."

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Some surprise missing names: Chad Hunte (58 TT in 2011) and Anthony Dima (11 games played in 2011). Hurt?

Eleven transfers or true freshmen mentioned in the above depth chart, if I counted right.

Saturday -- July 18th, 2012

Matty V. has a report on the Minuteman's latest scrimmage.

Mentioned are Alan Williams at both RB and WR.

True Freshman Tajae Sharpe drew praise from Molnar.

The UMass kicking game was one of the weakest (except for kick returning) units in 2011. The Minutemen finished at or near the bottom of the league in field goal percentage (last), PA percentage (10th) and  punting average (8th).

Matty V reports that true Freshman Blake Lucas is neck and neck with Brandon Levengood for kicking.

Jeff Strait is competing with JUCO Colter Johnson.

Coach Molnar mentioned Antoine Tharpe, Brian Dowling, Mike Cox, Jamar Smith and true Freshman Stacey Bedell as returners.

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Emil Igwenagu is in his own position battle in the Eagles preseason camp.

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Micah Taylor writes for Yahoo Sports how UMass became the Minutemen.

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SNY will televise the UMass-UConn game August 30th.

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Temple thinks they'll do better in the Big East the second time around.

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NorthJersey.com says Victor Cruz is hoping for another big day against the Jets.

The Republic reports Cruz and the Jets have a history.

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Brandon London had four catches for 91 yards against the Eskimos last night.

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Wednesday--May 9th, 2012

MassLive's Jackson Alexander looks at the UMass secondary and sees a team strength.

Mentioned are safeties Darren Thellen and Christian Birt as well as Antoine Tharpe , Randall Jette and Ryan Carter.

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I missed this post on the UMass website about Coach Molnar visiting the UMass Club in Boston today between 5:30 and 7:30 PM.  Boston area alums will have a chance to hear him speak about UMass football.

There is also a video sidebar at the above site about the 2012 graduating UMass seniors.

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Fox Sports Midwest has a post about the 23 undrafted free agents of the Rams including Travis Tripucka.

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ESPN Boston has a long post about Massachusetts high school football and mentions UMass' move to FBS and stated intention to recruit Bay State kids.

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Centre Daily mentions UMass in Penn State's coming OOC schedule.

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Sunday---May 6th, 2012

MassLive's Jason Alexander has a story about who will replace Jesse Julmiste in kick returns. Mentioned are Brian Dowling, Marken Michel, Christian Birt and Iric Harris.

The same group plus Antoine Tharpe are in the mix for punt returner.

Alexander also says Perry McIntyre is looking for a breakout year.

Alexander looks at the Minutemen's switch to a 4-3 defense.

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Delaware Online looks at the Hens situation in the CAA. A possible move to a FBS conference, including the MAC, is discussed.

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If you are having trouble remembering all the conference realignments, Phil Steele has an updated conference affiliation chart.

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The New-Sentinel wonders if Notre Dame's football season is already doomed.

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OT, but UMass basketball added to what was a good recruiting week for Minutemen by signing basketball guard Derrek Gordon. College basketball is a guard-oriented game. An All-Conference guard gives you the most impact for your bucks. If Coach Kelloge can string together some good years in a row, it would make UMass sports a more attractive package in future conference realignments.

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Thursday---April 19th, 2012

Matty V. has a story about new defensive coordinator Phil Elamassian's take on the defensive progress this spring.

I had tried to check what defensive scheme Elamassian prefered, but could not find a reference at any of his previous jobs. Matty reports we are switching back to the 4-3.

Elamassian praised DB's Antoine Tharpe, Christian Birt and Darren Thellen. Also drawing praise were Perry McIntyre and Greg Hilliard.

Hilliard is the one name that UMass fans have not heard a lot about.  In 2011 he went 10-0 GP-GS 5 UT 3 AT 8 TT 0.5-3 TFL 0.5-3 Sacks.

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A couple of more posts from BC Interruption on the end of the Commonwealth Classic and the future BC Vs UMass football schedule.

As Coach Molnar says --- UMass wants to be "New England's team".  BC is simply helping by scheduling itself out of New England.

I stand by my prediction that BC will find a reason not to play UMass after the first time we beat them.

BTW, the Eagles drew 200 fans to their spring game.

Boston.com has a story about BC dropping UMass.

Relavent quote for UMass fans:

What BC apparently does not want is another possible loss. It got one against UMass by a resounding 82-46 margin last November.

The Minutemen posted a 25-12 overall record and reached the NIT semifinals before losing to Stanford. BC finished with a 9-22 record and lost to North Carolina State in the first round of the ACC tournament.

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ESPN has a story about Temple's survival.

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Tuesday--April 3rd, 2012

Remember last year we had problems early in the season due to injuries in the defensive backfield. There were 13 DB's on the 2011 roster.

The 2012 Spring roster has 10 DB's

• Christian Birt RSJR 10-2 GP-GS, 24 UT 7 AT 31 TT 1-6 INT4 BKUP
• Ryan Collins JR 7-0 GP-GS 3 UT 2 AT 5TT
• Iric Harris RSFR Redshirted
• Randall Jette RSFR  Redshirted
• Mike Lee RSJR 3-3 GP-GS 8 UT 1 AT 9 TT 2.0-12 TFL
• Ed St-Vil RSSO 9-8 GP-GS 28 UT 7 AT 35 TT 1.5-4 TFL 2 BKUP 1 FF
• Quayshun Smith SO 7-1 GP-GS 5 UT 1 AT 7TT
• Antoine Tharpe JR 9-9 GP-GS 25 UT 6 AT 31 TT 2.0-3 TFL 7 BKUP
• Darren Thellen DBSR 11-11 GP-GS 42 UT 26 AT 68 TT 5-178 INT 3 BKUP

Counting dual position recruits, there are five possible DB's in the 2012 recruiting class

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UMass has spring practice update here.

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Matty V reports on new UMass Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy. The article mentions football. Subbaswamy's  bio here.

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Akron QB Patrick Nicely has left the Zips and is looking to transfer. Nicely's bio here.

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Friday--October 7, 2011

Matty V. says UMass QB Kellen Pagel is questionable for Saturday's game with CCSU. Pagel did not practice this week.

Ed Saint-Vil is also questionable. The Minutemen hope to have Antoine Tharpe back at near 100%.

UMass has its game notes for the Blue Devils up (.pdf download).

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InsideNova.com has an article featuring UMass freshman DB Iric Harris.

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ProJo.com looks at James Ihedigbo's impact with the Patriots. Ihedigbo's Patriots bio here.

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The CAA has its weekly league press release up. The release has all of Saturday's game information.

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The Concord Monitor looks at this week's UNH-Villanova game.

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The NY times looks at the ramifications of TCU leaving the Big East. It discusses the Big East going to a basketball-only league and mentions Atlantic 10 teams Dayton, Richmond and Xavier joining.

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Thursday---September 29, 2011

Good news and bad news from Matty V. Mike Lee might be out for the season. Antoine Tharpe and Courtney Jackson should be back for the Old Dominion game. Ed Saint-Vil will miss that game, but should be back in another week or so.

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Then there is some great news! Money for the renovations of McGuirk has been approved! The new field house, offices and training facilities will make a big impact on UMass' ability to recruit and complete at the FBS level.

It will also enable UMass to schedule one or two games a year on campus.

More on the $3.1 Billion capital improvement budget for UMass.

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The UMass Daily Collegian has another article on the Minutemen's 2012 schedule.

The Collegian also looks at the Old Dominion game.

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UMass Athletic Dept

This article features UMass Hall-of-Fame member Rene Ingoglia. If you didn't get a chance to see him play, you missed a special athlete. Ingoglia played during some lean years for UMass in terms of scholarships and support for UMass football. You have to wonder what kind of numbers he would have generated if he had played for Coach Whipple.

Ingoglia had 4,624 career rushing yards with 21 games over 100 yards. Eighteen times in his career he out-rushed the entire opposing team.


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Rick Pitino says UConn moving to the ACC is "The dumbest thing he's ever heard".

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Sean Shapiro has TSN's "In the FCS Huddle" column that previews week #5 and predicts a Old Dominion win over UMass.

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Sunday--September 18, 2011

Worcester Telegram image

Matty V says Jonathan Hernandez and Kirk Nelms led the Minutemen to a win over the Rams.

Matty V also has some news and notes from the game.

Nate Owen of MassLive has more plus a photo gallery.

Providence Journal says the Rams faded in the fourth quarter.

The Worcester Telegram says Jonathan Hernandez ran past the Rams.

The Boston Globe says UMass had the finishing touch.

The Boston Herald says UMass ran past the Rams.

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The UMass strength-of-schedule continued to improve as Holy Cross beat Harvard. Ryan Taggart passed for 324 yards against the Crimson.

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CCSU won over Wagner to run their record to 2-1.

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A couple of UMass 2011 opponents are having ugly seasons.

Monmouth recorded a "historic" victory over Villanova.

And things went from bad to worse as Boston College lost to Duke. The Boston Globe says BC is feeling blue.

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Thoughts about UMass' game last night.

• FBS baby! UMass's jerseys had the players names on them for the first time since the seventies.
• Kellen Pagel, who was starting his first game, had a rough first half and then seemed to get a handle on the game in the second.
• Two of the long bombs that the Rams scored on were correctable. The first was a totally blown assignment on Rhody's initial TD. Then when the Rams scored their third touchdown the UMass DB had the coverage and then appeared to miss-time his leap in going for the interception. If you're defending in your own endzone go for the pass breakup first.
• Jonathan Hernandez, right now, is playing as well as any running back we've had here.
• The UMass defense held the Rams to 57 yards rushing.
• The Minutemen kicking game was seriously not good as the Minutemen missed an extra point, Brandon Yelovich shanked a kickoff out-of-bounds, Jeff Strait averaged 28 yards/punt and the holder muffed a snap on a field goal attempt.
• Antoine Tharpe would've helped in the UMass secondary.
• The UMass band didn't have quite the snap it did before. The 1812 Overture without the cannons?

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Mrs blog and I didn't get in from Hawaii/the West Coast until 9:30 Friday night and then didn't return from Amherst until 11:30 last night. We're pretty time-zoned out. I'll be back tomorrow with some images from the game.

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Saturday--August 27, 2011

Matty V. has a story about the new 3-4 defense.

He states the defensive starters for 2011 will be:


Defensive line- Kevin Byrne DT, Chas Thompson NT, Galen Clemons DT

Linebackers-Courtney Jackson OLB, Tyler Holmes ILB, Perry McIntyre ILB, Shane Viveiros OLB.

Cornerbacks-Mike Lee, Antoine Tharpe

Safeties- Christian Birt SS, Darren Thellen FS

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The UMass Football "Together We are One" outreach will continue on September 8th in the Merrimack Valey.

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Football Game Plan has a 13 minute video preview of the CAA.

The CAA will have  live streaming video of the weekly CAA coaches conference this year.

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TSN previews the Northeast Conference and picks UMass' opponent CCSU to be NEC champs.

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Busman's holiday. While I was in Eugene, I managed to watch a little of the Ducks' practice. Click on the image for a larger view.

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Thursday--August 11, 2011

A new version of the 2011 UMass football roster is up.

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Monday's "Blue Shirt" winners were RB Alan Williams, WR Jesse Julmiste, and DB Antoine Tharpe (second award for Tharpe).

Video recap from Coach Morris and interview with the players here.

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Matty V. has three stories on training camp:

He looks at position battles at WR mentioning Tom Gilson. Marken Michel, Elgin Long and Jarius Bentley. He also looks at RB's behind Jonathan Hernandez and mentions Alan Williams, Jamar Smith (good name) and Pitt transfer Chris Burns.

Matty has a story that features Gilson's journey from walk-on to possible starter.

Since Cary Correia has move from point guard to DB, Matty looks at where the rest of the basketball team would play.

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The BC blog "BC Interruption" has Part II of their series on UMass' upgrade: "Can UMass Recruit?".

Yes Boston College, we can.

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Chris Koepplin gets a mention in this story about the Pats training camp.

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A number of links concerning Victor Cruz:

Cruz (as well as a number of other WR's) are on Eli's mind.

The Wall Street Journal says the Giants need Cruz as a slot receiver.

Steve Smith (good name), signed with the Eagles, so that opens another place for Cruz.

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Brandon London is featured in this story from The Suburban.com.

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The CAA Blogger has a story on Maine QB Warren Smith (good name).

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Tuesday--August 9, 2011

Video from Sunday training camp.

Coach Morris recaps.

Perry McIntyre interview.

Antoine Tharpe interview.

From Monday:

Jamar Smith and Edward Saint-Vil won the blue jerseys.

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Matty V has two articles: 2011 is a transition year for key positions at UMass.

Kellen Pagel and Brandon Hill are the front runners in the battle for starting QB.

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Boston College blog "BC Interruption" runs the first of a couple of essays on UMass' move to FBS.

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The Bleacher Report says you should add Victor Cruz to your fantasy football team.

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CAA News.

Depth will be the key for UNH.

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CSI Manchester

It was like a totally amazing coincidence.

Police said Sarah Lafungula, 20, of Manchester was driving along Mammoth Road shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday when she struck her ex-fiancé with her car.

Monday--August 8, 2011

Video of Coach Morris on Day Three of training camp. Two defensive players won the blue jersey, LB Perry McIntyre and, I think, DB Antoine Tharpe although the video was chopped off.

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Boston College opens camp.

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This story mentions former UMass player E.J. Barthel.

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Three WR's for the Richmond Spiders left the team before training camp started.

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CSN has announced its FCS Pre-Season All-America team.

They also have updated the FCS Consolidated Pre-Season rankings page.

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A growing part of college football's revenue stream-------beer.

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Friday--June 17, 2011

The CAA administrators have ruled on UMass' record in the CAA this year:

"In CAA Football, it was decided that the University of Massachusetts, which is in the process of transitioning to the FBS level, will not be eligible for the CAA Championship in 2011, but its players will still be eligible to receive pre-season, weekly and post-season awards. The Minutemen’s official conference record will be recorded as 0-0 and it will not occupy a spot in the CAA Football standings. However, the game results will be reflected in their opponents’ conference record. CAA Football will have 11 members this season with the addition of Old Dominion University. Georgia State University will join CAA Football in 2012".

They will also sponsor NCAA legislation allowing five seasons of eligibility for football. Not sure what they mean by that. Be able to use four years of playing in any five year time period without a medical redshirt?

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Former UMass assistant coach Bob Shoop is now the defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt. Shoop's Vandy bio here.

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Nice work by UMass Football Blog readers who took over the "BC Interruption" hate index poll last week. It produced this response by that blog:

"Last Week's Relegation: UMass -- So the Minutemen's stint on the BC Interruption Hate Index was quite short-lived. Unfortunately, a pro-UMass crowd got hold of the Hate Index last week and with a late voting surge, ran away with last week's relegation poll. No matter. I suppose it's just as well that we don't waste any more words on the Minutemen, seeing as they pale in comparison to BC in football, hockey, basketball, sailing, baseball and pretty much every other collegiate sport out there. "

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The Maryland blog "Terrapin Station" has a profile of Coach Dudzinski.

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Bleacher Report has one of those lets-rearrange-all-the-conferences stories and places UMass in a hypothetical "Northeast Conference" .

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UMass athletics has a page in which you can vote for the "Play-of-the-Year". Two UMass football plays: Antoine Tharpe's big hit against JUM and Ryan Carter's 97 yard return against Maine.

Vote early and often!

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Brandon London caught six passes for 67 yards and a TD in an Alouttes' preseason game.

Sun-Sentinel image

 Image from London's modeling career during his time with the Dolphins.


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Sunday--May 1, 2011

Click on image for a large view

UMass' writeup on the Spring Game.

MassLive.com has a story on Bowling Green transfer Kellen Pagel and asks if he will be eligible in 2011.

WWLP22 covers the game.

Ron Chimelis says the team will have to find its own motivation for the 2011 season.

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My notes:

I'll add the usually cravat on Spring games. Everyone was playing at about 4/5 speed and some players are usually wearing the wrong number. Forgive me if I mis-identified someone.

After all the nervous tension from the upgrade, everyone seemed fairly relaxed and happy to out on the field. The same mood applied to the crowd, which was about the same as last year.

I toured the new UMass football offices. They're nice---and empty. No one's moved in yet.

Vladamar Brower (who's coaching HS in Springfield) and 2011 QB recruit Mike Wegzyn attended.

Amazingly, I did not see anyone on crutches.

The following players were wearing jerseys, but were not in pads  and DNP

• Chade Hunte
• Bill Nesselt
• Giddons Rateau
• Julian Colarusso
• Domonic Wooten
• Rob Blanchflower
• Caleb Violette

Both Kellen Pagel and Brandon Hill looked good at QB. Hill was moving well for a player that had missed half of the spring training session. Both QB's showed good velocity.

 Ryan Carter had an INT. Pitt transfer Chris Burns only had 2 carries. He did have on nice block on a rushing defender.

On offense, Anthony Dima was at LT. Jesse Julmiste was the "Y" receiver with the first team offense and Tom Gilson was in the slot.

On defense, it looked to me that the first team consisted of the following:

• Galen Clemons DT
• Kevin Byrne NT
• Brandon Potvin DT
• Perry McIntyre ILB
• Tyler Holmes ILB
• D.J. Adeoba OLB
• Courtney Jackson OLB
• Mike Lee CB
• Antone Tharpe CB
• Christian Birt S
• Darren Thellen S

Added to the Spring Game, but not on website roster was James Gilchrist DT.

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Hope to have a web albumn up tomorrow.