Game Day -- Buffalo 2024

 

Well, UMass played a lot better at Toledo. Probably enough to beat a talented Rockets squad if the special teams mistakes and the big passing plays were subtracted. As it turned out it was a double-digit defeat and we've had a lot of those.

Today at Buffalo we have an opponent with a new coach. Against a decent Patriot League opponent Lafayette, the Bulls had 23 first downs and 403 yards of offense in a 30-13 win. Buffalo actually did a decent job against powerhouse Missouri. The Tigers were 9-15 on third downs and 1-2 on fourth. The Bulls made Missouri work for their 38 points.

Today, I think UMass can win this game. If we play like we did at Toledo and cut down on the mistakes, we're good enough to win. Road wins are hard to come by and a UMass victory would be a big morale booster both for the team and the battered egos of Minutemen fans.

I'll be watching and cheering for the Minutemen. Go UMass!!

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The Hampshire Gazette reports UMass continues its MAC road tour at Buffalo.

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The UMass Daily collegian uses the same metaphor in previewing the Buffalo game.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the Buffalo game and predicts UMass 28 Buffalo 23.

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Fox Sports predicts Buffalo 23 UMass 22. 

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Sports Chat Place thinks UMass will beat the spread. 

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UMass has the game day media details including streaming audio for those who don't have the CBS sports  channel.

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UMass Football News--September 13th, 2024

 Hustle Belt previews the UMass-Buffalo game.

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Covers says take the under in the Bulls-Minutemen game.

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Yard Barker previews a game between two of UMass' opponents: Toledo and Mississippi State.

The  Clarion predicts Bulldogs 37 Rockets 20.

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Former UMass RB Greg Desrosiers will probably see more action for Memphis as their starter is out for the season with a knee injury. 

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Sports Wire predicts Duke 44-UConn 8.

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The PAC-12 raids the Mountain West  for four teams to rebuild the league.

This will probably mean CUSA will be raided by the Mountain West for some of their western teams like New Mexico State.

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UMass Football News--September 12th, 2024

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" recaps the loss to Toledo.

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UMass adds Penn State  to their 2028 schedule. The Nittany Lions will be the second Power Four team for the Minutemen in 2028 as they will also play @ Colorado.

With a near 100% probability Coach Prime won't be there in 2028...

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Despite its loss to Toledo, UMass moves up one notch in the MAC Power Rankings after Week #2.

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USA Today predicts UMass 24 Buffalo 21.

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The Minutemen-Bulls game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network, available on many cable systems.

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Looks like the UMass' home game against Missouri may be a sellout. 

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UMass Football News--September 11th, 2024

Jakobie Keeney-James/Chris Tucci image

Don Brown's week #3 press conference.   

Josh Atwood also spoke at the presser.

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As of Week #2:

UMass is #89 in total offense. 

UMass is #119 in penalties.

UMass #70 in total defense. 

UMass is #110 in scoring offense. 

UMass is #114 in scoring defense.

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 Georgia remains #1, Missouri jumps to #6 and Northern Illinois, with their win over Notre Dame, leaps into the Top-25. Liberty is in the "receiving votes" list.

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Buffalo's 38-0 shutout against Missouri was the first time the Bulls had been held scoreless since 2016.

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UMass Football News--September 9th, 2024

 

OK, the mysteries of Mennonite Wi-Fi having been solved, I'm back in business.

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Vegas has Buffalo a 4.5 point favorite over the Minutemen.

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UMass has  its game notes up . 

Buffalo's game notes not up yet.

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The Athol Daily News report penalties plague 0-2 Minutemen.

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The Daily Collegian says its been feast or famine for the UMass pass defense. 

The Collegian also says UMass continues its MAC tour with Buffalo next.

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The Hampshire Gazette reports Don Brown reflects on the Toledo loss. 

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UMass Football Blog News--September 9th, 2024

 Traveling. I'm having connection problems. 

Be back soon.

UMass Football News--September 8th, 2024

Well the Minutemen lost, but showed signs of life against a talented and fast Toledo team in the Glass Bowl. UMass had nearly 400 yards of offense and Taisun Phommachanh was effective throwing and passing the ball. 

The UMass defense made the Toledo punt six times and held the Rockets to 83 yards rushing.

However the defense gave up some big plays for Toledo scores. Special teams doomed UMass' effort as the Rockets scored on a kick return in a play no UMass defender got even close to the returner. A botched on-side kick that ended up with a Toledo possession and an added 20 yards of penalties, which meant the Rockets were going to kick a field goal to make it a two-possession game anyway. UMass showed spirit and played well in spots, a big difference from the listless loss to Eastern Michigan.

On to Buffalo.

UMass write-up here.

The Rockets website says it was a hard-fought Toledo win. 

The Hampshire Gazette said big plays sunk the Minutemen.

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Wild Day for the MAC.

St Francis out muscled Kent State, running up 402 yards and upsetting the Golden Flashes.

And in an historic stunner, Northern Illinois beat the Irish at Nortre Dame.

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Eastern Michigan lost reasonably to Washington 30-9.

Central Connecticut State beat Fordham.

Miami (Ohio) had a bye.

Wagner lost to Lehigh 49-13.

Georgia beat Tennessee Tech 48-3. 

UConn demolished Merrimack 63-17.

Missouri held Buffalo to 169 total yards and won 38-0.

Western Michigan lost to Ohio State 56-0.

 

Game Day Toledo 2024

 

Well, UMass had a less than stellar start last week against Eastern Michigan. QB Taisun Phommachanh looked rusty. He needs to get the ball out a lot quicker. Fourteen points is not going to win a lot of football games.

The Minutemen did run the ball fairly well and they need to build on that. Toledo has a prolific offense and UMass needs to score in the low 30's to win the game.

The Minutemen defense played well enough to be close against Eastern Michigan. Getting a couple of turnovers would be a big help against the Rockets. Toledo is one of the best teams in the MAC and has stacked up well in the Group-of-Five over the last fifteen years. Winning in the Glass Bowl is a big challenge, but the Minutemen could make it an interesting game.

I'll be watching and cheering for the Minutemen. Go UMass!!

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the Toledo-UMass game and predicts a 33-17 Rockets victory.

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The Hampshire Gazette says UMass has a tall task against Toledo playing at home in the Glass Bowl.

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The Daily Collegian reports UMass heads to the Glass Bowl for a match-up with Toledo.

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Sports Chat Place think Toledo will cover the 20-point spread.

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The Game will be televised on ESPN+. Radio streaming will be available on WHMP's website.

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UMass Football News--September 5th, 2024

 The UMass Daily Collegian reports the Minutemen head towards the Glass Bowl for a matchup with Toledo.

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 The article is pay-walled but the Toledo Blade reports the Rockets will wear their all-gold uniforms for the UMass game.

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Hustle Belt previews the UMass-Toledo game. Hustle Belt actually does a nice job in these write-ups. It's refreshing to read an non-AI written sports article.

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Bleacher Nation looks at the computer projections for the UMass-Toledo game. Fun fact: the Rockets are 14-0 against the spread when they are 17.5 point favorites or more, which they are in this case.

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Winners and Whiners predicts Toledo will cover the spread.

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Hustle Belt also reports on the MAC conference's slate for week #2.

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UConn and the Big 12 have agreed to see other people.

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UMass Football News--September 5th, 2024

 

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" recaps the Eastern Michigan game.

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Real GM.com predicts Toledo 39 UMass 17.

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Hustle Belt has the MAC conference power rankings after Week #1.

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Hustle belt also previews two teams who will play UMass this year in Buffalo vs Missouri. 

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UMass is ranked #132 in the CBS FBS rankings after week #1.

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Florida State had multiple fans ejected from the stadium during the Seminoles loss to Boston College.

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UMass Football News--September 4th, 2024

 HUstle Belt has four takeaways from last week's MAC conference results (includes UMass-Eastern Michigan).

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Doc's sports says UMass will cover the spread.

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Sports Chat Place says Toledo will cover the -20 point spread.

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UConn's QB in their game against Merrimack will be a game time decision.

Yahoo Sports reports six of the Big 12 presidents are in favor of adding UConn.

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I watched the Georgia-Clemson game on DVR last evening. The Dogs looked like a national championship teams as they dominated Clemson 34-3.

Clemson, as you know, is loaded with four and five star recruits. I believe the Tigers landed the #1 overall recruit of the 2024 class. But in the second half, Georgia just ran them over. It's going to be a long day between the hedges for the Minutemen on November 23rd.

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UMass Football News--September 3rd, 2024

 UMass has it's game notes for Toledo up. The bottom of the page has the after game press questions from the Eastern Michigan game. There is also Don Brown's Monday morning press conference.

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The Rockets have their game notes for UMass up. Toledo has won seven straight games against the Minutemen.

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The Eastern Echo says EMU QB Cole Snyder shined against UMass.

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The UMass Daily Collegian has pros and cons from the Minutemen's opening loss to Eastern Michigan. 

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Week #1 produced some special teams highlights in the MAC conference.

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There is joy in the Heights as Boston College dominated Florida State last evening.

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UMass Football News--September 2nd, 2024

 Toledo opens as a 19.5 point favorite over the Minutemen.

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UMass-Toledo will be televised on ESPN+, which is $10.99/month.  I usually subscribe to ESPN+ in the fall and then cancel for the rest of the year.

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You've head the rumor that UConn and the Big Twelve are still interested?

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Boston College meets Florida State tonight in prime time. 

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MAC teams went 4-0 last Thursday.

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UMass Football News--September 1st, 2024

 Well, that was sub-optimal. Taisun Phommachanh looked rusty in the first half. He took the knee  brace off at halftime and his game picked up. Still, he held the ball a long time on passing plays. The Minutemen's longest pass play was 31 yards.

The UMass defense did OK, but we did not have a sack and the defense did not generate a turnover. 

CJ Kolodziey's punting was a bright spot. He buried the Eagles deep with both his punts.

Everybody in college football played yesterday; half of them lost. On to Toledo.

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UMass athletic dept write-up here.

EMU write-up here. 

Hampshire Gazette coverage here. 

The Gazette also said EMU beat UMass for the fourth straight year.

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Toledo blew out Duquesne 49-10.

Buffalo handled Lafayette 30-13.

CCU lost on on the 29th.

Northwestern edged Miami (Ohio). 

Northern Illinois rang up a whopping 706 yards in a blowout win over Western Illinois. 

Missouri ran over Murray State 51-0.

Wagner handled Virginia-Lynchburg 46-7. 

Mississippi State dominated Eastern Kentucky 56-7. 

Liberty beat Campbell 41-24. 

Georgia's defense stifled Clemson 34-3. 

UConn got run over by Maryland 50-7.

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Game Day--Eastern Michigan 2024

 I think UMass has made a serious upgrade in the number of athletes on the roster as well as depth and speed in 2024.

Today we get to see the result. I'm hoping for a victory and the start of a new era of UMass football.

Go UMass!!

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The Hampshire Gazette reports the players are hoping the student show up.

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The Gazette breaks down the Minutemen's season's opponents.

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Boston.com says the 2024 season is a glimpse into the future. 

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Hustle Belt previews the UMass-Eastern Michigan game and predicts a close EMU win. 

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College Football news predicts a 38-34 EMU win. 

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The Athol Daily News asks if the Minutemen can take another step forward in 2024.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" predicts UMass 27 EMU 20. 

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Kay'Ron Lynch  Adams ran for 101 yards (11 yards/carry) and a TD in Michigan State's win over FAU last night. 

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The Western Michigan Broncos gave Wisconsin a hard time last night, but lost 28-14. 

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UMass Football News--August 30th, 2024

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the Minutemen's 2024 season. I agree with most of his conclusions. Next year will will play a complete MAC schedule which means we get to play the bottom of the league as well as just the top end of it. That will make the wins and losses better.

Three SEC teams are a challenge. Boston College would likely loss all three to Georgia, Missouri and @ Mississippi State. While money games are a fact of life for Group-of-Five, three Power Four teams are too many.

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The UMass dinning commons is ranked #1 for the eight year in a row.

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UMass will wear white helmets, black jerseys and black pants with maroon trim for the opener with Eastern Michigan.

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The MAC's best chance for a Power Four scalp may be this Saturday when Miami (Ohio) will play Northwestern. 

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Former UMass center Joe Horn is rehabbing an injury at Maine. 

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Sports Book Wire predicts UMass 30 EMU 24.

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Last night Buffalo beat Lafayette 30-13.

CCSU got run over by Central Michigan 66-10. Brady Olsen went 12-20 91 yards 0 TD 0 Int.

Missouri beat Murray State 51-0.  The Tigers held the Racers to 85 total yards and 5 first downs.

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UMass Football News--August 29th, 2024

 The Hampshire Gazette breaks down the UMass Game #1 depth chart.

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A Sports Illustrated writer thinks UMass will cover the spread. 

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Hustle Belt previews the game between Central Michigan and UMass' first FCS opponent of the 2024 season: Central Connecticut. 

Former UMass QB Brady Olsen has been named starting QB for CCSU. Olsen's Blue Devils bio here.

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Hustle Belt previews Buffalo, UMass' third opponent of 2024, game against Lafayette. 

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Hustle Belt has the last preseason MAC power ranking (including UMass).

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Former UMass QB Carlos Davis is in a QB battle at Towson. 

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UMass Football News--August 28th, 2024

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" finishes his position reviews with linebackers, defensive backs and specialists.

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The UMass Daily Collegian says UMass kicks off its season against Eastern Michigan.

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UMass is a slight favorite over Eastern Michigan and UConn is a 23 point underdog against Maryland.

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UMass' third opponent of 2024:Toledo, opens it's season against Duquense . 

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After week #0, Georgia is still #1, Missouri is #11 and Liberty is receiving votes,

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UMass Football News---August 27th, 2024

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has two position reviews: Defensive Line and Edge Rushers.

The Minutemen have a mostly new front seven this year. We usually are weak against the run and do OK in pass defense. A more athletic front seven would be a big step towards respectability. Coach Brown is known for his defensive schemes, but he has to have the players to work with. I think this year we'll see more defensive packages and a more attacking defense.

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The Eastern Michigan game notes and two-deep are up on the UMass website. 

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Chris Tucci image

The Hampshire Gazette reports Coach Brown and UMass QB Taisun Phommachanh are in a reflective mood.

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Eastern Michigan's game notes for UMass are here. 

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Hustle Belt previews the  Eastern Michigan Eagles offense.

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UConn becomes the first team in college football to place NIL collective logos on their turf. 

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UMass Football News--August 26th, 2024

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" continues his 2024 position review with the offensive line.

As I said in my review, this is probably the deepest OL we've had in FBS. The big guys lead the way and I hope they lead UMass to the best offensive showing in years.

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Da'Marrion Alberic/Criss Tucci image

The Hampshire Gazette reports coach Brown thinks UMass has some speed this year. 

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Hustle Belt reviews Toledo's defense, the Minutemen's second opponent of the season.

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Hustle Belt also reviews Buffalo's defense. The Minutemen and the Bulls collide in the third game of the season.

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Winners and losers from week 0 of college football.

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UMass Football Blog News--August 25th, 2024

 Mrs Blog and I are traveling this week and we will  be stay in a cabin in New Hampshire's outback. There is supposed to be Wi-Fi, but if the blog goes dark, I'll be back on Friday.

UMass Football News--August 25th, 2024

 Hustle Belt previews the 2024 UMass defense. The Minutemen defensive statistics are distorted  by the Power Five schools we play. Taking out Penn State and Auburn moves the UMass defensive stats out of the bottom of all FBS. The 2023 stats were not great Arkansas State and Liberty rang up big numbers against us, but against Grooup-of-Five schools we did OK.

This year, Missouri, Mississippi State and Georgia should again push our defensive stats down.

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EA Sports has UMass as one of the lowest rated teams in the game.

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The UMass "X" feed has some images from the end of Fall camp.

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College Football has started!

Florida State was upset by Georgia Tech.

FCS Montana State scored 21 straight points in the fourth quarter to beat New Mexico.

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UMass Football News--August 24th, 2024

 

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" reviews the 2024 Minutemen tight ends.

This year's TE room should substantially increase the receptions by TE's in the UMass passing game. Dominic Mazotti should be the #1 TE based on his 33 games played. Graduate transfer Jaelyn Lay should be in the mix for two TE situations. 

Redshirt senior Matt Smith could also contribute. We'll be seeing pretty much a new group of TE's and we should see more production in the Minutemen offense.

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Hustle Belt reviews the 2024 UMass offense.

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Wager Talk.com has a somewhat incoherent review of the 2024 Minutemen. 

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Hustle Belt reviews 2024 opponent (and MAC champions) Miami (Ohio)'s defense. 

The old saw "defense wins championships" was true for the Red Hawks in 2023.

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The Hampshire Gazette reports experienced FCS transfers look to reinforce the UMass secondary.

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UMass Football News--August 23rd, 2024

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a position review of the 2024 wide receivers.

As I said in my "Why I'm optimistic" post, I think the wide receiver room has significantly more talent than in 2022. 

With Anthony Simson,  Sterling Galban, Frank Ladson, Jakobie Keeney-James and more the UMass passing game should be the most productive we have seen for a long time.

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Chris Tucci image

The Athol Daily News features Anthony Simpson and his role leading the WR room.

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Eastern Michigan WR Oran Singleton will wear the prized number "2"  jersey for the Eagles this year.

EMU punter Michael Tomasek is a two-time preseason Ray Guy Award nominee. 

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The MAC conference will be the second conference after the Big Ten to implement game-day injury reports.

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UMass Football News--August 22nd, 2024

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a position review: running backs.

Right now, the running back room is an unknown quantity. Coach Brown has repeatedly praised Jalen John. However, we have not seen much action from him so far. The late addition of Brandon Campbell may indicate there was some unease among the coaches about the status of the running back room.

The Greenfield Recorder has a post on Campbell joining the Minutemen. In his past tenure with UMass, Coach Brown liked to have a featured running back. The Minutemen might have to run by committee until Campbell gets his legs under him.

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UMass WR Frank Ladson has been named to the Senior Bowl watch list. Ladson and Anthony Simpson should make it hard for opposing defenses to double coverage either Ladson or Simpson.

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Hero Sports has the 2025 (so far) recruiting rankings for the MAC.

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The Eastern Michigan website has a post featuring Eagles DT Peyton Price.

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College Football News predicts Toledo 52 Duquesne 17 in the Rockets opener.

Former Toledo QB Dequan Finn has been named starter at Baylor.

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UMass Football News--August 21st, 2024

 

Ahmad Haston/Chris Tucci image

Michael Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a 2024 quarterback position review.

As I said when I reviewed the QB room, I think the 2024 quarterbacks are as deep as we've had in a long time. Hopefully, Taisun Phommachanh will stay healthy and lead us to victories this year.

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The UMass Athletic dept announces the 2024 Minutemen Hall-of-Fame class.

In it is Dennis Fenton who won letters in 1974, 1975 and 1976. Fenton was first team all Yankee Conference in 1976.

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For 2024 opening opponent Eastern Michigan, Broderick Roman is the heart of the Eagles offensive line. 

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Hustle Belt looks at this year's rebuilt offense for the Toledo Rockets. Toledo lost the MAC's MVP and the MAC's Offensive player-of-the-year to the transfer portal. In addition the Rockets retain zero offensive line starters. For most MAC teams that would signal a rebuilding year, but Toledo will probably still contend for the MAC championship.

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Hustle Belt also previews Buffalo's defense. The Bulls are the Minutemen's third game of the season and a decent opportunity for a road win.

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UMass Football News--August 20th, 2024

 

Chris Tucci image

The Greenfield Recorder reports technology comes to UMass kicking and punting.

Fans tend to under rate the kicking game. Most pundits believe that in general, home teams tend to have about  3 point advantage. That's one field goal for the opposing team. Last year Cameron Carson was #77 in kicking, averaging one field goal per game.

MAC leading Miami (Ohio) averaged two per game. Two field goals a game would have added UMass wins over Eastern Michigan and New Mexico.

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JUST STOP

Saturday Blitz has eight Group-of-Five coaches on the hot seat.

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HERO Sports predicts 4.5 wins for UConn.

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HERO Sports also has the over-and-under for the entire MAC conference. 

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NBC Sports summarizes the changes to college football in 2023. 

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UMass Football News--August 19th, 2023

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on UMass' wins and losses in 2024.

He's right that it's a difficult schedule. The five MAC teams are the meat of the 2024 schedule, but we play four of the five on the road. In college football, road wins are tough. If we played a complete MAC schedule, we'd play Akron and Kent State and half of the games would be at home.

Three SEC teams are more than any Group-of-Five school would want to play. The players like the challenge, but the losses hurt fan morale.

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The DeKalb County Journal says 2024 opponent Northern Illinois stands pat during college football's days of change.

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College Football News has the Toledo Rockets top-10 players returning for 2024. Toledo lost the most talent of the entire MAC in the transfer portal. However, the Rockets are also the MAC's deepest team and should still contend for the MAC championship.

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Hey, we got the same number of preseason Top-25 votes as the Florida Gators did!

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UMass Football News--August 17th, 2024

 

University of Houston image

UMass has added a late transfer RB Brandon Campbell.

Campbell was a three or four star RB out of HS.

In 2022 for Houston, he led the team with 90 carries for 435 yards and 4 TD's.

Campbell is a solid addition to the RB room. He has two years of eligibility and should see some time as soon as he learns the Minutemen offense.

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The Hampshire Gazette reports the UMass defense should be smaller, but faster in 2024. 

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College Football News covers the Minutemen's top-10 players for 2024. 

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UMass' opening opponent Eastern Michigan adds two future games with Michigan.

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# 9 Missouri stays sharp as opening week approaches. The Tigers have an excellent schedule for 2024. They open with four home games against Murray State, Buffalo, Boston College and Vanderbilt. The Tigers should go 4-0 in those games. Missouri plays at Texas A&M the week before they play UMass. The Tigers could be 5-0 by the time they play at McGuirk. In addition, they do not play Georgia or Alabama in the regular season.

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UMass Football News--August 16th, 2024

 

The UMass "X" feed has some images from practice.

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College Football News has the 2024 strength-of-schedule for the entire MAC.

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Hustle Belt previews 2024 opponent Toledo's offense.

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2024 opponent Northern Illinois is 3rd in the nation with 20 players who have played their entire career with one team.

UMass has not played the Huskies since the 2012-2013. That was the PJ Fleck era at Northern Illinois and both games did not end well for the Minutemen.

• 2012 UMass lost 0-63

• 2013 UMass lost 19-63

The Huskies went 7-6 in 2023. That includes wins over Boston College (27-24 OT) and a Camellia Bowl win over Arkansas State (21-19), who blew out the Minutemen.

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2024 opponent Georgia's roster is littered with top-100 college football players.

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UMass Football News--August 15th, 2024

 UMass announces some game enhancements, changes in traffic patterns and more.

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Solid Verbal has a podcast covering college football's independent teams.

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The Toledo Blade says the Toledo Rockets could be "freaky good" this year. 

VSIN predicts the Rockets will make the MAC championship game have between 8 and nine wins this year.

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VSIn also predicts between four and five wins for the Buffalo Bulls.

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Transfer QB Blake Shapen comments on Mississippi State's first fall scrimmage.

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Meanwhile in Storrs, UConn is dealing with some issues.

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UMass Football News--August 14th, 2024

 WHY I'M OPTIMISTIC, PART IV

Previously I've said I think this team has talent and depth at defensive backfield, offensive line and wide receivers.

I also think UMass has the most QB talent since the Andrew Ford, Blake Fronapfel era.

Taisun Phommachanh went 9 GP 120.4 EFF 159-227 6 INT 61.2 % 1507 Total yards 167.4 yards/game. When he was healthy, the UMass offense had an extra gear. One commentator, after watching highlights of the UMass-New Mexico State game said "He looks like an SEC quarterback" (I know Clemson is in the ACC). 

If Phommachanh plays 12 games he should break the 2,000 yards mark throwing. He also ran 48 times for a 4.8 yards/rush. His dual-threat abilities should make him a bad match-up for Group-of-Five teams.

In addition, I like Ahmad Haston. In 2023, Haston went 3 GP 178.7 EFF 11-11- 176 1 INT 2 TD's. Haston is a sure starter in 2025. He also rushed for 16-66 3.4 yards/carry. With a year of football completed, he should be an excellent back-up this year.

I also like true freshman AJ Hairston. I think he's an FBS-level quarterback who'll be in the mix in 2025 and beyond.

UMass is carrying six QB's on the roster. Also available is Ryan Jankowski (a transfer from Akron), Will Perry and Luke LoPresti.

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College Football News looks at the strength-of-schedule for the Independents.

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Bleacher Report looks at the UMass-Eastern Michigan game details. 

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Newsday says Brett Gabbert's return as starting QB for Miami (Ohio) makes the Red Hawks a favorite for the MAC championship.

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