Monday--January 2nd, 2017

Wow, 2017! Time travel is possible.

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Penn State QB Trace McSorley, who's playing in the Rose Bowl today. had a UMass offer.

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Don Brown gets a big raise and a five-year contract.

Brown has no fear about replacing players in his senior-laden defense.

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The MAC is 0-5 in bowls and undefeated Western Michigan is facing an uphill battle with Wisconsin today.

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NJ.com wonders what the Giants will do with Victor Cruz when the season is over.

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OT, but Boston College snapped a 664 day basketball losing streak.

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Recruiting 2018--Terrell Ware

Ware #5/ Logan Robinson image

Terrell Ware, a 6-1 176 pound CB from Jones HS in Orlando, FL has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass

MaxPreps has stats.

Hudl.com has video.

UMass is Ware's first FBS offer.

New Year's Day 2017

Mrs Blog and I wish all UMass football friends, family, players and coaches a "Happy New year". May 2017 bring health, happiness and peace.

The first thing in 2017 I'm looking forward to is Letter-of-Intent Day. Western Michigan went from 1-11 at the start of our venture into FBS football to the Cotton Bowl on Monday. They did it with four years of MAC-leading recruiting classes.

UMass, located in talent-arid New England will probably have to take more transfers and JUCO's than Western Michigan, but if they dramatically improved their talent level, we can do it too.

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WMU WR Corey Davis bypassed the NFL and has the Broncos in the Cotton Bowl.

Western Michigan is an eight point underdog to Wisconsin.

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Victor Cruz wins the George Young Good Guy Award.

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Saturday--December 31st 2016

Mike Traini reports that UMass CB James Allen has left the program. In 2016, Allen went 12-7 GP-GS 23 UT 10 AT 33 TT 1.0-2 TFL 5 BRUP.

Allen was also the Minutemen's primary punt returner. He went 12-102 8.% AVE 41 LONG. In kick returns he was second on the team with 22-426 19.4 AVE 39 LONG.

The Minutemen were #106 in the nation in passing yards allowed. The results were somewhat influenced by the fact UMass played three top-50 offenses (Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State and Old Dominion). However, I remember the Minutemen "D" getting beat over the top by the likes of Tulane and Hawaii. UMass finished #108 in total defense giving up an average of 35.5 points/game.

The return of Shane Huber and Tedrick Lowery should help the defense in 2017.

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Florida State scored 33 points on Don Brown's defense to win a wild Orange Bowl.

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Details of Randy Edsall's contract with UConn.

Edsall apologizes for how he left.

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Friday--December 30th, 2016

Well the big storm was a bust here in Jaffrey. Looks like we got about six inches or so. I'll go out and shovel after I finish the blog.

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AP image

UMass finished #124 out of 128 FBS teams in rushing offense. A good portion of that result was from the caliber of the opposition: Five Power Five teams plus BYU. Also remember sack yardage comes off the rushing total, which makes the results look worse.

I thought I'd look at the Minutemen's rushing results against the non-Power Five half of the schedule. Blogger does not do columns, so the results will look a little messy.

FIU 36-116 3.2 yards/carry 0 rushing TD's (win)

Tulane 24-131 5.5  yards/carry 1 rushing TD

Old Dominion 28-180 6.4 yards/carry 1 rushing TD

Louisiana Tech 33-131 4.0 yards/carry 1 rushing TD

Wagner 24-143 6.0 yards/carry 1 rushing TD (win)

Troy 28-44 1.6 yards/carry 1 rushing TD

Hawaii 34-117 3.4 yards/carry 2 rushing TD's

Total: 207-862 4.16 yards/carry 7 rushing TD's

Against Power Five teams 153-332 2.16 yards/carry 3 rushing TD's

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Good read about Don Brown and the origin of his pressure defense (hint: Whipple was involved).

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ESPN reports a growing number of Group-of-five officials want their own playoffs. UMass would be eligible as an independent along with Army.

The AAC commissioner is against the idea.

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The MAC is 0-5 in bowl games, but Western Michigan is in the highest rated bowl. This story relates how P.J. Fleck revived the Bronco's fortunes. It started with a season in which Western Michigan's only win was over UMass.

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Thursday--December 29th, 2016

UMass legend Dave Palazzi is football coach at Leominister. He's now the girls basketball coach too.

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USF is a double digit favorite over South Carolina in today's Birmingham Bowl. I believe UMass 2016 opponents are 7-0 in bowl games so far.

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The UConn blog looks at the many factors in the firing of Bob Diaco.

The Hartford Courant says Randy Edsall says he could have done things differently when he left the first time.

The UConn Blog says Edsall failed at Maryland, but he could work for the Huskies again.

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Recruiting 2017--Michael Smith II

I've blogged about Michael Smith, a 6-2 200 pound WR from Varo Beach, FL before.

This weekend, Smith received an offer from Norte Dame.

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Recruiting 2017--Tanis Joseph II

I've blogged about Tanis Joseph, a 6-4 285 pound OT from Ellsworth Community College before.

This weekend he picked up an offer from Nevada.

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Wednesday--December 28th 2016

UMass football blog image

UMass TE Adam Breneman was named to the Campus Insiders 2nd team All-American squad.

He was also named to the ECAC First Team FBS All-Stars.

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Victor Cruz opines on another Giants-Patriots Super Bowl.

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Randy Edsall to coach UConn for the second time?

Edsall, Joe Morehead and Greg Schiano favorites for the Huskies job.

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Tuesday--December 27th, 2016

UMass bowl opponents continued their roll in post season play. Minutemen bowl opponents are 7-0 so far.

Mississippi State beat Miami (Ohio) on a fairly bizarre field goal block with four seconds left. Why was it bizarre? Well, the gain winning block was a jail-break A-gap rush. The Bulldogs had done exactly the same thing earlier in the game to bock an extra point, which was the margin of victory.

BC held off a Maryland comeback to defeat the Terps 36-30.

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In New England, the big news was UConn fired Bob Diaco. I wanted Diaco coaching at UConn for a long time :)

Fox Sports has five potential candidates for the NC job at UConn.

In the short term this may help UMass as they may be able to poach some of UConn's verbals.

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Victor Cruz wants to retire with the Giants (warning annoying audio ad content)

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Recruiting 2017--Daewood Davis

Sleeper athletes image

According to 247Sports Daewood Davis received a recruiting visit recently from UMass coach Charles Walker.

247 Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Rivals three-star player.

Davis is currently committed to USF, but they had a coaching change.

Davis has 18 FBS offers including Syracuse from the Northeast.

Monday--December 26th, 2016

UMass 2016 opponents continued their bowl run this weekend. Hawaii scored 52 points on Middle Tennessee State to win the Home Town Bowl.

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Two more Minutemen opponents play today.

Mississippi State meets Miami (Ohio) at 11:00 EST on ESPN.

Boston College meets Maryland at 2:30 EST in scenic Detroit.

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Rhode Island struggles with results of a dismal season which included an 84-7 loss to JMU.

Salve Regina was the top team in the Ocean State this year.

Speaking of JMU, the Dukes are playing in the FCS national championship game with seven players suspended.

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Nice article about Victor Cruz from the NY Post.

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Christmas Day--2016

Mrs Blog and I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays. Hope Christmas brings health, happiness and peace to all.

And Santa, if you could bring a few more wins in 2017, the long-suffering UMass fans will be forever grateful...

Saturday--December 24th, 2016

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UMass 2016 opponents continue on a roll during bowl games.

Old Dominion beat Eastern Michigan (yes, Eastern Michigan). First ever bowl win for the Monarchs.

I watched Louisiana Tech edge Navy in a terrific bowl game.

Neal Brown's Troy team beat Ohio in Dollar General Bowl.

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Not surprisingly, Troy wants to give Neal Brown and his coaches a contract extension.

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A loaded Appalachian State teams has high hopes for the 2017 season.

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Hawaii plays tonight at home against Middle Tennessee State.

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Recruiting 2017--Dorian Jones III

Twitter image

I've blogged about Dorian Jones, a 5-10 DB from Ocoee HS in Florida twice before. Jones had a UMass offer since Spring.

Jones had committed to Georgia State, but they have changed coaches.

Jones has announced on Twitter, he's reopened his recruiting.

247Sports three-star player. Hudl.com has senior highlights.

Besides UMass, Jones had offers from Air Force, Buffalo, Charlotte, NC State, Texas San-Antonio and Tulane.

Recruiting 2017--Maxi Hradecny II

Twitter image

I blogged about Maxi Hradecny, a 6-3 312 pound DL from Austria before.

UMass was the first to offer to Hradecny during his American visit.

This article updates his recruiting. He ended up with offers from MAC teams Akron and Kent State as well as two FCS teams. The article reports an unnamed Big 10 team is also offering.

Thursday--December 22nd, 2016

This article by the Las Cruces Sun-Times discusses New Mexico State's move to independent status and has an extensive interview with UMass AD Ryan Bamford on scheduling as an independent.

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In bowl games with a UMass interest, 2017 opponent Appalachian State beat Toledo to finish at 10-3.

BYU squeaked by Wyoming 24-21 in a rare rainy night in San Diego. BYU's Jamaal Wiliams (who didn't play against UMass) ran for 210 yards.

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The major reason the Big 12 was looking to expand was to increase the league's chances of getting into  the College Playoffs. The playoff committed snubbed the Big 12's champion again this year.

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College football's Top-25 ranked by academics. #2 may surprise you.

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Recruiting 2018--Kevin Moran

Hudl.com image

Kevin Moran, a 5-10 170 DB/WR/Athlete from Orlando, FL has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

Hudl.com has video.

UMass is the first offer for Moran.

Wednesday--December 21st, 2016

Robert Samuels image

UMass LB comit Mike Ruane has been named Shore Sports Network Defensive Player-of-the-Year.

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With Malik Zaire transferring our, next man up for Notre Dame is Brandon Wimbush, who's experience is limited to games against UMass and Pitt.

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Sports Illustrated says the college bowl system is thriving.

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Clemson QB Deshaun Watson says "he's the best player in the country".

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Recruiting 2017--Mike Curtis makes it official

Texas QB Mike Curtis signs letter of intent and will be on campus for Spring Ball.

MassLive has a post on Curtis' signing.

Matty Vautour also covers Curtis's committing to UMass.

Unlike FCS teams, FBS schools usually recruit one QB each year. It usually takes a full year to recover from a torn ACL, so Ross Comis may not be available for Fall camp.

Welcome Mike and may you lead us to a big upset victory that Minutemen fans are yearning for.