More UMass Army Stories

The Springfield Union has a UMass-Army game article here.

This link is to a pre-season write-up on Army. The Army game notes are far more current, but it's fun to read. Note that the "prognosis' section says Army has a couple of "Softies" in UMass and Arkansas State...

Matt Vautour has a couple of articles at the Hampshire Gazette's UMass Sports page

Road trip part IV

All set up to see my fourth away UMass game of the season. Got tickets. Got reservations. Getting up REALLY early Saturday morning and driving to West Point.

The US Military Academy has an extensive web site here . Enjoy.

Matt Dougherty on Week #11

Matt Dougherty does his usual excellent job of reviewing the state of I-AA in his Week #11 playoff dreams and nightmares

Story on the Hatchell brothers

The Springfield Union has an article on Jason Hatchell RSo. LB 6-0 224 and his brother John Hatchell RJr. DL 6-2-270.

Both players have been major contributors on the UMass Defense.

Jason leads the UMass defense in tackles after coming back from a torn ACL. John is the strongest player on the UMass squad with a near 500 pd bench press and has been a force at NT.

More Army information

Army has more UMass-Army game information up. Read the Army coach's sports luncheon quotes here (worth reading)

Army also has some game day activities (including retiring Army legend Glenn Davis' jersey) described here.

Both UMass and Army have their game notes up.

UMass' version is here (with a link to the PDF version)

Army has extensive notes here (also with a PDF link)

Stoetzel returns

Attached are links to three articles (registration required for the Hampshire Gazette, but worth it).

I have to give primacy to the article by Matt Vaouour on the return of UMass Captain Colin Stoetzel against Delaware. Stoetzel Sr. 6-6 290 had missed all his senior season with a knee injury. If he can play and play effectively, it will be a huge boost for the UMass offense.

The Gazette has another UMass-Delaware game article here. The Springfield Union has another Delaware game article .

Liam Coen for A10 Rookie-of-the-Year

So far in 2005 Liam Coen has been A10 Rookie-of-the-week three times. That's more than any other competitor.

A10 Rookie of the Week

Sept. 4 - Anthony Orio, QB (NU)
Sept. 11 - Jake Phillips, QB (WM)
Sept. 18 - Joe Casey, RB (URI)
Sept. 25 - John Sperrazza, QB (NU)
Oct. 2 - Sean Schaefer, QB (TU)
Oct. 9 - Sean Schaefer, QB (TU)
Oct. 16 - Jake Phillips, QB (WM)
Oct. 23 - Joe Casey, RB (URI)/Liam Coen, QB (UMass)
Oct. 30 - Liam Coen, QB (UMass)
Nov. 6 - Liam Coen, QB (UMass)

The contenders:

Liam Coen QB UMass (three times)
Jake Phillips * QB W& M (twice)
Sean Schaefer QB TU (twice)
Joe Casey RB URI (twice)
Anthony Orio QB NU (once)
John Sperrazza QB NU (once)

* W&M is the only school in the A10 without linkable bios. The link is to a roster list.

PASSING AVG/GAME Team Cl G Att Cmp Int Pct. Yds TD Avg/G

Sean Schaefer....... TU FR 9 293 183 13 62.5 2264 15 251.6
Liam Coen............. UMASS FR 8 210 135 3 64.3 1758 10 219.8
Jake Phillips.......... WM FR 8 139 90 3 64.7 1197 10 149.6

RUSHING Team Cl G Att Yds Avg TD Yds/G
Joe Casey........... URI FR 9 183 1071 5.9 5 119.0

My take on who's in the lead would break down this way (counting not only stats, but the player's impact on his team's success)

1. Coen (contending for playoff game and three weekly honors)
2. Schaefer (contending for a playoff game and two weekly honors)
3. Casey (leads the A10 in rushing, two weekly honors)
4. Phillips (two weekly honors)

Update 11/08/05

This article (registration required) by Matt Vautour of the Hampshire Gazette shows great minds think alike.

Update 11/09/05

I should have mentioned Coen did not only win the A10 Rookie-of-the-week award, but also the Boston Sportswriters "Gold Helmet Award" given to the best football player in New England.

The Boston Globe has an article here.

Coen wins third in a row

I predicted Saturday (scroll down) that UMass QB Liam Coen would win his third consective A10 Rookie-of-the-week award, so it happened today. Click on the "Awards" tab.

I won't repeat his weekly stats. His 2005 stats are here.

Army wins second in a row

Next weeks' opponent Army won their second game in a row over Air Force yesterday.

The write up is here.

Playoffs Part Deux

This link from the AGS Board has a breakdown of I-AA playoff standings. As you know, this year the minimum number of wins for consideration for the playoffs is seven division one wins (DII wins do not count towards the seven wins necessary for playoff eligibility)

That leaves six A10 teams in contention. As I said in my earlier post UNH is probably a lock for at least 9-2 (Maine is playing better, so that could be a tight game).

Richmond may have a tough game against surging Towson. William & Mary is fading.

UMass took the first leg of the trifecta with a great win over Delaware. UMass needs wins over Army and Hofstra for a home playoff game. One win out of two should give them a ticket to the dance and a road playoff game...

More UMass-Delaware game articles

That's Steve Costello putting the wood to Delaware WR Armand Cauthen.

The Boston Globe has a write-up here.

The Springfield Republican is here.

Delaware Online has an aritcle from the Hens perspective here .

How sweet it is.

UMass routs Delaware 35-7 at Newark.

If Liam Coen is not the A10 Rookie-of-the-week for the third straight week, then something is rotten in the Atlantic 10. Coen went 21-26 for 318 yards and 1 TD. Can't get much better than that.

The UMass writeup is here .

Delaware's is here.

The Hampshire Gazette has an article here.

And yes, Delaware was the first away game I missed this year.

However, I've already received Army tickets. Look for UMass-Army images next Sunday.

Delaware game articles are up.

Late Friday, the Delaware Athletic Dept. finally posted their game notes.

The Springfield Union has an article here.

As does Matt Vautour of the Hampshire Gazette here.

Delaware On-Line has a well done article from the Hens perspective here.

UMass on TV

This saturday's 1:00 pm game with Delaware will be televised on CN8.

It will also be available through CN8's internet feed here .

UMass' game with Army at Noon on Nov. 12 is going to be telecast on ESPNU. ESPNU's home page is here.

Making the playoffs.

Division 1-AA differs from I-A in having a championship tournament. There have been calls to rename I-AA the "Championship Division" while I-A would be the "Bowl Division". Whether or not the name change ever comes into effect, the main goal of play in I-AA is to make the playoffs and compete in the National Championship game.

There are only three games left in the 2005 regular season, it is time to consider who is in and who is out of contention for the playoffs.

Matt Dougherty of The Sports Network has a tour-de-force article on I-AA playoff potentials here.

My own take on the A10 chances for playoff teams is as follows:

Out of contention are Rhode Island, Maine, Northeastern and Delaware.

Mathematically possible are JMU, Townson and Villanova. All these teams have three A10 losses. Each would need to win all their remaining games and also get some help with some losses from the front runners.

In the Catbird seat is New Hampshire. At 7-1 the Wildcats close with @Hofstra, Iona and Maine. UNH outclasses all three of those teams and play two at home. Maine is a rival and has turned up its offense lately. Hofstra has a dangerous offense. However UNH would have to loose all three to be out of the playoffs. Even one loss would give the Wildcats a home game for the playoffs...

Surprisingly, the Richmond Spiders may have the next easiest road to the playoffs. One loss will eliminate them, but they should easily out class VMI and Towson. Their season ending game against William & Mary should determine if they make the dance.

UMass only has two losses, but has by far the toughest end-game. The Minutemen play all three final games on the road against three tough opponents. UMass is 2-12 against Delaware in Newark. A game against I-A Army @ Army will not be easy and we close against high powered Hofstra. UMass has a loosing record (3-5) overall against the Pride. To get a home playoff game UMass must sweep all three games. One loss puts UMass on the road for the playoffs. Two losses and we are out.

William & Mary and Hofstra still have a shot at the playoffs. Each has three losses already, so each must win all their remaining games. Hostra has the tougher road with #1 UNH, #8 UMass and Northeastern (which can score a lot of points). The Tribe closes with JMU, Delaware and the pivotal game with Richmond.

My call:

1. UNH (a lock)
2. Richmond (this year's surprise team)
3. UMass (just barely)

Update 11/4/05.The Springfield Union has an article on sorting out the A10 playoff chances here

Update #2. Dave Coulson of I-AA.org has an article on making the playoffs here .

Delaware game notes and articles

UMass has its game notes up here (with a link to PDF version)

Delaware does not.

The Springfield Union has a game article here. As does Delaware On-Line here.

Update 11/3/05: Still no game notes available from Delaware

More articles on the UNH game

The Springfield Union has an article here.

Matt Vautour has two articles on the game at the Hampshire Gazette UMass Sports Page here. (Registration required, but worth the aggravation).

Matt Dougherty of the Sports Network saw the game in person. He was impressed by both teams. Read his impartial account here.

On Sports Blogging

Jason Fry of the Wall Street Journal describes how he got into Sports Blogging.

His comments on obsessively checking your blog certainly ring true :)

While The UMass Football Fanzone does not get 14,000 hits/day like his pro baseball blog does, we do seem to have developed a UMass Football community.

Check out this article in a New Zealand newspaper quoting the trade paper Adage.com that last year 35,000,000 American workers wasted 551,000 work days reading Blogs and other online non-work related sites...

Coen earns second straight A10 Rookie-of-the-week

UMass' Redshirt QB Liam Coen earned his second straight A10 Rookie-of-the-week (click on the "Awards" tab) for his performance against UNH.

Against the Wildcats Coen:

• Tied an all-time UMass passing record with 401 yards
• went 31-50 2TD's
• currently has a 140.58 efficiency rating and has completed 62% of his passes
• Has 1440 passing yards in only six games
• On track to get > 2000 yards passing in 2005 despite not playing in the first game of the season.
• Should be a strong candidate for the A10's Rookie-of-the-Year.
• His full stats are here .