Saturday--November 3rd, 2016

After his first start against UMass, South Carolina QB Jake Bentley has thrown for 1030 yards and 6 TD's

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How the college football bowl tie-ins work.

Fox Sports predicts the teams for all 40 bowl games.

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Western Michigan's four-years-in-row MAC-leading recruiting classes have translated into a 13-0 season and a MAC conference championship. A perfect season has lots of Western Michigan fans on board.

Recruit well and the program will win. If the team wins, the fans will come.

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James Ihedigbo is "questionable" for tomorrow's game against the Raiders.

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Recruiting 2017--Calvin Clater

Clater #15/ Twitter image

UPDATE Saturday: Mike Traini has a post about Clater with quotes from him. Coach Whipple offered the scholarship personally.

Calvin Clater, a 6-3 190 pound WR from Fort Worth, TX has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports two-star player. Clater is scheduled to visit UMass on December 8th.

Hudl.com has video.

Max Preps has some stats.

Recruiting 2017--Melvin Hill verbals to UMass

Melvin Hill, a 6-3 195 pound WR from Baker HS in Alabama has Tweeted he's accepted a UMass offer to play in Amherst.

I did a pretty extensive blog post on Hill back on November 25th.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post about Hill and some quotes from him about joining UMass.

Hill's commit brings UMass to four recruits for 2017.

UMass is currently #146 in 247Sports recruiting rankings.

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Friday--December 2nd, 2016

Matty Vautour on why the FBS playoffs should be extended. The playoffs could easily be folded into the bowl system by using the lessor bowl in the early rounds and then say, the final four could be the traditional New Year's bowls. The top bowls could rotate for the semi-finals and the National Championship game. FBS is the only football division with only four teams. If MIT and Division III can handle school and the playoffs, then the scholars of the SEC could cope.

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Fox Sports looks at what an eight-team playoff would look like in week #14 of this year's season.

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The Washington Post says Navy the the best college football story in 2016.

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NJ.com, which has one of the best sports reporting IMHO, predicts eight UMass opponents will play in bowls. That's including BC, who is predicted to be in the Quick Lane (?) Bowl against Maryland.

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Recruiting 2017--Maxi Hradecny

American Football International image.

Continuing to seek new recruiting streams, UMass has offered to Maxi Hradency, a 6-2 315 pound DT from the Vienna Vikings football team in Austria.

Video of the UMass offer here.

Hudl.com has video highlights.

American Football International calls Hradecny a "four-star" recruit.

More on Hradecny's American tour here. One of the founders of American Football is Brandon Collier a former UMass player.

Thursday--December 1st, 2016

Adam Breneman was named the Harry Agganis Award as the top collegiate football player in New England. Khary Bailey-Smith and Marquis Young were named to the All-New England team. UMass press release here.

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Wagner dual-threat player Greg Senat played against UMass twice this year. He's a 6-8 270 pound power forward on the Wagner hoops team and also a OL for the Seahawks football squad.

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James Ihedigbo returns to practice for the Bills.

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Recruiting 2017--DeAndre Applin

Georgia Military College image

DeAndre Applin, a 6-0 205 pound safety from Georgia Military College has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

Applin's 247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Applin's Georgia Military College bio has stats.

UMass is his first FBS offer.

Tuesday--November 30th, 2016

Good Morning from Kauai. I have a good internet connection, so I'll keep the blog going.

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A blog reader sent me this post about SEC team Georgia's scheduling efforts. Looks like Bamford will be able to schedule financially profitable games into the foreseeable future. Especially if UMass could fold in some hoops meetings. The $1.5 million UMass received from South Carolina could be the new norm.

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Troy's Marching Band's nickname is "The Song of the South".

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James Ihedigbo takes the "chameleon approach" to his recent stint in Buffalo.

Ihedigbo did not practice yesterday due to an ankle injury.

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Tuesday--November 30th, 2016

H3 East traffic

Good Morning. Mrs Blog and I are moving to Kauai for a week. I'll be good to get away from the Honolulu traffic.

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Andrew Cyr's last UMass football column. Cyr did a good job. Accurate reporting and no mixing of personal hobby-horses.

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Rotoworld has a post on Coach Whipple's status going into his fourth year.

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College football coaching changes as of November 28th.

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Tajae Sharpe was held to 11 yards in week #12.

James Ihedigbo's role with the Bills continues to grow.

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OT, but did you see this 593 foot basketball shot?

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Monday--November 28th, 2016

UMass has some highlights from the Hawaii game here.

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Matty Vautour reports UMass AD Ryan Bamford has faith in the UMass football program and Coach Whipple.

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UMass RB Marquis young will on the UMass Insider Show tonight at the Hanger.

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The Hartford Courant says UConn suffered a losing and lost season. Despite BC reaching the stratospheric record of 6-6 and being bowl eligible, it was a lost season for New England FBS teams.

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If you didn't get to see the game Saturday, during one play, UMass TE Adam Breneman took a shot to his knees. About a half a dozen UMass players ran to check on him. Breneman got up and returned to the game after one play out.

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NBC Sports predicts eight UMass 2016 opponents will play in bowls .

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Really sad story about BYU running backs coach Reno Mahe's three year old daughter Else Mahe.

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Sunday After Hawaii--November 17th, 2016

That was the most exciting game UMass has played since the beginning of the FBS era. Andrew Ford had his best game as a Minuteman QB. He went 24-38 342 3TD's. Marquis Young had 117 yards rushing.

The Minutemen played a spirited game and drove to the Hawaii 21 yard line and didn't complete a game-winning TD attempt in which the UMass WR was held.

The Minutemen only punted three times. We did have a fumbled snap for a safety and Jesse Monteiro got beat over the top for two Hawaii TD's . Hawaii is a fast, talented team and the game could have gone either way. It was a game to build off of.

I forgot to mention there was a big UMass turnout for the game. I guess playing in Hawaii is more fun than Orono,ME.

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UMass write-up.

Hawaii write-up.

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Dan Malone has a post on the game here.

KITV.com says the Warriors survived UMass.

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Florida State handled Florida 31-13.

BC beat Wake Forest to go 6-6 and be bowl eligible.

Old Dominion beat FIU 42-28. That win moves the Monarchs to 9-3.

Mississippi State shocked Ole Miss 55-20.

Tulane ran all over UConn 38-13.

Louisina Tech was upset by Southern Mississippi to fall to 8-4.

South Carolina was crushed by Clemson 56-7.

Troy beat Texas State 40 to 7 to get back in the Sunbelt title race. Troy is 9-2.

BYU rolled over Utah State to run their record to 8-4. UMass played a lot of good teams this year.

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Game Day Hawaii--November 26th, 2016

Well today is the last day of a rough season. UMass needs an upset to salvage something of a season with just too many Power Five teams. The Minutemen need to cut down on the mistakes---and I know I've said that a lot this year. The UMass defense actually did not play badly last week. There were three turnovers inside the Minutemen 20 yard line and a INT for a touchdown. A running into the kicker penalty ruined another defense stop.

I'm not exactly overjoyed at our chances for an upset, but Mrs Blog and I will be there cheering for the Minutemen.

GO UMASS!!!!

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Matty Vautour says UMass will try to close a down season on an upbeat note.

The Boston Herald reports the Minutemen are seeking a winning finish.

Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich says the Warriors can't afford to take UMass lightly. I had an extensive conversation with Rolovich back at the Charlie Molnar introduction meeting. Seemed like a nice guy who knew his football. He ended up leaving UMass after about four months.

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Recruiting 2017--Melvin Hill

Image credit unknown

Melvin Hill, a 6-3 195 pound WR from Baker HS in Alabama has tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

Hudl.com has video highlights.

Alabama State high jump champion.

NCSA has some stats including a 41.5 inch vertical.

247Sports page here.

UMass is the first FBS offer for Hill. Drawing interest from Army, Tulane, South Alabama, Iowa State, Memphis and Middle Tennessee State.

Friday before Hawaii--November 25th, 2016

UMass has a photo gallery of the team's Pearl Harbor Tour.

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Sports Illustrated predicts sseven of UMass' 2016 opponents will go to bowls.

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James Ihedigbo's motto: Adapt or die.

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Vladimir Ducasse had his second consecutive start against Dallas last week.

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Thanksgiving Day--November 24th. 2016

Happy Thanksgiving from Mrs Blog & me. I'm thankful that I'm with Mrs Blog and we're together in Hawaii. I'm thankful for my country with all that it offers. I'm thankful I have UMass football to obsess about. I'm thankful for all the friends I've made through the blog.

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Matty Vautour has a nice human interest story about Minutemen WR Dan Jonah.

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James Ihedigbo went from being out of football to a starter for the Bills--in one week.

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Wednesday before Hawaii--November 23rd, 2016

UMass football has a couple of videos from their visit.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a recap of the BYU game.

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Campus Insiders predicts Hawaii 37 UMass 28.

KHON2.com says it'll be Senior Night for the Warriors.

The same station considers bowl options for Hawaii if they beat UMass.

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Adam Breneman was not selected to be in the final three candidates for the Mackey Award.

I don't understand that one. Breneman has gone 66-788 7 TD's. He's #1 in receptions per game and he's done it against top competition.

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Australia's latest export is college football's best punters.

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NFL.com reports Tajae Sharpe has become a staple in the Titans offense (scroll down).

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OT, but from the Amherst Police Blotter: Woman attempts to use a slice of Pizza as an ID.

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Tuesday befire Hawaii--November 22nd, 2016

Aloha from Honolulu. The scene above is from our balcony just after sunset. Click on the image and Blogger gives a larger view. We were pretty tired after the flight. We did go for a walk on Waikiki beach before we turned in.

The time difference (five hours) from the East Coast means I'll be updating the blog later in the day.

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UMass has their game notes up for Hawaii.

Hawaii has their notes up too.

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A 2013 UMass grad describes what he learned about BYU football to the Deseret News.

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The Sports Chat Place says in the Minutemen vs the Warriors, take UMass and the points.

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Freshman DL Viane Moala was Hawaii's special team player of the week after blocking a potential game winning FG at Fresno State.

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The ugliest game trophy in college football: the Fresno State -Hawaii Golden Screwdriver.

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After waiting a while, Tajae Sharpe caught a TD pass for the second consecutive week.

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Monday before Hawaii--November 21st, 2016

The UMass Daily Collegian says second half struggles did the Minutemen in again.

Three things the Cougars learned from shellacking UMass.

The Herald reports Saturday was a heavenly day for BYU sports fans.

Deseret News says BYU's special teams made big plays against UMass.

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Keepers College Football rankings has Hawaii a 7+ point favotite over UMass (.pdf download).

Vegas Insider has Hawaii opening as a 10 point favorite over the Minutemen.

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The Maui News says Hawaii narrowly retains hopes of a bowl invite. It would nice if UMass would win next week. As one of the commenters said, it's not easy being a Minutemen fan. Sometimes I feel like Job in the Bible. It would be fun to ruin someone else's day for a change.

Job by Bonnat

We feel the pain of Fresno State fans who's team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in a 14-13 loss to Hawaii.

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Sunday after BYU--November 20th, 2016

Well yesterday was a beautiful day. The weather was outstanding. Had fun talking with the friendly BYU fans and seeing Cougar stadium. Worth noting was the invocation at the start of the game that included prayer for a safe trip home for UMass players and fans.

UMass played a strong first half that mirrored the Minutemen's efforts against all of the Power Five schools we've played so far.

The second half was a self-inflected run of errors that turned a close game into a disheartening rout. Those 30 minutes were about the worst half of football I've seen a UMass team play in my memory. An my memory goes back to 1970...

The only option is to forget about it and try to do better next week against Hawaii.

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Some UMass fans made the trip

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UMass writeup.

BYU writeup.

BYU post game notes has quotes from Whipple and UMass players.

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Dan Malone reports UMass gave up 44 unanswered points in the second half.

Matty Vautour says UMass fell apart in the second half.

The Salt Lake Tribune says a blocked punt started rout.

The Deseret News report Cougar special teams came up big in a rout of UMass.

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The Florida Gators beat LSU in a game that featured a lot of talking.

Boston College blanked UConn.

FIU gained their first win ever against Marshall.

Mississippi State gave up 58 points in a loss to Arkansas.

Temple crushed Tulane 31-0.

Old Dominion kept their championship hopes alive by beating Florida Atlantic.

Louisiana Tech won their 7th straight to win C-USA's West title.

South Carolina won their sixth game to become bowl eligible.

Wagner beat St. Francis to finish their season 6-5.

Hawaii blocked a late field goal to edge Fresno State 14-13.

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Game Day BYU--November 19th, 2016

Good Morning from Provo, UT. Our motel is withing walking distance of Cougar Stadium, so we'll be hiking up to the game. Hope to see some other UMass fans.

Another week another Power Five team. BYU would hold its own in the Big12. Last week, with their running backs injured, BYU went back to their pass-every-down roots and threw for over 400 yards. The Cougars have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball.

Hopefully, the bye week allowed UMass to get some players back. Getting Da'Sean Downey back would really help the defense as would Tedrick Lowery. Downey has 7.5 TFL and 5 SACKS in eight GP. Lowery has 31 TT in six GP.

The Minutemen need to avoid turnovers and stop those five minute meltdowns when everything goes wrong.

If you're watching on ESPN3, Mrs Blog and I will be the couple in Maroon & White.

Go UMass!!!

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Matty Vautour reports UMass heads into a two road-game finale for their 2016 season.

The Salt Lake Tribune says the Cougars are focusing on momentum and improvement.

The Deseret News has media and other facts about today's game.

Vanquish the foe has betting lines, computer projections and power rankings for the Minutemen-Cougars game.

KSL.com features UMass TE Adam Breneman as the Minutemen's offensive leader.

Wager Talk.com says take UMass and the points.

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