J.J. Moore retruns to action

Jeff Thomas of the Springfield Republican has an article about J.J. Moore here .

Article on Marcel Shipp

Ted Ribeiro of the Springfield Republican has an article on former UMass great Marcel Shipp.

Wish Shipp could be in a situation where he could show what he can do. With his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, he'd do well a third down back. His Cardinal's bio is here .

Computer Rankings

Computer rankings have to be taken with several grains of salt, but they can be fun to follow (and to agree/disagree with).

Jeff Sagarin ranks UMass #8 in I-AA preseason. A guy named Keeper has us ranked #2 in I-AA.

This link goes to a page with over 20 links to various college football ranking services/pages (not all of them include I-AA).

Article on Matt Lawrence and Darnel Delaire

The Bloomfield Journal has an article by Woody (and yes that's a great name for a sports writer) Dixon that mentions Matt Lawrence and Darnel Delaire . Lawrence has been profiled here before. Delaire is a So. Defensive lineman who goes 6-2 238.

The image of Darnel is from the UMass website.

Two Spencer MA grads play together at UMass

Brendon Hall of the Worcester Telegraph has an article on teammates David Burris DE Jr 6-0 242 and Anthony Monette DE Fr. 6-2 240.

Burris, a former walk-on has played very well for UMass. In 2006 he had 20 UT 29 AT 49 TT 2.5 Sacks and 8.5 TFL. He has been a force on the defensive line.

Monette shared the 2005 Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year award. He looks like he has a bright future with the Minutemen.

Matt Lawrence and Tim Washington hope to make an impact in 2006

Desmond Conner of the Hartford Corant has an article on Tim Washington and Matt Lawrence.

Interesting tidbit in the article is that Washington has petitioned the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility.

The above image is of Washington being interview at the 2006 Media Day.

I was at the Richmond game last year when Lawrence was injured. He should have an immediate impact on the UMass running game now that he's healthy.

Questions and Answers from a Navy Blogger

Navy Blogger Adam Nettina proves age in no barrier to running a high quality Fan Blog. He edits the Navy-centric PITCH RIGHT .

This Blog appeared in a question an answer session in PITCH RIGHT on Thursday August 10th (Scroll down) discussing UMass Football for the Navy fans.

Today Adam returns the favor by giving us some insights into Navy Football. Welcome Adam!

First, tell us some details about yourself. It says in your Blog “Pitch Right” that you’re not a Navy grad. How did you get involved in Navy football and what about the Midshipmen makes you passionate enough to write a dedicated blog?

Firstly, I’m not a grad because I’m only seventeen years old. Once readers get pass that shocking piece of news, I think anyone will realize Navy football and I have had a special relationship all of my relatively short life. I’m actually told my first Army-Navy game was three days before I was born. I’ve lived in the Baltimore metro area all my life, and have been going to Navy games since my earliest days. In the beginning there was no real connection. My father was a huge football fan living in a city without a pro team, and loved the atmosphere of Navy games. As I grew older, I took a more active role as a fan. It wasn’t until 2003 though that I really became the fan I am today. That summer I attended the Naval Academy Football camp and was able to play with some of the top recruits for the program. It was the first time I ever heard Coach Johnson speech and the first time I had ever spent time on campus. Since then I’ve been a season ticket holder with my father. My blog, Pitch Right, was actually started on a whim shortly after the end of the season last year. I had envisioned it as just a place I could record my thoughts and kick around some ideas, but it has grown into a great place to develop my love for college football and interact with Navy fans worldwide. As for a future in the Navy, I’m actually awaiting a response to my NROTC application I recently sent in, and with enough luck will be able to attend college next year on track to eventually become an officer.

One of best things for fans of a I-AA team playing a I-A team is visiting a I-A stadium with its big crowds. Last year UMass was the second biggest draw on Army’s home schedule. From talking to UMass fans, it seems that Navy will be looking at a fair amount of Maroon and White in the visiting section. Tell us about the Navy game day traditions.

Being at a Navy game is great; the experience, in my opinion, is better then any other college program in the country. From the pre-game flyovers to the march onto the field, pregame is in fact an entity of its own. Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium has got to be one of the nation’s best kept stadium secrets. It’s much more then a great place to watch football, it’s also a memorial to the fighting men and women of past generations.

Until recently, pundits in I-A (and some in I-AA) were saying that the service academies could not be successful in the modern era because they could not recruit the type of player needed to compete. Do you feel that the resurgence of Navy under Paul Johnson and the return to respectability of Army under Bobby Ross has proved the service academies can win at the I-A level?

The short answer? Yes, I believe the Service Academy’s (SA’s) can win at the I-A level. You’ve also got to remember that Fisher DeBerry is only two years removed from a 7-5 season and looks to have the Air Force Falcons on the rebound this year. Of course coaching has a good deal to do with what people figure as the resurgence (Navy) and impending resurgence (Army) of the SA’s, but I think the pundits often overlook the quality of players these schools get. The three Academies often compete over the same guys in terms of recruiting, but people need to understand that there are some talented kids in that pool. Right now Navy has a clear advantage over Air Force and Army in terms of recruiting, but all three of these programs have decent shots at winning seasons this year. While SA’s can win at the I-A level, it remains to be seen if they can compete at the elite level. Air Force was able to crack the polls numerous times in the 80s and 90s, and this season Navy could even slip into the 20-25 range if they play their cards right.

Let talk some football. Navy will have a new QB this season. Who will it be and why?

The new Quarterback will be Senior Brian Hampton. Hampton saw duty in several games last year when then-starter Lamar Owens was out due to cramping. He lead scoring drives against Stanford, Kent State, and Notre Dame, and brings a lot to the table. For starters he throws a good ball, and can be very accurate. While not as fast as his predecessor Lamar Owens, he’s bigger and stronger and shows some great moves in the open field. As long as he makes good reads on the options, he has all the physical tools to lead this team to a winning season. Brian looked very good at Saturday’s scrimmage, making some great reads and having a big day rushing and throwing the ball. Behind him sit three very talented backups, two of which bring great athleticism to the table. If Hampton his injured, Junior Troy Goss will be asked to take his place. Goss runs the option the best of the four, but isn’t the best overall athlete. Behind him are two Sophomores in Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada (Kaipo) and Jarrod Bryant (Mr. Football). Both are extremely talented athletes who will likely play other positions this year, but are slated to become huge contributors in a year or two. I’m going to take this opportunity to rep Jarrod Bryant, who I think has an incredibly bright future ahead of him. The guy has a great arm, puts ball right on the money, and has Michael Vick like moves out on the field. He was Mr. Football in Alabama in 2004 at the famed Hoover High, and may see some time at Slot Back this season.

When everyone talks about Navy they talk the spread option. Can Navy pass? If so, who should we look for?

I am happy to report that Navy can pass, and that when Navy does pass, we pass very well. Because Navy rushes as much as they do, often times you will see the Wide Receivers and Slot Backs draw single coverage when in fact the team does pass. The QB will either pass out of a straight drop or out of the triple option, in which he will roll out but pull back to survey the field. The latter is particularly hard to defend, especially if the Safety over-commits on what he thinks is the option. Navy’s number one wideout is Jason Tomlinson, who caught 25 passes last year for 445 yards and a score . Either Tyree Barnes (6 catches, 154 yards, 2 TDs) or OJ Washington will start opposite of Tomlinson. Barnes has good size at 6’2, but Washington is arguably the better blocker. Navy’s slotbacks also haul in passes, and both the starters and backups have track caliber speed. Slotback Reggie Campbell caught 12 balls last year for 314 yards (26. 2 avg!) and 2 TDs. As this Navy offense continues to get more comfortable in its execution, look for the team to open up the playbook more with some passes.

Looking over the Navy defense it seems you are loaded with seniors. One thing UMass and Navy might have in common is we don’t have a lot of size up front. What is Navy’s base defense? Who are the best players?

Navy plays a base 3-4. The prevailing wisdom is that our defense has been marginal to weak over the past few seasons, but I really think this is going to be a special year. Our linebacking corps is by far the best facet of the D. We return the Nation’s second leading tackler in ILB Rob Caldwell (144 Tkls last year) and two ultra athletic OLB’s in Tyler Tidwell (67 tckls, 10 sacks, 9 tfls) and David Mahoney (76 tckls, 8 sacks, 8 tfls). The unit will break in a new ILB, which figures to be either Joe Cylc or Clint Sovie. After watching this unit stonewall our offense early in Saturday’s scrimmage, it’s clear they should frustrate some opposing offenses this season. Caldwell has a hard nose for contact, while Tidwell, Mahoney, and Sovie all bring great athleticism and aggressiveness to the unit. The defensive line figures to be much improved this year, with a beefed up defensive line. The line struggled to develop a pass rush at time last year, and going into the season will be question mark for the defense. The secondary returns several athletic and very talented players, including senior cornerbacks Jeremy McGowen and Keenan Little, who both were highly touted players out of High School. Free safety DuJuan Price was hampered by injuries last year, but is a fierce hitter who picked off a pass at Maryland last season. The Rover will be Ketric Buffin, who at only 5-7 may be the most physical part of this secondary. Depth may be a problem after Cornerback Greg Thrasher decided to sit out the season for academic reasons, so don’t be surprised if you see some converted safeties or freshmen running seeing some time at cornerback. All in all, this looks like it will be the best defense in the Paul Johnson era.

Navy plays Stanford the game after UMass. Stanford lost to a I-AA team last year. Do you think Navy will take the UMass game seriously?

I think they have to. You have to understand Coach Johnson’s mindset. This is a guy who got his team worried about facing a winless Rice team last year. He keeps the guys very humble and very well focused, and is sure to remind the seniors here about their loss to Delaware in 2003. We Navy fans take an attitude that the “next game” is always the :most important game,” so I think it’s safe to say for at least a week UMass will be the most important game on our schedule. Having talked to a number of the players a couple weeks ago, I can tell you they only have the utmost respect for what they consider a tough slate of teams they will face this year.

What is your prediction for the game and why?

I think Navy is just going to be too much for UMASS to handle. The team is well coached and well focused, and the overall talent level here is better then the 2003 team that loss to Delaware (who won the Div I-AA Title that year.) I think this game has the potential to be close up into the 3^rd quarter, but to tell you the truth I’d be surprised if this one went into the 4^th quarter with both teams still having a shot. I think the Navy defense has enough speed to cause some problems for the Minute Men, and should be able to force a few turnovers. Navy just has too much speed on offense, and as usual, the triple option offense carries the Mids to victory. I’m going with Navy 42-UMass 21.

Thanks Adam for taking the time to visit with us. UMass fans are excited about visiting the Naval Academy and we'll be talking more about Navy as the game gets closer.

Field Turf Blog V

If another Field Turf update won't send you screaming into the night, I visited McGuirk yesterday and took a look at the field turf now that the composite has been installed.

Interesting! During one of my previous visits, I (ahem) liberated a scrap of the field turf. The plastic field turf blades were measured to be about 2 inches long.

The composite, as installed on McGuirk, fills the space between the blades almost completely. Only about 3/8 to 1/2 inch of the plastic blades protrude from the composite.

That explains the amazing durability of the field turf. The players are actually standing on the composite, not the field turf. Pretty neat engineering.

The feel of the field turf was solid, but slightly "springy". I can see why football players like the stuff. There is a strong smell of new tires.

Two more field turf images follow this post.

As usual, Right Click for a larger view.

Field Turf with composite

Close up of Field Turf

Four Quarterbacks

UMass opens training camp with four quarterbacks:

1. Liam Coen 6-2 205 should have been the A10 Rookie-of-the-Year. His average Efficiency rating (137.5) was #2 in the nation for freshman. 274-175-7. Completed 63.9 of his passes. Averaged 217.5/yards per game
2. Scott Woodard 6-3 195. Was UMass' Scout team Player-of-the-Year. DNP in 2005.
3. Joe Sanford 6-2 208. Transferred from Virginia. Prior blogs have discussed Sanford. Scroll down.
4. David Chervansky 6-1 200. Previously signed with Wagner . In high school he ran a 5.1 and benched 250. Was 1st Team all FCHAC Defense.

I would think Scott Woodard would be solidly in the lead for the #2 QB.

Composite installation

The following images are courtesy of Dennis Hodgkins, who kindly sent this blog the images.

Thanks Dennis!

I'll be in Amherst tomorrow and will try to stop by the stadium to view the completed masterpiece :)

As usual Right Click on any image for a larger view!

Turf images IV Close-up of the Composite

Turf Images IV Spreading the Composite

Turf images IV Grooming the Composite

Turf Images IV Installing the composite

Two Previews

Two previews for your Saturday morning reading. My friend at the Colgate Blog has a preview of this year's Colgate team. It's here .

Matt Dougherty of Sporting New has his 2006 Atlantic 10 preview here . Both are worth your time.

UMass opens training camp

The UMass Athletic Dept site has a report and image gallery from the first two days of UMass training camp here .

The article covers some of the stuff we've been talking about here over the last couple day. It confirms that Heath Heekin has been cleared to join practice. Two other walk-on's have joined the team.

Andrew Kervis seeks to join UMass

Matt Vautour has an article on the start of practice for the 2006 UMass football team here (registration required, but worth it).

He has some information about the transfers discussed in my Blog earlier today. Scroll down.

He also indicates that Andrew Kervis a 6-5 235 pd DE from New Berlin NY is seeking to join the Minutemen. This blog originally covered Andrew back on December 5th, 2005 . I then covered his choosing of Eastern Michigan .

Kervis is a Rivals two star recruit with very good speed. He would be an excellent addition to the UMass roster.

Welcome back Andy! Sometimes making the right choice takes a while.

I'll add an image later. Blogger is not doing images right now...

UMass adds three I-A transfers

UMass has added three transfers from I-A colleges. Matty Vautour has an article here about the trio (registration required).

Joining UMass will be Joe Sanford a 6-2 208 pd QB from Bridgeton Academy in Virginia. He originally walked on at I-A Virginia. His Virginia bio is here . He threw for 4,310 yards in high school and was 2nd team All-State. The circumstances of his leaving UVA are here . He will have four years of eligibility.

Also joining UMass is Courtney Robinson a 5-11 190 pd DB from Lake Worth FL by way of UConn. He will be the fourth UConn player to join UMass. His UConn bio is here . Robinson was 1st team All-County and honorable Mention All-area.

Note this quote from a poster on the I-AA message board:"Courtney Robinson BTW, is a damn good CB from Florida. When Charlie Weis took over ND he tried to get Robinson late in the recruiting season but Robinson stuck with UConn. He saw plenty of action last season and had some good plays against Louisville."

The third player is Heath Heekin a 6-3 325 pd OL from Riverside Community College. He spent a a red-shirt year at UNLV (generic UNLV football page). I could not find any specific bio page for him. UMass in now up to fifteen offensive linemen.

2006 seaon begins as UMass opens training camp.

UMass opened its training camp yesterday at 8:30 pm. See this article by the Springfield Republican.

More FieldTurf images

Well an appointment with a dermatologist on Stadium drive earned me four stitches in my face, but it was a good excuse to make another visit to the stadium.

These images are of the decals, which were installed last week. The sand and rubber composit has not yet been installed as of Tuesday.

Right Click for a larger view.

UPDATE: The UMass website now has a image gallery here .

UPDATE II: The Springfield Republican has an article about the field renovations here .

Endzone decal from the field

Detail in endzone decal

Cneter logo from the stands

"UM" logofrom the field

Detail on "UM" logo

Detail on yardline numbers

North Endzone

View from the top

UMass ranked #10 in Sports Network Poll

UMass has been ranked #10 in the Sports Network Pre-Season poll. The UMass athletic dept site has an article here .

I-AA.org has a consolidated poll here . This poll averages all the other polls. At I-AA.org UMass is tied for #10 with Delaware. Our highest preseason ranking was #8 by Matt Dougherty and the lowest was #23 by Street and Smith .

UMass adds Holy Cross and Boston College for 2007

Wow! Big doin's from the UMass Athletic Dept. UMass has added a two year series with long time rival Holy Cross and a meeting with Boston College.

The Athletic Dept 's article is here .

From that article:

"2007 UMass NON-CONFERENCE Football Schedule Day Date Opponent Saturday September 1 HOLY CROSS McGuirk Stadium Saturday September 8 at Colgate Hamilton, N.Y. Saturday September 29 at Boston College Chestnut Hill, Mass."

Kudos to AD John McCutcheon! Two in-state game save travel money and renew old rivals. This is excellent news!

Update Tuesday 08/08/06: The Springfield Republican has an article about the OOC for the next two years.

UMass adds another Rutgers Transfer

UMass has added Carlos Feliciano a 6-5 295 pd OL from Egg Harbor NJ. He spent a semester at Fork Union Military Academy (a source of a number of UMass players) and a year at Rutgers.

His Rutgers bio is here .

Looks like Coach Brown is stocking up on OL.

Welcome to UMass Carlos! May you have a great career with the Minutemen.

Field Turf update III

I ventured down to Amherst to check on the status of the field turf installation. The UMass Athletic Dept has an article and image gallery here .

I was lucky enough to talk with the site manager of the installation crew. The job is being handled by Northeast Turf Co. They have a website here .

The manager was somewhat nervous about being misquoted. Therefore I wish it to be known that any inaccuracies, mis-statements or errors are totally and completely the fault of this Blog.

About the field turf:

* The UMass installation is the latest and best that FieldTurf has to offer
* The surface is very durable. Some urban high schools fields are used 24/7 with very little wear even after years of use.
* The surface can be plowed if it snows. The procedure is to mount a piece of PVC plastic pipe on the edge of the blade of the snow plow.
* There is a slight crown on the UMass field, but that is strictly cosmetic, so that traditionalists will not get anxious. The field can be installed perfectly flat and will still handle >5 inches of rain/hour.
* The endzone decals and the numerals will have black and silver shading and will be "beautiful"
* The center decal will be "UM"
* The decals are bonded over the top of the field turf on clipped section. The decals have the colors built in. They will not fade.
* The sand and rubber composite material under the blades of the turf is installed by an other crew from the same company. They need good weather to do that.
* The sand and rubber composite are already on site. The decals should arrive next week.

Right click on the image for a larger view. If your cursor shows a "+" sign, you can click again for yet a larger view.

Scraps

Looking down the Field

View from the South Endzone

View from thehome side

View from the top

View from the Concourse

View from the visiting side

They're not mowing----They're vacuuming up loose particles

Northeast Turf is doing the installation

The vivid colors are built into the FieldTurf

The EndZone decales will look like this (without the Football)

Article about the extended family of Coach Picucci

Ed Hogan of the Leominster Champion has a nice article about the extended family of UMass Coach Brian Picucci.

Especially interesting if you are a veteran and come from the New England immigrant tradition like this blog.

A10 Media day articles

Whoa! I spend the summer wringing the search engines for UMass football news and find a trickle of information. Then all at once we've got lots of material.

UMass has an article covering the A10 media day here. The Atlantic 10 has its own article here . Matt Vautour of the Hampshire Gazette weighs in here (registration required).

The Boston Herald has coverage here .

The Daily News as a good article covering the always quotable Micky Mathews of JMU and Coach Brown.

Coach Brown at A10 Media Day

The Official UMass Football Page has a gallery of images from the A10 Media day here.

Coach Brown was interviewed by a "who's who" of I-AA media scribes.

UMass was picked 2nd (pdf file) in the A10 North and received five first place votes.

UNH was picked first in the A10 North with 30 votes and JMU was picked first in the A10 South with 17 votes.

UMass adds three I-A transfers

Jeff Thomas of the Springfield Republican has an article confirming that UMass has added three I-A transfers.

I have already blogged about Syracuse transfer Tim Washington a 5-9 209 running back.

New to the roster is E.J. Barthel a 6-1 240 pd Fullback from Becton, NJ who was previously at Rutgers He will be a junior.

Also added to the UMass roster is Brad Listorti , a 6-4 244 pd TE also from Rutgers. He is from West Haven CT.

UMass TV Schedule Update #3

In my last TV post yesterday (scroll down) I reported that CSTV will air UMass-Rhode Island as a tape delay game .

Today the A10 reported the UMass-Rhode Island game will be televised real time by the Emmy winning A10 TV network. UMass-Rhode Island is one of three A10 TV Network games in 2006. The A10 does an excellent job with these games, which is why they have been winning Emmies for the production values.

A10 teams will appear in 22 televised games this year. The complete list of TV games is here .

A10 Media broadcast Update!

UPDATE: The Atlantic 10 media day internet broadcast has been moved up to 10:05 today.

Coach Brown is the first speaker! He will speak at 10:05.

Listen here .

The A10 link does not work for me.

The direct WRHU (listed in my previous post) is working. It's here.

Don Hansen's Gazette picks Miller and Koegel Pre Season All-Americans

Don Hansen's Gazette has picked Alex Miller 2nd team and Christian Koegel "Honorable Mention" preseason All-Americans.

The article is here . Note it's pdf format.

Five UMass Football games to be televised

The UMass Football Blog brings you news that CSTV has added a third UMass Game to its 2006 football schedule.

UMass-Rhode Island will be shown tape-delay on Sunday Oct 22nd at 2:00 pm.

This news has not yet hit the Official UMass Football schedule site.