Thursday, October 31, 2019

UMass Football recruiting 2020--Jack Gabbe verbals to UMass

Hudl.com image
Jack Gabbe, kicker/punter from Cardinal Neuman has announced he's committed to UMass.

Kohl's Kicking Camps had this to say about Gabbe:

"Gabbe recently competed at the 2019 Senior Challenge. He had a solid showing and has made significant improvements in his punting technique and refinement. He scored 6 points in the field goal charting ans was able to have a big ball of 73 yards with 3.76 seconds of hang time. Gabbe competed at the 2018 National Scholarship Camp. He showed excellent refinement in his ball striking by scoring 26 points during the charting portion of camps. His big ball on kickoffs was a 69 yard 3.47 second ball. His field goals are currently his strength but his kickoffs were solid at camp as well."

Hudl.com has video.

His father was UMass letter winner in 1988,'89 and 1990.

I mentioned his father in this blog post from May 4th, 2014.

UMass Football News--Cotober 31st, 2019


This video is from the Gridiron Club. It details the support the Manganaro family has shown to the UMass football program and the athletic dept in general.

Paul Manganaro was a four-year letter winner in 1982, '83,'85 and was captain in 1986.

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UMass has their game notes for Liberty up.

A Sea of Red has Liberty's game notes.

Speaking of Sea of Red, Mike Traini has five questions with them.

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The UMass Daily Collegian has a post featuring LB Tyris Lebeau. His UMass bio.

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The Daily Hoosier says Northwestern shows success can be fleeting.

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Vanquish the Foe says BYU is facing a program-defining game this weekend.

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Wednesday, October 30, 2019

UMass Football News--October 30th, 2019

Image Credit unknown
Saturday will be Band Day and Military appreciation day. UMass Band Day page.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" recaps the UConn game.

Mike also has recruiting visitors at the Homecoming game.

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A Sea of Red says the UMass game is a "must win" for the Flames.

Hugh Freeze talks about rebounding after the Rutgers loss and mounting injuries.

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Army searches for answers after four straight losses.

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Northwestern's five-star QB Hunter Johnson has been sitting out due to a family health issue.

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The Salt Lake Tribune reports BYU hopes for consistency after a big win over Boise State.

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Tuesday, October 29, 2019

UMass Football News--October 29th, 2019

UMass is dead last in 2019 FBS rushing defense. The Minutemen give up 6.57 yards/carry and we are last in giving up rushing TD's (27) by a wide margin.

The Minutemen are also dead last in total defense: 7.71 yards/play, 54 opponent TD's and 552.5 yards a game opponent offense. All those stats are last by a wide margin.

BC holds the UMass opponent single game rushing record of 518 yards (1973). Boston University holds the opponent rushing TD record of 10 (1957). Both those records might be in jeopardy against Army this year.

UMass is tied for #118 in sacks with 9 sacks in 8 games.

The Minutemen are tied for #115 in tackles-for-loss with 37 TTFL, 4.5 per game.

UMass is #117 in total offense. The Minutemen are #91 in rushing offense.

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BYU and Liberty on November 9th will be available on ESPNU.

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Air Force is highly motivated for their game against Army.

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Northwestern searches for answers in its last five games.

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BYU meets Utah State in the Wagon Wheel showdown.

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Monday, October 28, 2019

UMass Football News--October 28th, 2019

Vegas has Liberty as a 21 point favorite over UMass.

Keepers College Football Rankings has Liberty by almost 34.

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MassLive has UConn defeats UMass 55-35.

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The Hartford Courant says UMass and UConn will support each other as Independents.

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The Ashbury Park press reports Rutgers overwhelmed (?) Liberty 44-34.

NJ.com compares the recruiting classes of Liberty vs Rutgers.

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Inside NU reflects on Northwestern's 38-0 homecoming loss to Iowa.

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The Deseret News wonders if BYU has the most talented and deep group of QB's ever.

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BC coach Steve Addazio said the Eagles ran into a monster.

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Sunday, October 27, 2019

UMass Football News--October 27th, 2019

Well, the off seek did nothing for the Minuteman run defense. UConn decisively won the Battle of the Bottom behind Kevin Mensah and the Huskie running game. Every time a UConn running back made it past the line of scrimmage, it was off to the races. Nobody in the UMass linebacking corps had the speed to catch the UConn RB. The huskies only punted what, once? UMass really needs to get defensive coordinator Aazaar Abdul-Rahim some linebackers in the next recruiting class.


The offense did OK, but if you have to score every time to keep up, it's a long day.

The new practice bubble was glowing in the darkness as I left. Hopefully, its a metaphor for the future.

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The UMass write up says the offense was not enough.

The Hartford Courant reports UConn won their first FBS game in two years.

The UConn Blog says the Huskies won 56-35.

Josh Walfish reports UConn gashed the Minutemen defense.

Josh also says the return of Andrew Brito sparked the UMass passing offense to its first 200 yard game of the season. Brito got a lot of low snaps. It seemed every play he had to take his eyes off the play to field the snap. It didn't make any difference in winning the game, but it could have given Brito more time to make his reads.

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Southern Illinois beat South Dakota (not the ranked team, that's South Dakota State).

Charlotte scored with 48 seconds left to beat North Texas.

Akron lost to Northern Illinois 49-0 to go 0-8.

Middle Tennessee crushed FIU 50-17.

Rutgers upset Liberty 44-34.

Army lost to San Jose State to drop to 3-5.

Louisiana Tech beat UTEP for their seventh straight win.

Northwestern was shut out buy Iowa 20-0 to fall to 1-6.

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BC was crushed by Clemson 59-7.

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Saturday, October 26, 2019

Game Day 2020--UConn


UMass and UConn first met in 1897 (a 37-0 UMass win) and the series stands 37-34-2 in favor of the Minutemen. I saw my first Minutemen-Huskies game back in 1970. The series is back. I'll be there cheering for UMass.

We've got some people healthy during the off week. Some good QB play and a strong run game could win the game. Let's get after the Huskies.

Go UMass!

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The Berkshire Eagle says UMass is ready to renew the rivalry with UConn.

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The Hartford Courant previews the UMass-UConn game.

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Tom Morris image
Josh Walfish chronicles the rise of Josh Wallace to starting cornerback for the Minutemen.

The Daily Collegian reports Josh Wallace is making an impact in his freshman year.

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The Daily Collegian also has a post on Josiah Johnson showing his versatility on the field.

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Ole Miss and UConn will meet in 2020.

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Friday, October 25, 2019

UMass Football News--October 25th, 2019


 The new practice field has the winter bubble near completion. This will be a big help for the football program and UMass athletics in general.

UPDATE: Woah!



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UMass game notes for UConn.

UConn website says the Huskies have a great opportunity at UMass.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the UMass-UConn rivalry game.

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UMass adds FCS Merrimack to its 2023 schedule. The Minutemen have a complete schedule for 2020, 2021 and 2022. UMass currently has ten games for 2013 and 2024. All scheduled future games here.

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The Hartford Courant looks at UConn's game contracts for 2020 and beyond.

The UConn Blog (good name) also looks at the Huskies 2020 schedule.

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Matty Vautour looks at Randy Edsall's fairly bizarre coaching contract.

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NJ.com writers predict the results of the Liberty-Rutgers game.

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Thursday, October 24, 2019

UMass Football News--October 24th, 2019


Josh Walfish has a story on UMass and UConn being linked as Independents.

There's been some talk about having a trophy for the Huskies-Minutemen game now seeing it will probably be an annual event. Maybe there could be another trophy for overall wins between the athletic departments. UMass men's sports play UConn in football, baseball and hockey. Minutemen women's sports play the Huskies in field hockey and soccer.

The last time UMass and UConn met at McGuirk on November 20th, 1999, the Minutemen won 62-20 (I was there).

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Amin Touri reports freshman RB Kevin Brown has been dismissed from the team. This makes an already thin RB corps even thinner. Like the suspension of Ray Thomas-Ishman, the team needs to take care of business in discipline, academics and good citizenship if we are to get UMass football turned around.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on Brown's departure

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Speaking of an annual UMass-UConn game, here's what the Huskies 2020 schedule looks like.

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Rutgers is a 7.5 point underdog to Liberty.

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Army is a 9 point favorite over San Jose State.

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Wednesday, October 23, 2019

UMass Football News--October 23ed, 2019

Josh Walfish reports UMass has been focusing on getting healthy during the off week . He says DL Wilson Frederic, LB Tyrus Lebeau and CB Donte Lindsey should be available. Josh also reports Isaiah Rogers is on the mend.

Tyrus Lebeau was a starter coming out of camp and he should be a big help to the Minutmen's beleaguered linebacking corps. Josh also reports all three QB's should be available if needed.

There had been no word on Isaiah Rogers injury so it's good he's doing well even if he's not 100%. A season ending injury would be a big loss for him and us.

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Andy Isabella caught his first two catches of his career and Tajae Sharpe caught his first TD of the 2019 season. Isabella went two-for-two in targets-catches and also had a first down on a jet sweep.

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Amin Touri of the Daily Collegian has a really nice story about the UMass coaches and their families. Well worth a read.

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Sports Chat Place picks UConn 37-23 over the Minutemen.

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Randy Edsall says his players aren't as "mentally tough" as before.

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The Ashbury Park Press reports Liberty wants to make Rutgers' tough season worse.

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Inside NU said Ohio State's dismantling of the Wildcats leaves them dead in the water.

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Tuesday, October 22, 2019

UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Dennis Jackson

Jackson #98/Twitter image
Denis Jackson, a 6-0 308 pound DT from Hutchinson Community College has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Jackson also has a FBS offer from Southern Alabama.

UMass Football News--October 22nd, 2019

Keepers College Football ratings has UConn a nearly 22 point favorite over UMass.

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The AAC receives a NCAA waiver to continue having its conference championship after UConn leaves.

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The Republican American says UConn's lineup continues to get younger.

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A Sea of Red says Liberty is predicted to win nine games this year.

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Iowa opens as a favorite over Northwestern.

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BYU's win over Boise State may have cost the Mountain West conference $4 million.

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Monday, October 21, 2019

UMass Football News--October 21st, 2019

UMass opens as a 9.5 point underdog on the Vegas Line. Boston College is -34.5 to Clemson...

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UConn will be without starting DT Travis Jones for the half of the UMass game due to a targeting foul. Also likely to miss the UMass game are LB Ryan Gilmartin and safety Diamond Harrell.

UConn has 10 of 12 games on its 2020 Independent schedule finalized.

Huskie QB Jack Zergionis struggled in UConn's loss to Houston.

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Jack Driscoll still talks frequently with his friends on the Minutemen football team.

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Ten years after the stabbing death of UConn's Jasper Howard, his family publishes a book about him.

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Maine lost a shootout to Liberty Saturday.

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Northwestern's offensive and defensive lines mostly held their own against Ohio State, but the Wildcast still lost 52-3.

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BYU rallied around their coach to knock off #14 Boise State.

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Sunday, October 20, 2019

UMass Football News--October 20th, 2019

The Berkshire Eagle reports UMass is still busy during an off week.

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UConn may have played their best game of the season, but still dropped a 24-17 game to Houston . Half way through the fourth quarter the Husky defense had held Houston to 1-8 in third down situations

Southern Illinois upset #18 Youngstown State.

Western Kentucky sent Charlotte down to their fourth consecutive loss.

Coastal Carolina lost to Georgia Southern in triple overtime.

Akron fell to 0-7 after a 21-0 loss to Buffalo.

FIU won its third straight with a 32-17 win over the Miners of UTEP.

LA Tech started slow, but scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to pull away from Southern Mississippi.

Army lost to Georgia Southern 28-21. The Black Knights fell to 3-4. Preseason, some pundits had Army as a Top-25 team.

Northwestern lost to a dominate Ohio State team 49-3 on Friday night.

BYU scored a big upset over #14 Boise State.

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Saturday, October 19, 2019

UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Trey Coleman

Twitter image
Trey Coleman, a 5-11 213 pound RB from Hutchinson Community College has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Averaging 4.4 yards/carry at Hutchinson.

Transferred to Hutchinson from Tennessee.

Coleman was a top-50 running back coming out of HS. He currently has offers from Akron and Toledo

Friday, October 18, 2019

UMass Football Recruiting 2020--James Faminu

Twitter image
James Faminu, a 6-6 343 pound OT from London, England has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Attended camp at TCU.

This article reports on the NFL's launching an American football academy in London.

Also has a FBS offer from Houston.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

UMass Football News--October 17th, 2019

Josh Walfish looks at the results for 2019 by position groups .

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Marquis Young has been drafted by the Dallas Renegades of the soon-to-exist XFL

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UConn tries to pick up practice by playing the opponents fight song.

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Liberty (4-1 in 2019) hosts Maine this Saturday.

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Army's resurgence is partly the result of the Black Knights recruiting the Peach State.

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The top media discussion ahead of the Northwestern-Ohio State game is----------grass.

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Whoever starts for BYU at QB against Boise State will have his hands full.

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Wednesday, October 16, 2019

UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Chukwudifu Ogbonna



Chukwudifu Ogbanna, a 6-2 172 pound safety from Hutchinson Community College has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Ogbonna has an offer from Akron. Drawing interest from Arkansas State.

UMass Football News--October 16th, 2019

Dan McGee of the UMass Daily Collegian reports on the Minutemen's off week. He says Andrew Brito, Cam Roberson and Bilal Ally should be available for UConn. No word on Isaiah Rogers.

He also reports the coaching staff is traveling the nation for recruiting.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts' recaps the Louisiana Tech game.

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WMUA video interview with Coach Bell here.

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Northwestern will alternative uniforms during Saturday's game with Ohio State.

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The Deseret News says BYU's season is crumbling.

BYU faces Boise State with third string QB.

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Tuesday, October 15, 2019

UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Myron Green

Twitter image
Myron Green, a 6-3 255 pound DE from Coffeyville Community College has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Coffeyville bio and stats here.

Hudl.com has video.

Green has FBS offers from Troy, Louisiana and Louisiana Monroe.