Wednesday--June 6th, 2012

Matty V. says Hafis Williams and Michael Cox are officially Minutemen.

UMass Athletic Dept news release on Williams and Cox here.

Jeff Thomas says William and Cox will join 70 Minutemen who are staying in Anherst this summer to participate in the team's off season conditioning program.

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Michigan is not happy about playing their contract game at UConn in front of 40,000 people.

The Wolverine's AD is Dave Brandon. Hey Mr. Brandon! UMass has beautiful Gillette Stadium. 68,756 seats! Mr. Brandon! Over here! We'll take a twofer contract!

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Speaking of UConn, SB Nation Blog says the Huskies are fending off the malaise.

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Phil Steele has an article on teams he expects to do better and to do worse in 2012. Indiana, Central Michigan and UConn are up teams. Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Ball State are down teams.

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OT, but Yahoo Sports says UMass hoops gets a favorable A10 schedule next year.

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Recruiting 2013--Kyle Chung

Chung #84/ 247 image

Rivals.com reports that UMass has offered to Kyle Chung, a 6-4 255 pd TE from Ponte Verda, FL.

Chung's Rivals page here.

247 Sports proficle here.

Chung has offers from Temple, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Maryland, Virginia (recruited by Jimmie Reid) and Western Kentucky.

Tuesday---June 5th, 2012

As you know, I'm an amateur astronomer. It looks like it's going to be cloudy in New England for the Transit of Venus latter today. Astronomy Picture-of-the-Day will have live streaming video of the event. Don't miss it. The next transit isn't until 2117. Wonder how UMass football will do that year?

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The Worcester Telegram reports that Holy Cross is adding Jeff Wiley to its Ring-of-Honor. The story tells of Wiley setting a Crusader record of 438 yards (the UMass press guide says 446) against UMass in McGuirk. Wiley still holds the McGuirk opponent passing yards record. I was at that game and it started some bad blood between UMass and the Cross. UMass fans and coach Reid were not upset at the 54-10 score, it was the fact that Heisman Trophy candidate Gordy Lockbaum was still in the game late in the forth quarter. If I remember right,  he scored the last Holy Cross TD.

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The ESPN NFL East blog reviews the Giants receivers.

 Relevant quote for UMass fans" :"With due respect to New England's Wes Welker, there was no team in the league that got from its slot receiver position what the Giants got last year from Cruz."

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Although he won't be playing football for UMass, the Fall River Herald News has a nice human interest story about future UMass student Alex Reid.

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Recruiting 2013--Lemond Johnson

Image credit unknown

Rivals.com reports UMass has offered to Lemond Johnson, a 6-1 190 pd athlete/defensive back from Cooper City, FL.

Johnson's Rivals page here. Note that he is being recruited for UConn by Don Brown and for Maryland by Keith Dudzinski.

This article features Johnson.

This late May article updates his recruiting.

Johnson holds offers from 20+ FBS schools.

Monday--June 4th, 2012

Wikipedia image

Good morning from rainy Jaffrey. The Blog's sister resides in Eugene, OR. She likes to tell the old joke about life in Eugene. "Oregonians don't tan----- they rust!".

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 NFL.com says Victor Cruz was critical to the Giants.

The NFL East Blog has Victor as a "match-up buster"

You can get a Victor Cruz autographed mini-helmet for only $250.00.

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Brandon London and the Allouettes kicked off training camp yesterday.

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Sean Smalls is on the roster of the Toronto Argonauts.

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Brandon Collier is on the roster of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

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I thought this article was an interesting recap of Mario Manningham's clutch catch against Patriots in the Giants Super Bowl win. It highlights all the adjustments teams make in the course of one play.

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Recruiting 2013--Luke Helms

Rivals.com reports UMass has offered to Luke Helms, a 6-2 228 pd ILB from Tallahassee, FL.

Helms' Rivals page here.

Helms has offers from FBS schools Memphis, Western Michigan and Florida Atlantic as well as a number of FCS schools.

Sunday--June 3rd, 2012

A CT Post.com writer tries to end conference jumping by envisioning a conference draft. UMass is chosen by the Big East at the very end of the article.

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Berry Tramel ranks the Big Ten's schedule and forgets (or didn't know), UMass is in FBS this year.

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The Hartford Courant has an article on the status of UConn football. The Huskies open their season on August 30th against UMass.

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Phil Steele ranks college football teams by "power factors" one of which is the number of upperclassmen in their two deep. UMass is ranked #36 based on 21 seniors and juniors starting.

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College football coaches have long had performance bonuses built into their contracts. Now performance bonuses are being added to athletic directors salaries.

Recruiting 2013--A. J. Coney

Orlando Sentinel image

Several sources say UMass has offered to A.J. Coney a 5-8 160 pd athlete from Oviedo HS in Florida.

This article features Coney.

NCSA recruiting profile here.

UMass is Coney's first offer.

Being recruited by UMass Offensive Coordinator and QB coach Mike Kruczek.

Saturday--June 2nd, 2012

Good morning from a rainy and gloomy Jaffrey.

The UMass football page has one of those sidebar video segments about a photo shoot for the Alumni Magzine. Note the new MAC conference patch on the Minutemen unis.

Remember that the UMass uniforms are supposed to be redesigned for the move to FBS? Anyone notice that the UMass helmet in the countdown box looks strange?

It looks silver with a single maroon stripe...

This is the best blogger can do with the cut-and-paste.

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The Notre Dame blog Blue and Gold Illustrated has an article on Deion Walker's move to UMass.

Jeff Thomas has a short article on Walker and Williams.

ESPN has a list of Irish fifth-year players and where they will play in 2012.

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Opposing Views.com looks at the 2012 Buffalo Bulls and interviews Buffalo Blogger Bull Run. He sees the Bulls as a being favored against the Minutemen this year.

For the historical record, UMass and Buffalo have played 9 games with the Minutemen coming out on top 5 times. The last meeting was in our National Championship year of 1998 and Whipple's men smoked the Bulls 51-27.

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Jimmie Reid's son Matt Reid is assistant Head Coach with Army baseball.

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Friday---June 1st, 2012

The NBC blog "Inside the Irish" has another report quoting Matty V about transfers Williams and Walker.

In 2003 we had a transfer from Indiana named Colin Christopher. His body frame was a lot like Hafis Williams. Christopher was very successful in his one year with  the Minutemen, making the 2003 A10 All-Conference team.

Back in 2010 Matty V. wrote an article on UMass' All-Transfer team. Christopher was on it.

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Phil Steele has another entry in his daily blog, this time about percent of team tackles returning in 2012. UMass is #31 on the list of 124 teams with 74.76% of our 2011 total returning.

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Keeper's College Football rankings has the 2012 % returning for all units in each 2012 team .

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College Football News predicts the bottom 12 teams in 2012 and says the Minutemen are dead last with a predicted 0-12 record.

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National Sports rankings has the 2012 edition of their computer schedule simulation up. The simulation even predicts the box score (click on "results").

The computer was kinder to UMass than College Football News,  predicting a 2-10 season for the Minutemen when I ran the simulation.

 Massachusetts (2012)     19          Connecticut (2012)     40   
Indiana (2012)     25          Massachusetts (2012)     12
 Massachusetts (2012)     29          Michigan (2012)     50  
 Massachusetts (2012)     36          Miami (OH) (2012)     44
 Ohio (2012)     38          Massachusetts (2012)     19
 Massachusetts (2012)     18          W. Michigan (2012)     33
 Bowling Green (2012)     38          Massachusetts (2012)     27
 Massachusetts (2012)     9          Vanderbilt (2012)     44
 Massachusetts (2012)     31          Northern Illinois (2012)     37
Massachusetts (2012)     24          Akron (2012)     23
 Buffalo (2012)     32          Massachusetts (2012)     41
 Central Michigan (2012)     25          Massachusetts (2012) 12

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Strange things happen when you are a football blogger. Yesterday I received a card in the mail from Georgia State asking me to join the Panthers football booster club.

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OT, but Sports Illustrated has a basketball recruiting news article that mentions UMass offering to a couple of recruits.

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Two Notre Dame transfers-- May 31st, 2012

Matty V. says UMass is ready to add two transfers from Notre Dame and one from Michigan.

We've already talked about Wolverine transfer Michael Cox.

New to the transfer list is Hafis Williams a 6-1 295 pd SR nose tackle. Williams Notre Dame bio here. He played in 19 games for the Irish and had 13 career tackles.

This article features Williams.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty image

Listed as a "probable" transfer is Deion Walker, a 6-3 206 pd WR from Christchurch, VA. His Irish bio here. Appeared in 5 games for Notre Dame with one catch for 15 yards.

This article features Walker.

South Bend Tribune has a story of Walker and Williams' transfer to UMass.

Matt Cashore image

Welcome to both. UMass has had some highly successful transfers in the past. UMass fans wish them a great senior season with the Minutemen.

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Recruiting 2013--Vontarius West

Rivals.com reports UMass has offered to Vontarius West, a 5-11 170 pd CB from from Bartow, FL.

West's Rivals page is here.

 

West holds offers from Ball State, Florida International, Houston, Iowa State, Memphis, South Florida, Western Kentucky and Western Michigan. 

Wednesday--May 30th, 2012

The MAC Blog "Hustle Belt" has a post on the best four seasons in UMass football history.

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Victor Cruz's NFL jersey is # 18 in overall sales ranking.

Giants 101 says the injury to Hakeem Nicks may cause the Giants to move Victor Cruz to the outside.

Bleacher Report looks at the best 20 value players and finds Victor as #18.

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ESPN Boston says James Ihedigbo's shoulder injury is still holding up his re-signing with the Patriots (near end of article).

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Brandon London is apparently still with the Montreal Alouettes. Wasn't there a press release he had signed a NFL free agent contract?

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Tuesday--May 29th, 2012

Nice story about Travis Tripucka trying to make the Rams by STLtoday.com.

"I could have gone to Notre Dame, but I'm really glad I stuck with U- Mass because I did things at UMass that I never would have been able to do at Notre Dame," Tripucka said. "It was a great experience for me."

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CBS Sports has a blog entry on the 10 toughest schedules in FBS. It mentions UMass, but the Minutemen are not included in the list, although our OOC schedule should have given us honorable mention.

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Niland #64/ Jeff Gamza image

Former UMass OL Greg Niland is playing for the Pittsburgh Power. Niland's Power bio here.

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The MAC Blog "Hustle Belt" ranks the MAC teams by the number of Phil Steele preseason All-Conference players. We're ahead of Akron.

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Athlon Sports' UMass page.

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Phil Steele has a blog post on % of offensive yards returning. With UMass losing most of its receiver corps and Jonathan Hernandez, the Minutemen rank #100 nationally.

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Recruiting 2013---T.J. Armstrong

Image credit unknown

ESPN reports UMass has offered to T. J. Armstrong, a 6-2 222 pd DE from Clarion-Limestone HS in Strattanville, PA

Armstrong's ESPN page here.

NCSASports.com profile here.

Armstrong's Rivals page here.

He was the district's defensive player-of-the-year.

Besides UMass, Armstrong has offers from Buffalo and Temple. Drawing interest from a number of Eastern schools.

Memorial Day--2012

The UMass football program will has its annual Golf Classic in June.

The Football Golf Classic is June 22 at Wachusett Country Club in West Boylston. The event starts at 10:30 a.m. and will conclude with a dinner and awards ceremony, along with a preview of the 2012 season from head coach Charley Molnar.

 
 Official UMass announcement here.

UMass Football Golf Classic application form here (.pdf download).
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The Union Leader discusses the state of the CAA from UNH's perspective. At the end of the article it says there have been no discussions with UMass about continuing the UMass-New Hampshire rivalry as an FBS-FCS game.

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The Patriots have done their annual player numbers update. James Ihedigbo did not have his number reassigned, so that's probably good news for him.

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Sunday--May 27th, 2012

Phil Steele has a chart on his blog listing the number of returning lettermen vs letterman lost. UMass comes in a #44 nationally with 42 lettermen returning, 17 lost, 71,19% 59 total. The Minutemen come in on the lower range of total letterman because of the lower number of scholarships in FCS. As Phil Steele notes there is also a wide variation in how schools award letters.

Rankings for teams on UMass' 2012 schedule are:

• #10 Central Michigan
• #19 Ohio
• #27 Buffalo
• #28 Miami of Ohio
• #36 Bowling Green
• #39 Northern Illinois
• #58 Indiana
• #67 Michigan
• #69 Vanderbilt
• #94 Akron
• #102 Western Michigan
• #110 UConn

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Football Scoop has a story and a link to a USA report on athletic director's salaries. They missed John McCutcheon. Vanderbilt who is on our OOC schedule this year, had the highest paid AD ----- David Williams at $2.56 million.

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Jim O'Conner/ US Presswire image

Rant Sports says with Hakeem Nicks injured, Victor Cruz is now the #1 receiver for the Giants.

ESPN New York says Cruz is adjusting to his new status with the Giants-----as a veteran.

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The Seattle Times has a nice human interest story about former NFL and MAC QB Jon Kitna's new gig as a high school math teacher.

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Saturday--May 26th, 2012

Fos Sports has an article about conference realignments and  "rivalries replaced" mentions UMass and the MAC.

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We've all felt that UMass' offensive line is one of the units that the Minutemen are most FBS-ready. Phil Steele has a post giving the national rankings of offensive lines by the number of career starts returning in 2012. The Minutemen are #20.

That would be:

• LT Anthony Dima RSJR 6-7 310
• C Quinton Sales RSSR 6-2 290
• RG Stephane Milhim RSSR 6-5 310
• LT Nick Speller RSSR 6-5 334

Malcolm Speller SR 6-4 300 was the listed backup to Josh Samuda on the two-deep last year.
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The Delaware Blue Hens are wondering what they should do if any more changes hit the CAA.

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How will the Big East's media deal play out? The league thinks it could be as high as $130 million, but CBS Sports thinks the league could take in as low as $60 million.

If the Big East is low-balled, SB Nation thinks that could trigger more realignments in the East.

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OT, but Fox Sports Midwest says adding Butler and VCU make the A10 a conference on the rise.

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SEND THEM TO SOUTHWEST

Massachusetts cows crash party,  bully guests and drank their beer.

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Recruiting 2013--Jacob Barchard

ESPN.com reports UMass is interested in Jacob Barchard, a 6-2 198 pd WR from Lawrence, MA.

Barchard's ESPN page here.

NCSA recruiting profile here.

Also drawing interest from South Florida and West Virginia.

Friday-- May 25th, 2012

Nubble Light

I didn't get to go to the "Meet and Greet" with coach Molnar last evening because Mrs Blog and I didn't get back from Maine until late. The shot above is of York's iconic Nubble lighthouse taken with Mrs. Blog's little point-and-shoot. Click on the image for a larger view.

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Bleacher Report discusses Michigan's defensive line. Mentions UMass.

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Seacoast online says it's uneasy times for UNH sports with the changes in the CAA.

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Opposing views.com looks at the prospects for Akron in 2012. If UMass is going to win some (any) games this year, the Zips are probably the most likely prospect.

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A Bleacher Report (what would a football blogger do without them), has a slide show on the best football coach of all 127 FBS team. Their pick for the Minutemen----Don Brown.

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