Thursday--October 8th, 2015

UMass Sports Insider today at 5:00 PM on NESN.

Contrary to me earlier writing, there will be a coaches show tonight.

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Blake Frohnapfel and Marken Michel talk Bowling Green in this video from MassLive.

UMass has five minutes of video from the FIU game.

Coach Whipple is interviewed after Wednesday night's practice.

Dan Malone interviews Randall Jette and Jovan Santos-Knox.

Dan has a podcast with a Toledo Blade beat writer on the Bowling Green game.

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AD Ryan Bamford answers fans questions on Twitter. Some interesting answers

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Michael Traini and Jesse Allen discuss where UMass stands after the OOC schedule has concluded.

Matt Daley and Jesse Allen preview UMass vs Bowling Green.

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The UMass Daily Collegian says UMass loads up for a shootout.

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ESPN says take UMass and the points.

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Out Kick the Coverage says Bowling Green will cover the points.

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Dave Clawson talks about his CAA roots with a game against BC coming up. Mentions Don Brown and Coach Whipple. I watched the Eagles-Duke game last night on replay. Brown has one of his best ever defenses, but the Boston College offense is really bad. Against Duke, the Eagles had one first down in the first quarter and zero completed passes in the first half.

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Bob McGovern looks at Falcons' QB Matt Johnson.

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Wednesday--October 7th, 2015

Bowling Green has their game notes for UMass up.

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On the way back from the Falcons win at Buffalo, Coach Dino Barbers and an athletic trainer helped rescue a woman from a burning car.

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UMass rises in Dan Malone's MAC power rankings.

Dan has Mark Whipple's scouting report on Bowling Green.

Dan reports Robert Kitching and Rodney Mills may be able to play against Bowling Green and Tajae Sharpe was ECAC Offensive Player-of-the-Week.

#1 Tajae Sharpe

UMass' post on Sharpe being honored.

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Bowling Green's defense says they have room to improve.

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The FIU student newspaper reports on the Panthers loss to UMass.

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Matty Vautour says red-zone production will be critical against the Falcons.

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Marken Michel is turning into a reliable connection for the Minutemen says the UMass Daily Collegian.

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Tom Gilson, a former UMass player has signed a two-year contract with the Los Angles arena football team.

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Julian Talley worked out for the Chicago Bears.

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Iowa coach Kirk Frenentz talks about Hawkeye LB coach Jim Reid and UMass.

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Victor Cruz wonders when the setbacks will end.

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Tuesday--October 6th, 2015

UMass has its game notes for Bowling Green up.

Bowling Green has its weekly video press conference up.

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Dan Malone reports on the start of MAC conference play.

Tajae Sharpe can't believe he's still drawing single coverage.

Dan wraps up UMass' win over Florida International.

Dan comments on the depth chart for Bowling Green. Let's hope we start getting some players back. The Minutemen defense played out of their minds Saturday, but they need some of the first stingers back.
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Last week's performance against FIU got Blake Frohnapfel nominated for the Sugar Bowl's Manning Award. Pretend you're in Chicago and vote early and often.

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Metro Daily News features UMass football graduate assistant Joe Kreinsen.

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Campus Insiders ranks the MAC 7th in conference strength. Mentions UMass.

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The Cleveland Plain Dealer has the good and the bad from the MAC's Week #5.

The Athens Post has a MAC notebook after week #5.

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The Bowling Green news has a post on the Falcons win over Buffalo. I watched that game last evening on ESPN3 replay. Bowling Green's leading-the-NCAA QB Matt Johnson looked really good. He is great on the ball fake and on passes, gets the ball out quickly and accurately.

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Lindy's Sports looks at last Saturday's results from the MAC.

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Monday--October 5th, 2015

I know you've probably seen the post game locker room celebration by now. Watch it again anyway :)

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Sharpe is currently #7 in the nation in receiving yards. He's 6th in receiving yards/game. Sharpe is 2nd in receptions/game.

Frohnapfel is 15th in FBS with 303.5 yards a game. Now UMass starts games in the pinball MAC...

BTW, Bowling Green and Buffalo combined for 1,035 yards of offense last week.

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The Berkshire Eagle reports UMass earns its first win of the season

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Dan Malone has his UMass stock watch and comments Marken Michel is more than just a sidekick for Tajae Sharpe.

Blake Frohnapfel tops 300 yards in a game for the 7th time in 14 career games.

The Minutemen open +13 in the Vegas Odds against Bowling Green.

Vegas odds here.

Temple is -16 over Tulane
Notre Dame is -16 over Navy
Colorado is +12 against Arizona State
UConn is +3 vs UCF (a team FIU beat)

Keepers College Football rankings has the Falcons as a 13.40 favorite over the Minutemen (.htm download)

Whipple praises the UMass defense and Logan Laurent.

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Matty Vautour uses ESPN's power index to assess the Minutemen's bowl chances after week #4.

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Ron Turner says FIU must improve their toughness and discipline.

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Toledo breaks into the AP Top-25 poll.

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Roger Lewis is Bowling Green's star receiver.

Ryan Hunter came from way up in Ontario to play for the Falcons.

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Victor Cruz gets a platelet rich plasma injection for his calf injury

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Sunday--October 4th, 2015

Hey UMass fans! That was a win to be proud of. It's a game we'll reminisce about in future years.

The Minutemen 1st, 2nd, and 3rd string TE's were out, as well as the NT, most of the defensive line and starting safety. Despite the huge size difference, UMass dominated all phases of the game.

Despite not having a TE, UMass rang up 29 first downs and 495 yards of offense. Frohnapfel went 34-42 363 yards and 3TD's. With no blocking TE available, UMass used ex-QB's A.J. Doyle and Todd Stafford in the "heavy" package and that didn't help the short yardage running game. FIU is still #2 in Conference USA rushing defense, BTW.

On Defense, the UMass Smerfs were all over the Panthers' offense. The Minutemen held the much bigger SIU offense to 188 total yards. Kassan Messiah, Joe Colton and Peter Angeh had great games.

And Holy Crap! Logan Laurent kicked a 48 yard field goal! That was the longest field goal since Armando Cuko.

As short handed as the Minutemen were, it was a great effort. Yeah, we should have scored more points, but style counts in gymnastics, not football. Given the circumstances, the UMass effort was memorable.

Logan Laurent

Sack!

Another sack

Blake Fronapfel

Marken Michel ices the game

Click on the image and Blogger displays a larger view.

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UMass write-up.

FIU write-up."Under a cold, lead-gray sky..."

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Bob McGovern says War Daddies on the defensive line made the plays.

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Dan Malone has UMass salvages a non-conference win.

He has five takeaways from the FIU win.

FIU coach Ron Turner said he was embarrassed.

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Matty Vautour says UMass' makeshift defensive line stood out.

Matty has Logan Laurent stepped into kicking.

He said UMass learns to shake adversity.

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The Boston Herald says UMass collects its first win.

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The Miami Herald said FIU couldn't find its offense. Coach Turner blames it on the officials...

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The UMass Daily Collegian said the Minutemen front seven stepped up.

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Boston College lost to Duke.

Colorado lost to Oregon.

Clemson stopped a Notre Dame two-point conversion with 7 seconds left to play to beat the Irish.

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Game Day--Florida International

Glen Wong, UMass professor and longtime supporter of UMass football and Minutemen sports in general will be today's honorary captain.

Well, we lucked out with the weather; it's going to be cool but only a slight chance of a few passing showers. Mrs Blog and I will be there. Hope everyone turns out to support the team.

FIU has injury problems. They may be without leading tackler Treyvon Williams and OC Trenton Saunders. In addition, the have injuries in the defensive secondary.

Injury report from the Miami Herald:

FIU injuries: Questionable — DB Niko Gonzalez (undisclosed); DB Wilkenson Myrtil (concussion). Doubtful — OL Trenton Saunders (undisclosed); LB Treyvon Williams (knee). Out — LB Davison Colimon (pectoral); DB Jordan Davis (knee); S Shermarke Spence (arm); WR Shawn Abrams (undisclosed); RB Napoleon Maxwell (ACL); OL Jordan Budwig (shoulder).

UMass injuries: Questionable — TE Brandon Howard (undisclosed); DB Kelton Brackett (knee); LB Peter Ngobidi (foot); LB Da’Sean Downey (ankle). Doubtful — TE Sharif Custis (knee). Out — WR Jalen Williams (quad); DB Khary Bailey-Smith (knee); DL Sha-Ki Holines (knee).

 If we hung 27 points on Notre Dame, Frohnapfel and Co should have a big day. Rodney Mills should be back and he should add another dimension to our offense.

Dress warm and watch UMass get our first win of the season. Go UMass!!!

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Minutemen kicker Mike Caggiano is preparing to hold his kicking job.

MassLive has the media options for today's game.

Dan Malone says UMass should unleash Marquis Young. Actually, I think the Minutemen rushing corps looks better than last year. Young has the speed and pop we've lacked the last three years. Jamal Wilson should have won the game against Temple. He made a nice play to put UMass ahead. Sekay Lindsay has started to run more down hill.

Unmentioned in UMass's three losses, the Minutemen have 10 plays of over thirty yards in three games. Whipple's offense is working, we need to be playing MAC-level teams.

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Matty Vautour says UMass looks to build momentum against Panthers.

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Dozens of volunteers will be recycling waste at McGuirk.

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The Boston Herald says UMass looks for a win.

The Miami Herald reports FIU is wary of Whipple's offense.

The Herald says the Panthers need to get their running game rolling.

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Temple improved to 4-0 with a 37-3 win over Charlotte last night. The Owl's kicker who won the game against us missed an extra point and a field goal. Sigh.

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UConn played future UMass opponent BYU close for three quarters.

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Interesting TV games today are:

Oregon @ Colorado.

Notre Dame @ Clemson.

And, if you like clubbing baby seals, Eastern Michigan at LSU.

  The side story is EMU has the worst rushing defense in FBS. LSU's Leonarde Fourette may be the best RB in the nation.

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Friday--October 2nd, 2015

UMass-FIU will be televised on ESPN3

Temple-Charlotte is on CBSN tonight as well as UConn @ BYU on ESPN2.

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Dan Malone has a podcast with Miami Herald's David J. Neal.

Charan Singh will bet a chance to replace Khary Bailey-Smith in the UMass defensive backfield.

Dan scouts the FIU Panthers by the numbers.

Dan has quotes from Coach Whipple on FIU and Kelton Brackett.

He also has a post on the concessions upgrade for the first home game at Amherst.

Dan has five keys to the FIU game.

Dan looks at tomorrow's game with the Panthers.

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Matty Vautour says both UMass and FIU are battling injuries.

Matty also has Charan Singh looking to fill some big shoes Saturday.

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FIU's website previews the UMass game.

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The Boston Globe says UMass is looking for their first win.

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Two Miami Herald writers split predictions for Saturday's game.

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Hustle Belt's Jesse Allen trades questions with Underdog Dynasty.

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Keepers College football rankings has FIU by 4.03 over UMass (.htm download). He also has Colorado over Oregon, Duke over BC , Temple over Charlotte and Clemson over Notre Dame.

Vegas Insider has UMass by -3.

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Special thanks to the Blog reader who sent me a link saying 2013 UMass TE recruit Terrell Correia is playing at Dean College (.pdf download).

Correia's 2013 UMass bio.

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Rene Ingoglia worked ESPNU's coverage of the Texas Southern-Alabama State game last night. Rene did his usual excellent job.

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Thursday--October 1st, 2015

FIU has their game notes up.

The Panthers have a video interview with Coach Turner and Panther players about this week's game with UMass.

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Dan Malone has Khary Bailey-Smith is done for the season a Sha-Ki Holnes is unlikely against FIU.

Injuries have Coach Whipple getting creative with John Robinson-Woodgett.

Ross Comis believes he proved something against the Irish.

UMass has a pretty cool highlight video against Notre Dame.

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The Collegian says FIU is a "must win" game for the Minutemen.

The Collegian reports Mike Caggiano looks to seize the day at kicker.

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The Boston Herald reports there are talks about Boston College, UConn and UMass playing each other regularly. This would be good news for all three schools. There should be a New England Champ trophy. A New England series would help all three school's attendance and it would be a low cost bus trip. It's too good an idea to not to happen.

Quote from the article:"Eagles athletic director Brad Bates likes the idea of having the three New England FBS schools playing each other on a regular basis."

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FIU's two wins are over winless UCF and 1-2 North Carolina Central. UCF is so bad a local bar is offering free beer until the Knights win.

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The Miami Herald says FIU needs to run the ball against UMass.

Temple hopes to use the lessons of the UMass game against UCC.

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Cleveland.com ranks the MAC after five weeks.

The Athens Post notes the MAC is playing well in the conference's OOC schedule.

Western Michigan looks to have a big MAC season.

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BTW, two of the three teams UMass has played this year are undefeated. Colorado meets a humbled Oregon. Note that the Minutemen hung more points on the Irish than the Ducks did against Utah.

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Victor Cruz is hurt again.

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Wednesday--September 30th, 2015

UMass upgrades its concessions choices at McGuirk.

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The MAC site has Tuesday's MAC coaches teleconference audio.

Bob McGovern reports on Whipple's comments.

Mike Chiarelli of Maroon Musket reports on Marquis Young's increasing presence in the UMass backfield.

Mark reports Khary Bailey-Smith is out for the season with a knee injury. Kelton Brackett is also injured.

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Matty Vautour reports on the loss of Khary Bailey-Smith and Jalen Williams.

Andy Isabella #23

Speedy freshman Andy Isaella will see an expanded role.

John Robinson-Woodgett will be a rare two-way player in FBS football.

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Andrew Cyr of the Daily Collegian has a post on UMass' injury situation.

Cyr says Saturday is a must win situation for the Minutemen.

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A FIU student newspaper writer says the Panthers should win against "bottom feeder" UMass.

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CBS Sports has UMass-FIU as one of its top-10 under-and-over picks.

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Hustle Belt's Brandon Fitzsimons picks the Minutemen over the Panthers.

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Cleveland.com has the MAC by the numbers after week #4.

Bowling Green goes for their 13th straight Division win.

QB Tom Woodson has turned around Akron's season.

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OT, but 247Sports has UMass #1 in the A10 and #17 nationally in basket recruiting for 2016.

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Tuesday--September 29th, 2015

UMass has their game notes for FIU up.

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Dan Malone says FIU is a must win situation for UMass.

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Matty Vautour reports the college football playoff could see new blood.

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The Miami Herald reports McGuirk Stadium and Florida International the school were started on the same year.

Sports Chat Place takes UMass and the points against the Panthers.

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Brian Kelley said the Minutemen's trick play was difficult to defend.

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Cleveland.com says Kent State is playing much better.

They also have the good and the bad from week #4 in the MAC.

The MAC and ESPN announced an enhanced regional TV deal.

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Fanatics offers a customized UMass football jersey.

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OT, but UMass just closed its biggest basketball recruiting haul in years.

Social Media reacts.

Dan Malone looks at the future UMass roster.

Steve Hewitt has the two-hit wonder.

Every year I wonder why there isn't a UMass Hoops fan blog. Sons of Massachusetts seems to be deceased. Fear the Triangle soldiers on in hockey. A Minutemen basketball fan blog would be fun to read. Maybe the recruiting surge will motivate someone to start one.

Mrs Blog an I usually drive down from New Hampshire 5 to 7 times a season to see UMass basketball. Hopefully, there will less snow this year.

Recruiting 2016--Taylor Edwards

Lost in the excitement over to visit to South Bend was the news that Taylor Edwards verbaled to UMass.

Dam Malone's story here.

I've blogged about Edwards a number of times before.

That gives UMass four three-star players out of six total verbals.

That jumps UMass to 10th in the MAC recruiting totals, but 5th in the MAC in three-star recruits.

Chose UMass over offers from Colorado State, UConn, Old Dominion and Wake Forest.

Monday--September 28th, 2015

Dan Malone says UMass wants to reboot its season.

Dan says UMass tried to Belichick the Irish and it didn't work.

He has three up and three down after South Bend.

Mike Caggiano is now the starting Minutemen kicker.

Brian Kelley praises the Minutemen.

UMass opens as a 3.5 point underdog to FIU. In Vegas Odds, Temple is a 23 point overdog against UCC andColorado +12 against Oregon.

Dan reports Notre Dame was geared up to stop the UMass offense and still had trouble with it.

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FIU was run over by Louisana Tech's Kenneth Dixon.

Florida International has injuries in their secondary.

LA Tech ran over the Panthers top-rated run defense.

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Hustle Belt has Toledo #1 in the MAC power rankings.

Toledo just missed the AP Top-25 poll.

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Victor Cruz expects to be active next week.

James Ihedigbo was not fined for a late hit against San Diego.

Julian Talley and several other Giants visit Ladder Company #3 in New York

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Sunday--September 27th, 2015

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Hey UMass fans, we hung with the Irish for the first half. Don't feel bad, that's a really talented Notre Dame offense. Too big and too much team speed for the UMass "D".

We missed a couple of plays that would have made it closer. At the end of the first half we dropped a pass over the middle that would have given UMass a first down at least and prevented Notre Dame's last score of the first half. We also missed a chance to score on Frohnapfel's last series.

And if I was Kelly, I would have gotten out of the hurry-up and passing a couple of series before he did. He didn't have to keep the pedal to the metal that long.

UMass had 450 yards of offense and Ross Comis was 8 for 8 leading the UMass reserves. That pretty much settled who's our 2nd string QB. Another thing we did accomplish was the kicking game was finally decided. Freshman Marquis Young looked good. Andy Isabella did well running back kicks. FR QB James Sosinski made the traveling squad to Notre Dame.

Rodney Mills and Khary Bailey Smith DNP due to injuries. Those two would have helped.

Whipple needs a couple more years recruiting before we can stand up to a team as good as Notre Dame. No shame in that. Nobody quit. I'm not either.

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The UMass website has the game writeup, stats and notes.

Besides Mrs. Blog and I, there were a number of UMass at South Bend.

Dan Malone says UMass started strong, but couldn't keep it close.

Dan reports the Minutemen were never in a position to win.

Dan runs the numbers from South Bend.

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Matty Vautour says UMass was overmatched.

Matty has notes from the game.

Matty experiences Notre Dame.

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From the Notre Dame website:

The Irish break out offensively.

Notre Dame has game notes for both sides.

In the game quotes, Kelley said:" You know, hats off to UMass and the way they competed."

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All the MAC results here.

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Colorado won easily over Nichols.

Temple had a bye.

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UConn lost to Navy.

Boston College beat NIU.

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Game Day-Notre Dame September 26th, 2015

Good Morning from Elkhart, Indiana.

Today we play college football's probably most storied team. This year's Irish team may be their best since they played Alabama in 2013's National Championship game.

Obviously, the Minutemen are a big underdog in this game. We are on national TV. I hope UMass plays motivated and gives the Irish a game today. The national TV exposure could help recruiting and interest in the team.

Mrs Blog and I will be there wearing our UMass colors and cheering for the Minutemen. Hope all UMass fans will appreciate the moment and, win or lose, it's another step in building the team.

UMass added another three-star recruit a day ago. I'll report on that probably tomorrow. Out of six verbals, four are three-star recruits. I think the future is bright for Minutemen.

Go UMass!!!

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UPDATE: Irish DT Jay Hanes suspended for the UMass game because of Twitter comments.

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Dan Malone has five keys to the Notre Dame game.

He says the Minutemen face long odds against #6 Notre Dame.

Dan reports on how the Minutemen have done in the past against top-20 opponents.

Dan and Nick O'Malley visit the Notre Dame Campus.

TV and media availability for today's game.

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Matty Vautour says UMass faces a mountain of a challenge in Notre Dame.

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SB Nation says pick the Minuteman over the leprechaun.

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The Goshen News has five questions about the Irish at game day.

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The Boston Herald says the South Bend trip puts UMass on the map.

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Slap the Sign says Notre Dame will cruise to a win.

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The Sports Bank predicts a 56-17 Irish win.

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Scout.com says Notre Dame isn't overlooking UMass.

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The Elkhart News reports the Irish want to avoid a triple option hangover.

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The MAC will have 13 televised games today, including Western Michigan @ #1 Ohio State.

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Today's U reports today's FIU vs LA Tech features Conference USA's best offense against the conference's best defense.

Underdog Dynasty previews the LA Tech-FIU game.

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Colorado meets Nichols State. The Nichols Colonels have lost 20 straight...

Temple meets a bye week.

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Friday-September 25th, 2015

Good Morning from Dubois, PA, about half way to South Bend.

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UMass QB Blake Frohnapfel, who has a 3.67 grade point average in grad school, has been nominated for the Campbell Throphy by he National Football Football foundation

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Joe Previte, a 2014 walk-on from Mount Hermon and Brockton HS, is getting significant time on the defensive line.

About 4 million football fans are expected to watch Saturday's UMass-Notre Dame game.

Dan Malone has notes from Coach Whipple about the Notre Dame game.

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Matty Vautour has Blake Frohnapfel and the UMass team are excited to be playing at the Golden Dome.

Matthias Farley is always read to be the next man up for the Irish.

Matty reports the Minutemen are hoping to do well at South Bend.

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iSportsweb.com previews the Irish-Minutemen game.

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The Sports Chat Place previews the UMass-Notre Dame game.

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Our friend, the Boston Globe previews the game.

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The Boston Herald reports UMass eyes the Irish.

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Five MAC teams are playing Big10 opponents this Saturday.

Cleveland.com asks if assembling a top-tier MAC squad is tougher than a BCS team trying to win a National Championship.

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Boston College is a 4.5 overdog against NIU.

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SB Nation says take Florida International, UMass and the points

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Trading questions with Notre Dame Blog "One Foot Down"

I traded questions with the excellent Irish blog "One Foot Down". Check them out for my comments.

Pat Burns from One Foot Down answered my questions about Notre Dame going into Saturday's game against the Minutemen.

 1.     Notre Dame lost their starting QB Malik Zaire for the season with a broken ankle. Can you tell us how QB Deshone Kizer changes the Irish offense?

It's not as large of a step down as most people (even inside the Irish fanbase) may have originally thought, actually. Kizer is well aware of the entirety of the playbook, and has all the skills he needs to put everything together. There's a reason he wasn't the starting QB, however, so the offense will change a bit to minimize the burden that is put directly on Kizer's shoulders. Notre Dame has the offensive line to lean on in the running game, and the wide receivers needed to make tough throws for Kizer look easy. The offense went from a  more QB-focused attack under Zaire to a "get the ball to the playmakers" focus under Kizer.

    2.     The Irish have lost six starters to season-ending injuries. Does Notre Dame have the depth to continue a run for the Playoffs?

I can't believe I'm about to write this, with where the Irish were just a few short years ago, but yes I believe they do have enough depth. Brian Kelly has done a great job of recruiting 1 through 85 on this team, so that even the backups' backups are talented football players that can contribute to the team. There's obviously some headaches associated with the inexperience, but knowing that the guys filling the holes in the roster are top level talent makes that a little easier to swallow.

    3.     How do you feel this about the Irish team current #10 ranking? Too high? Too low?

[Note to you Frank: We are now #6 in AP, #8 in Coaches. I answered question for the AP ranking]

I think the Irish are ranked pretty much in line with what they've shown this season. I think they could be ranked a bit higher than 6th if it was to be based on resume and the eye test, but it's college football, so as long as you're somewhere near the top and take care of business, it won't end up mattering come the end of the season.

    4.    Obviously, Notre Dame will be a big favorite against UMass. How do the Minutemen fit into the Irish' season? Any chance of a letdown?

I think there's certainly chance of a letdown this weekend. The Solid Verbal podcast has the concept of a "letdown look-ahead sandwich", and that's right where the Irish are this week. Coming off of a huge win over Georgia Tech, a team that they prepared for very intensely, and heading into Death Valley next week to take on Clemson, it could be easy for the Irish to look past UMass and get caught with their pants down on Saturday. I think Brian Kelly will be doing all he can this week to make sure that doesn't happen, but college kids are going to be college kids and we may see some shaky play from the Irish this weekend.

    5.    How do think the Irish will approach UMass? Colorado flat ran over our asses. Do you think Notre Dame will go run heavy and just try to get the game over as fast as possible? Prediction for the game?

I think there will be a big focus on scoring early and often, whether that be through the run game or through the passing attack. I think the coaching staff has a secondary goal of getting as many second string players playing time as possible, and jumping out to a big lead is a part of that. I expect it to skew run-heavy just because of the advantage that Notre Dame's O-line provides, but we'll still see a healthy dose of Will Fuller and Co.

My prediction is Notre Dame 45, UMass 13 following a slow first quarter with no score and a couple of scares from Frohnapfel.

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Thursday--September 24th, 2015

Road Trip!!

We leave today.
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Dan Malone has a podcast with Bob McGovern of Maroon Musket about Temple and Notre Dame.

Bob McGovern responds to questions from the Irish247  blog.

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Dan talks to UMass players and coaches about preparing for one of college football's most storied programs.

Scouting Notre Dame by the numbers.

Blake Fronapfel talks about playing a team he rooted for as a kid.

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The UMass Daily Collegian says its business as usual for the Minutemen players.

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Matty Vautour reports Frohnapfel and the UMass players are excited to be playing at South Bend.

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The NY Post says the Irish won't cover the spread.

The Chicago Tribune says the injury jinx for Notre Dame can't continue if they are to be a playoff team.

The Sports Bank previews UMass-Notre Dame.

Brian Kelley talks about UMass.

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Keepers College football rankings has the Irish over the Minutemen by 29.72.

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Victor Cruz is still inactive for the Giants third game.

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Notre Dame coach Chip Kelley gives Drue Tranquill the game ball after he tore his ACL.

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Sports Chat Place has Louisiana Tech to cover the spread against Florida International.

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ESPN is considering layoffs as media landscape changes.

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Wednesday--September 23rd, 2015

Notre Dame has its game notes for UMass up.

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Jalen Williams was arrested in Amherst. He's currently both injured and suspended from the team.

WWLP has more.

Matty Vautour report on the arrest.

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UMass is dead last in the nation in rushing.


Dan Malone reports Coach Whipple says Notre Dame "really doesn't have any weaknesses".

Coach Whipple hopes the Minutemen play better than they did at Penn State.

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Matty Vautour reports with Tajae Sharpe drawing multiple coverage, UMass wants to get the other receivers more involved. He also says Vanderbilt transfer Larry Franklin has left the team.

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The Chicago Tribune says the Irish are not overlooking UMass.

Bleacher Report looks at the spread and says take UMass and the points.

The South Bend Tribune has some questions for Matty Vautour.

Fox Sports has Notre Dame as a heavy favorite over UMass.

NBC Sports reports Coach Kelly said "These games concern me the most."

Notre Dame Insider has a podcast featuring new Irish QB DeShone Kizer and previewing UMass.

The Chicago Tribune says the Irish will rely on their offensive line.

Blue & Gold has Coach Kelly on QB's and the UMass game.

DeShone Kizer focuses on fundamentals.

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Cleveland.com has the MAC Conference by the numbers after week #3.

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The Daily Nebraskan says college football is better than the NFL.

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