Wednesday--September 12th, 2012

The UMass website has a transcript of Coach Molnar's MAC teleconference.

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Matty V has Elija Barrows will be Denard Robinson for this week.

In injury news (from Matty's article) Anthony Dima will be definitely back. True freshman Dalvin Battle may start for Marken Michel if he's unavailable Saturday.

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MassLive's Ron Chimilis, a charter member of the half-empty guys, looks at UMass' transition to FBS after two games.

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GoBlue.com interviews UMass' John McCutcheon.

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Michigan is looking to stiffen its defense after two lack luster efforts.

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The Michigan game will be a homecoming of sorts for Michael Cox.

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Victor is set to return to Cruz control.

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Tuesday--September 11th, 2012

Some good news: Darren Thellen received two honors for his play against Indiana and I got some of my editing functions back on Blogger.

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Matty V has three stars vs Indiana.

Matty also has the Big Ten vs the MAC. UMass, Central Michigan and Miami all lost big.

Former Michigan running back Michael Cox is ready to play his old teammates.

He also has growing pains pay off in the end. Matty says Anthony Dima and Christian Birt will be back for the Michigan game. Both those players will help. Getting Dima back will help UMass now that we're finally getting close to some MAC games--games in which we should be more competitive. Even the MAC schedule is front-loaded with the winnable games at the end of the season.

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Fox Sports says Michigan gets a much needed tuneup.

SB Nation says Michigan over UMass by the Wolverines largest ever point spread.

Michigan looks for answers about their shaky run defense.

Michigan's offensive line also looks for a better performance.

Michigan Coach Brady Hoke discusses Michael Cox and their performance against Air Force.

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Harry Plumer has more on the big UMass-Michigan point spread.

Plumber also said the atmosphere was solid around Gillette.

He reports that the UMass offense improved, but is not exactly clicking.

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The MAC Blog "Hustle Belt" has the MAC TV games this week.

Hustle Belt UMass blogger Mike Paquette reports on the Indiana-UMass blowout.

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The Vanderbilt Blog "Anchor of Gold" reports on how the Commodores looked against Northwestern---bad.

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The Middletown Press has one word for Don Brown's defense---dominant.

After two games UConn's defense is #3 in the country in total defense.

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Recruiting 2013-- Western Massachusetts

Is Western Massachusetts becoming a football recruiting hotbed? The Republican Sports desk takes a look. Article mentions UMass several times.

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Monday -- August 10th, 2012

Mrs Blog and I will be at a cabin on a lake for most of this week. , there should be WI-FI, but you never know. I will continue the blog as usual unless I have connection trouble. If I do, I'll be back Friday.

On another note I have lost editing and control functions on my Blog for about two weeks that really making posting a pain. The problem has been reported to the Blogger support team and they are supposedly working on it. No action so far, however.

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Harry Plumer dishes out some helmet stickers for Saturday's game. I should have mentioned Colter Johnson's impressive performance in yesterday's post. He had a 44 yard/kick average and two 50 yarders. We're accumulating FBS talent. We just need more of it.

Still no bio information about Johnson in the UMass website. My recruiting blog post for him  is here.

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Don Brown's UConn defense was stellar against N.C. State, but the Huskies lost the game. Note that UConn held N.C. State to 12 first downs and 258 total yards....

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The MAC Blog "Hustle Belt" looks at the league results so far.

Cleveland.com's "MAC Insider" says offense still rules the day in the conference.

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CBS Sports has UMass dead last in the FBS rankings. As the post above about UConn indicates, the Minutemen may have been facing better teams than people appreciate. Michigan is another sleeper. They lost to Alabama, but who wouldn't.

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Should we be worried about Victor Cruz?

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Sunday --September 9th, 2012

Some thoughts about yesterday's game (in no particular order).

1. Darren Thellen--- nine solo tackles and an INT. He's having a great season.
2. UMass has a significant deficit in team speed against BCS teams. Running outside got stuffed all day.

3. Mrs. Blog and I got to meet all the UMass die-hards. All the regulars were there. It was good seeing old friends. We also saw a couple of non-friends.

4. UMMB --- only two songs at halftime? WUWT?

5. The offense got better. We had 264 total yards and we were negatively impacted by 8 first half penalties. UMass only had one in the second half. Mike Wegzyn looked a lot more comfortable.

6. The kicking game was great on the punting (44 yards/punt). Not good on kicking as we missed an extra point and a makeable field goal.

7  UMass fans gave several ovations to Indiana QB Tre Robinson, who suffered a
 broken leg in the first half.

8. Again, nobody quit and the UMass fans who stayed, cheered first downs and defensive stops. Diehards.

8. After the game, I came home, poured myself a couple of shots and watched MAC conference-mate Kent State lose to Kentucky by just about the same score (allowing for better kicking). Only two  BCS teams to go.

9. BTW, the Hoosiers were still running the no huddle and passing late in the fourth quarter. Maybe we'll have a chance to return the favour some day.

10. The Club Level seats were awesome!

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Matty V. says UMass struggled mightily.

Mike Wegzyn was upbeat about the offense and nobody got hurt.

The Globe said Indiana easily handled UMass.

Mass Live says bad tackling and penalties did it for the Minutemen.

Also negative plays hurt the UMass offense.

The fly-over was fun.

WEEI says the Minutemen lost big in their home opener.

SB Nation said it was a rout.

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UConn lost to N.C. State.

Michigan struggled against Air Force.

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The MAC did good against some OOC opponents, not so good against BCS Teams.

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Game Day-- Indiana

First FBS home game in Gillette . Indiana should be favoured, after all they are a Big Ten team, but it's another step on the journey. We'll see who is favoured when we play at their place in 2017

Go UMass!!

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Matty V. has UMass faces favoured Indiana at Gillette today.

After one week, I'm last in the Media vs Bloggers football picking poll.

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Harry Plumer has a feature about new UMass kicker Ian Maltz. Ian's UMass bio here.

He also has Indiana and UMass have some similarities in their program.

Plumer has an article that freshman Khari Bailey-Smith could start. Bailey-Smith's UMass bio here.

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John M. , who we swapped questions-and-answers with on his blog "Crimson Quarry" previews the UMass-Hoosiers game and predicts a 34-17 Indiana victory.

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Keepers College Football Ratings has Indiana by 8.77.

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The MAC Conference has the game day notes for all the league teams.

The MAC Blog "Hustle Belt" also previews all the league games.

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Friday--September 14th, 2012

Matty V. says Gillette awaits the first UMass home game.

The Boston Globe also has a story on UMass home game at Gillette.

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Three articles on the busness end of UMass lease at Gillette.

One from MassLive.

One from BizJournal.

And, typically from the Boston Globe, that accentuates the negatives.

A quick editorial from me. It is absolutely freakin' nuts to  draw any conclusions after one game. We all knew that this season would be rough. One or two wins would be a good start. It's going to take three years to make us competitive in FBS. There is no magic way of getting there.

Once upon a time, I was president of a Civil War round table. During that conflict Union Soldiers had a nickname for other people in the ranks who darkly predicted Confederate victory ---right up until the Federals marched into Richmond. The soldiers called them "Croakers".

Lincoln was at first bemused, and then frustrated, that experts---- experts mind you, kept running into his office and claiming that it was impossible for the 100,000 strong Union army to take one step towards the Confederacy. Impossible!

Lincoln sent a stinging note to General McClelland: Was he not being overcautious when he assumed that his army could not do what what the enemy was constantly doing? Lincoln said "Should you not claim to be at least his equal in prowess and act upon the claim?"

UConn moved to FBS and lost 17 games in their first two years. Three other FCS teams moved to FBS along with UMass this year. Old Dominion and Georgia State move next year. It makes my blood pressure spike when people say we can't do, or shouldn't do,  what other schools did and are doing.

So UMass fans, we're going to have to put up with the Croakers for a couple of years. I, for one, am planning to rub their noses in it at some time in the future...

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The UMass Daily Collegian says UMass is laying the foundation for success.

The Collegian on the Minutemen's preparation for Indiana.

They also have Coach Molnar is confident UMass is moving in the right direstion.

The Boston Herald has a column that says Indiana will exceed the point spread.

The game has been getting good support from the UMass students.

Jeff Stait is the feature of this article from the Herald.

Meanwhile, Indiana just wants to win the game.

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MassLive's Harry Plumber takes a quick look at Indiana and their campus.

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MAC Report online looks at this week's conference games.

VanDelay Sports picks this week's MAC games.

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The Indiana blog "Crimson Quarry" has what to expect for the UMass-Indiana game.

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Recruiting 2014--- Jon Baker II

John Wilcox/Boston Herald image

This article features Jon Baker. He's a 6-3 300 pound OL from Millis-Hopedale.

I've blogged about Baker before.

Question and Answer with "Crimson Quarry"

I've exchanged questions-and-answers with the excellent Indiana Blog "Crimson Quarry"

My answers over on the Indiana Blog here.

One of the nice things about being a college football fan is visiting other campuses or learning about the other team and their history and circumstances.

Before we get to the football end of the story, I asked where the quarry imagery came from.

"Regarding the quarry imagery, southern Indiana is limestone country.  The Empire State Building and lots of the buildings and monuments in Washington are made of Indiana limestone.  In addition, there are many abandoned quarries near Bloomington that serve as swimming holes for locals and students alike.  In fact, Bloomington locals (i.e., townies) are called cutters, as in stonecutters.  There is a movie called Breaking Away, an Oscar-winning film from around 1980, that sets this out."
 

1.Hoosiers football has struggled recently. Can you give us a little history of your program? Do the Indiana fans feel the program is on the rise?

Unfortunately, the history isn't much better than recent history.  In over 100 years of football history, IU has only two Big Ten titles (1945 and 1967), one undefeated season (1945), and one Rose Bowl appearance (1/1/1968).  IU is bearing down on Northwestern for the most losses in college football history.  I was a bit spoiled in my youth because I began following IU football during one of the few periods in which IU has consistently won more games than it lost.  From 1986 through 1994, IU had six bowl bids and seven winning seasons in nine seasons, two bowl wins, a couple of wins and a tie against Ohio State and one win over Michigan.  Since then, it's been a bit bleak, IU's 7-6 record and Insight Bowl bid in 2007 account for IU's only winning season since 1994.  Frankly, I think IU fans are a bit snakebitten at this point.  IU seemed to have the perfect coach in place in the mid 2000s.  Terry Hoeppner came to IU and was a fine coach, a wonderful representative of the university, and actually considered IU his dream job.  Unfortunately, Hoeppner died of brain cancer in June 2007.  His successor, Bill Lynch, led IU to a winning season in 2007 but couldn't keep the positive momentum going.  While most IU fans liked the hire of Kevin Wilson, who spent several years as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, the 1-11 season last year was a wakeup call.  I still am behind Wilson, but like everyone else I would like to see some progress this year.   

2.The Hoosiers rang up 26 first downs against a pretty solid FCS club in Indiana State. Who played well in that game?

The player who really stood out was Tre Roberson, IU's sophomore quarterback.  Roberson was pressed into service as a true freshman last season and was solid if raw.  Against ISU, he completed 72 percent of his passes and looked like much more polished than he did last season.  On the defensive side, IU allowed lots of yards, particular to Walter Payton Award candidate Shakir Bell, but the defense was pretty solid on third down and did sack ISU's quarterback five times.  

3.What is the basic Hoosier offense? What is the basic defense? Name some standouts on both sides of the ball.

Kevin Wilson has a history of being fairly flexible on offense.  He is generally known for his spread offense, particularly at Northwestern in the early 2000s, but obviously has run the ball when he had the likes of Adrian Peterson at OU.  The current offensive coordinator is Seth Littrell, who played on OU's 2000 national championship team and then worked for Mike Leach at Texas Tech before becoming OC at Arizona.  Like Leach, his offense is very fast-paced (IU typically gets to the line immediately and then gets the play from the sideline) with lots of short passes.  On the other hand, and contrary to the stereotype, IU had 47 rushes compared to 36 pass attempts.  On defense, IU runs a 4-3 and showed essentially no areas of competency last year.  Hopefully the ability to rush the passer will continue as the quality of competition ramps up.  On offense, other than Roberson, standouts include WR Kofi Hughes, who was suspended for the first game, as well as WR Shane Wynn and Duwyce Wilson.  Tight end Ted Bolser was excellent as a freshman but struggled as a sophomore, but played well against ISU.  Running back Stephen Houston was one of the few bright spots last season, but will be sharing time with D'Angelo Roberts and true freshman Tevin Coleman this season.  Center Will Matte is a four year starter.  On defense, again, the unit was a tire fire last year, but the DT has some veterans in Adam Replogle and Larry Black, Jr.  LB Chase Hoobler and S Mark Murphy played well as freshmen last year.  Several junior college transfers, including David Cooper and Jaccari Alexander, should make a difference.  

4.Gillette is a pretty good place to watch a football game. Will Indiana bring any fans?

My guess is a couple thousand.  IU has a pretty solid alumni presence in the northeast, but we aren't a school that typically travels well for football.  Of course, those of us who are Colts fans think of Gillette as a house of horrors, at least in January.  I'm glad it won't snow.  

5.How do you think both programs will be doing when we meet again in 2017?

I have no idea how IU will be doing.  My guess is that IU will either be in pretty good shape or will be in the early years of yet another rebuild.  I think Kevin Wilson will get at least five years to build something, but history tells us that he faces long odds.  As for UMass, who knows?    If you can get some momentum, I wouldn't be surprised to see a successful MAC program.  It seems to me your main challenges will be the stadium issue and being something of a mismatch geographically in the MAC.  Although I supposed that in a world in which Boise State is in the Big East and West Virginia is in the Big 12, there is no such thing as a geographic mismatch.  

6.Tell us how you think Saturday's game will go.

I have no idea.  IU's only non-conference road game last season was at North Texas, not a very good team at all, and IU was absolutely obliterated until a furious fourth quarter comeback led to a misleading final score.  IU hasn't defeated an FBS opponent since beating Purdue in November 2010.  I feel reasonably confident that IU will find a way to win, but my pessimism suggests that the game will be in doubt well into the fourth quarter.   I would be very pleased and not entirely surprised if IU put together its first complete performance of the Wilson era, but I'll believe it when I see it.  

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Thanks to John M. for taking the time to visit with us!

Thursday---September 6th, 2012

Matty V. has ticket and transportation options for Saturday's game.

He also has Mike Wegzyn is eager to play another game.

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Harry Plumer of MassLive has an article on the possible turnout for the first game.

My feelings on turnout. Just like the football program, it's going to take time to build the gate at Gillette. 80% of "fans' go to the game to see you win, not play the game.

Since wins will probably be scarce the first couple of years, so will the enthusiasm. The bandwagon people will be showing up once we start winning.

Home attendance last week for the MAC

1.  Central Michigan--15, 250
2. Kent State--15, 121
3. Ball State--12, 725
4. Akron--12, 616

Will we lead the MAC in home attendance after one home game?

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Fox Sports has 1-0 Indiana headed to UMass.

Sports Chat place previews the UMass-Indiana game.

CBS Sports also previews the Minutemen-Hoosiers contest.
 
CBS Boston says Coach Molnar believe the Minutemen will be "resilient".

Indy Star.com says Indiana QB Tre Robinson had a pretty good game against Indiana State.

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MAC Blog "Hustle Belt" looks at the two-deep for the entire league after week #1.

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Vegas has UMass as a 13 point underdog.

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Victor Cruz had a "humble check" vs the Cowboys last night.

ESPN says Victor never had more than one drop until last night.

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Recruiting 2013-- Peter Ngobidi II

ESPN Boston has the Massachusetts "Mr. Football" watch list week #1.

UMass verbal Peter Ngobidi is listed as possibly the state's best defensive lineman.

I've blogged about Ngobidi before.

Brendon Hall image

Nogobidi is #44. The QB is A. J. Doyle.

Wednesday-- September 5th, 2012

Matty V on the activities of UMass' first home game at Gillette. Bill Cosby, a C5-A flyover and more.

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Fox Sports says 1-0 Indiana heads to UMass.

The Indiana Blog "Crimson Quarry" has game day basics.

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Bleacher Report has the UConn defense as #9 in the nation.

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We (the offense) made the lowlights article at CBS Sports.

One good thing. Apparently because we are a "transitional" team we did not make the NCAA statistics page.

If we did, we would be last in FBS (by a wide margin) and last in FCS. Although it would have been a close race in FCS. Northwestern state had 84 total yards and Robert Morris had 5 first downs last week.

I was looking at our records book and the only UMass negative record may been number of first downs, but that statistic is not among the listed records.

Fewest yards gained: 45 vs UNH 1976 (it was close but we beat the record by 14 yards)

Lowest average yards per play: 0.9 yards at the same game as above. we had 1.3 against UConn.

Fewest yards gained rushing: -87 vs Holy Cross 1968 (How is that possible? Someone run the wrong way? We easily beat that record with +3 yards rushing at UConn)

We had zero yards passing three times: 0 vs Lehigh in 1995 (we won the game with 515 rushing yards. Mrs Blog and I went to that game down in PA)

0 vs Boston College in 1978 (that was the game they beat us 70-0 so the no passing yards may not have been intentional.)

0 vs Brandise in 1959 (I don't know what happened at that game except that we won  25-6)

Most Punts: 13 vs Richmond (we had 11 at UConn).

That's all the negative records I could find.
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The MAC Blog has the league power ratings after week #1.

They also have a listing of all the former MAC players in the NFL

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Victor Cruz and the Giants start the NFL season on an unusual Wednesday game. Now unusual? The Giants have not played on a Wednesday since October 3rd 1934.

Speaking of Victor, the NY Times says he is no longer the Giants secret weapon.

News Day says Victor is underpaid, but not under appreciated).

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Baltimore Beatdown states that James Ihedigbo is a solid hire for the Ravens.

Jim Rogash/Getty images

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Recruiting 2012-- New Jersey recruits

A sharp-eyed blog reader has sent us this link about the top recruits in New Jersey.

Thanks to him for the heads up!

Note that UMass already has verbals from four of the top-50.

Tuesday --- September 4th, 2012

Matty V has some observations from college football's first weekend.

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Harry Plumer of MassLive has the five worst power conference teams. UMass is playing one of them soon.

He also has a story about UMass moving on after last week's poor showing. The article has some injury updates.
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Stephen Sellner of the UMass Daily Collegian  says it's a start.

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A Bleacher Report writer ranks all 124 FBS teams and has UMass at #122.

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A Cleveland Plain Dealer looks at week #1 in the MAC and says Ohio's win over Penn State was no fluke.

The MAC blog "Hustle Belt" has the league's TV schedule for week #2.

Former UMass assistant coach Mike Dunbar is offensive coordinator for Northern Illinois. Dunbar's duties have been re-assigned due to his ongoing battle with cancer.

The blog "MAC Daily" breaks down the "could have been weekend".

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James Ihedigbo signed with the Ravens. Stories here and here.

On the business end of the NFL, the Ravens cut a player to make room for Ihedigbo.

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The Palm Beach Coast has some quotes by Josh Samuda on how he made the Dolphins.

They also have Samuda as one of the rookies who exceeded expectations.

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Gather Sports.com asks if Victor Cruz could be playing for the Dolphins next season.

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Recruiting 2013 --- Sam Zeff III

NJ.com has a mention of UMass verbal Sam Zeff.

I've blogged about Zeff a couple times before.

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Monday--September 3rd, 2012

Harry Plumer of MassLive gives out "helmet stickers" for the Minutemen's first game. As you would expect they went to three defensive players: Darren Thellen, Randall Jette and Greg Hilliard.

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The CT Post looks at the three turnovers by the Huskies and 82 total yards by Lyle McCombs and does not mention the UMass defense.

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Cleveland.com says the MAC had a good opening week.

Losing to Ohio rattles Penn State.

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The Indiana Blog "Crimson Quarry" reviews the Hoosiers win over Indiana State.

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Victor Cruz remembers opponents who trash talk about him.

Rant Sports says Victor Cruz will have another big year in 2012.

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CSN Philly has a mention of Emil Igwenagu who cleared waivers and signed with the Eagles practice squad.

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Brandon London thought his year was over after suffering a knee injury.

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Sunday--August 2nd, 2012

I was looking over the UMass roster and positional breakdowns from the UMass-UConn game notes.

The numbers show the Minutemen have only 87 players on the roster. Of particular interest is UMass is  carrying a meager 12 offensive linemen. That's not a lot of bodies for an FBS team. UConn dressed 98 players for Thursday's game. They also carried 16 offensive linemen.

UMass OL:

Quinton Sales RSSR
John Wallace RSFR
Dan Foesel RSFR (listed as a TE last year)
Anthony Dima RSJR
Malcom Speller SR
Tyrell Smith FR
Michael Boland FR
Nick Speller RSSR
Stephane Milhim RSSR
Jamie Casselberry RSFR
Matt Sparks FR
Vincent Westcarr RSJR

2012 recruit Cameron Mock does not appear on  the roster.

Four of the 12 UMass offensive linemen are seniors and three of the four start. UMass has five verbals from offensive linemen so far on the ESPN chart. We're going to need 'em.

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The MAC had a pretty strong Saturday as Ohio beat Penn State, Toledo took Arizona to overtime and Northern Illinois lost by one to Iowa.

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I watched the Indiana-Indiana State game on the Big Ten Network and the Sycamores game Indiana all they could handle.

CBS Sports has Indiana 24-Indiana State 17.

The Courier Press says Indiana still has plenty of work to do.

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The Boston Globe reports Alabama blew out Michigan .

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James Ihedigbo visited the Ravens.

Emil Igwenagu was signed to the Eagles practice squad.

Brandon London is looking to get into acting.

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Saturday---September 1st, 2012

Matty V reports that Ed Saint-Vil will be out a month with a lower leg injury suffered at UConn.

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Harry Plumber of MassLive says its back to work for UMass.

Yesterday, he had the UMass offense couldn’t get off the ground.

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The Boston Herald said it was a harsh start to FBS football.

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Darren Thellen's INT was ESPN's play of the day.

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The Lowell Sun says UMass give New England another option for New England football fans.

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Kansas State officially announced their OOC for 2013 and it includes UMass on 09/14/2013.

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Matty V reports that James Ihedigbo and Emil Igwenagu were cut by the Patriots and the Eagles respectively.

Story on the official Eagles website.

In another article it said Emil is eligible for the practice squad.

ESPN says James Ihedigbo was informed of his release August 31st.

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In the only cheerful news over the last couple days, Josh Samuda made the Miami dolphins, but I could'nt find an article that specifically mentioned him.

Congrats from all UMass fans Josh!

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A couple of games of interest to UMass fans:

MAC conference-mate Ohio gets to see what Penn State has left.

Indiana starts it's season against Indiana State at 8:00 pm tonight.

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Up here in the great Granite State, Bob Kraft helps launch an new NH lottery ticket.

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Some images from the UConn game

FBS football---- $8 beers.

A good thing: FBS traffic control. Mrs Blog and I were buried WAY in the back of the parking lot and we were out in 5 minutes. We picked a friend up in Hadley and the Coolidge Bridge was backed up past the lights in the same town. Took us 20 minutes to get onto I91.

The images from the game are not that great. Not much UMass action to focus on. I have a web album here.

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One thing may amuse you.  Check out the holding in images 1946.jpg, 1965, 1968, 1970 and 1972. You probably can find others.

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Friday--- August 31, 2012

Well, the nearly 250 mile round trip journey to East Hartford was interesting to say the least. The road was long and so was the game.

First the bad, the UMass offense set probably historic lows in production. We had only 3 first downs against the Husky defense and didn't come close getting anything going in any phase of the game. We rushed 24 times for essentially  zero yards.

The noise seemed to bother the offense and they never got into any kind of rhythm.

Special teams were also a sore spot. We had a punt blocked for a touchdown. UMass had trouble covering returns all night as UConn averaged 21.8 yards a return.

The bright spot was the UMass defense. The DL played superb.  UConn a power running team, averaged 3.4 yards a carry. The Huskies also ran the Wildcat nearly every series and went nowhere. The defense stayed with the offensive shifts. They also developed some pressure on passing plays. The Minutemen's defense gave up 23 points and were on the field all night ----- literally.
If you were watching on TV, you probably couldn't see the players encouraging each other. Nobody quit.

Keep the faith. We knew this was going to be a bad matchup for the rookie UMass offense.

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Official UMass writeup and box score.

Matty V. has the Minutemen shut out in their FBS opener.

He also has FBS football is finally here. Read the last sentence.

Matty says QB competition is on-going.

MassLive has three articles: the UMass offense couldn't get off the ground, the defense was better than the score indicated, it was a rough opener, but we're started.

The Boston Herald said UMass was no match for UConn. They also had UConn roughly welcomes UMass.

The Hartford Courant said welcome to the next level UMass.

The UConn Blog has as good a start as we could ask for.

The UMass Daily Collegian said UMass was blown out.

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The results for the rest of the MAC openers.

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Vanderbilt lost to South Carolina.

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I'll be back later with more.