Dan Malone reports D'Metrius Williams has been dismissed from the team. Williams' UMass bio.
The article says RSFR 6-1 190 Jackson Porter will be moved to CB and Trey Dudley-Giles to Safety. Other safeties listed on the Spring two-deep were Ed St-Vil (who decided not to play his fifth year) and Jaurice Jones.
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A year removed from a season-ending knee injury, Jordan Broadnax looks to return to football. Braodnax's UMass bio.
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Dan also has notes from the latest practice. The article says incoming FR Josh Smiley 6-6 235 DL is academically ineligible for 2014.
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Matty Vautour says Marken Michel JR 5-10 185 is happy to be back at UMass and playing football.
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Matty interviews John McCutcheon who says UMass should be able to cope with NCAA changes.
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NESN reports a new-look Boston College squad looks to keep last year's success rolling.
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The Associated Press previews the 2014 MAC.
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Steelers Depot reports Rob Blanchflower is still struggling with a high ankle sprain at the Steelers Camp.
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Julian Talley got a lot of work at the Giants camp yesterday.
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Victor Cruz mentors undrafted wide receivers.
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Friday, August 08, 2014
Thursday, August 07, 2014
Thrusday--August 7th, 2014
Dan Malone has more on the 2014 UMass uniform's. Look's like no black this year.
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Dan also has five questions with Alex Kenney. It would be nice to have Alex-go-long as weapon. I think it was in 2003 (if that was the year of the Colgate snow bowl), the Minutemen had more than a dozen scoring drive of a minute or less. Some explosiveness deep would loosen up opposing defense, not to mention making the team more fun to watch.
Speaking of going deep, Dan has an article on UMass' struggles to do just that.
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News 8.com has an article featuring Michael Cox.
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UMass beat writer Matty Vautour will appear on BC Interruption's radio show.
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The Detroit Free Press picks Bowling Green (the first visitor to McGuirk) as #36 in the nation and MAC Conference champion.
The first five games of the 2014 season are certainly a challenge for UMass.
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NewsDay says Victor Cruz wants more reps and passes thrown to him.
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Rob Blanchflower was back as a full participant at Steelers camp.
He also received some personal attention from Mike Tomlin.
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The Montreal Gazette says Michael London is rolling with the punches.
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Dan also has five questions with Alex Kenney. It would be nice to have Alex-go-long as weapon. I think it was in 2003 (if that was the year of the Colgate snow bowl), the Minutemen had more than a dozen scoring drive of a minute or less. Some explosiveness deep would loosen up opposing defense, not to mention making the team more fun to watch.
Speaking of going deep, Dan has an article on UMass' struggles to do just that.
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News 8.com has an article featuring Michael Cox.
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UMass beat writer Matty Vautour will appear on BC Interruption's radio show.
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The Detroit Free Press picks Bowling Green (the first visitor to McGuirk) as #36 in the nation and MAC Conference champion.
The first five games of the 2014 season are certainly a challenge for UMass.
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NewsDay says Victor Cruz wants more reps and passes thrown to him.
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Rob Blanchflower was back as a full participant at Steelers camp.
He also received some personal attention from Mike Tomlin.
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The Montreal Gazette says Michael London is rolling with the punches.
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Wednesday, August 06, 2014
August 6th, 2014
The UMass website has video and still images from the first day of practice.
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Dan Malone has A.J.Doyle is ready for yet another quarterback competition.
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Dan also continues his UMass Top-25 players for 2014 with Tyrell Smith (good name). In Whipple's first era with the Minutemen, he like big and durable offensive linemen. Not many OL get the chance to start all four years. Smith has that chance. At 6-5 295 he also has the size Whipple (and the NFL) are looking for. In the Spring game, the D-line controlled the line of scrimmage.
The new pro-style offense will only go as far as the offensive line takes it. If you watched Sunday's Hall-of-fame game former UMass RB Michael Cox looked good when he received some blocking, but he was hit in the backfield at least twice and bottled up three or four more times because there were defensive players on top of him as he took the handoff.
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Malone looks at two transfers Jalen Williams and Alex Kenney who hope to make an impact with the Minutemen WR corps.
Williams UMass bio. Kenney's UMass bio.
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Matty V. has Drew Harris is excited to start his college football career. Harris' UMass bio.
Matty also has the young Minutemen defensive hopes to jell quickly. In the last line of the article, Matty reports UMass will play in Maroon & White in 2014.
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The Daily Collegian says UMass is anxious to play aggressive defense.
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Jesse Allen of Hustle Belt previews the 2014 Minutemen.
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All of CBS Sports writer predict UMass last in MAC
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Boston College will start a new QB when they face UMass on August 30th.
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A Bleacher Report writer says Rob Blanchflower has struggled with an injury during the Steelers training camp.
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Dan Malone has A.J.Doyle is ready for yet another quarterback competition.
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| Smith #77 |
The new pro-style offense will only go as far as the offensive line takes it. If you watched Sunday's Hall-of-fame game former UMass RB Michael Cox looked good when he received some blocking, but he was hit in the backfield at least twice and bottled up three or four more times because there were defensive players on top of him as he took the handoff.
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Malone looks at two transfers Jalen Williams and Alex Kenney who hope to make an impact with the Minutemen WR corps.
Williams UMass bio. Kenney's UMass bio.
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Matty V. has Drew Harris is excited to start his college football career. Harris' UMass bio.
Matty also has the young Minutemen defensive hopes to jell quickly. In the last line of the article, Matty reports UMass will play in Maroon & White in 2014.
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The Daily Collegian says UMass is anxious to play aggressive defense.
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Jesse Allen of Hustle Belt previews the 2014 Minutemen.
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All of CBS Sports writer predict UMass last in MAC
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Boston College will start a new QB when they face UMass on August 30th.
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A Bleacher Report writer says Rob Blanchflower has struggled with an injury during the Steelers training camp.
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Tuesday, August 05, 2014
Tuesday----August 5th, 2014
 |
| Stanley Andre #35 |
Andre's UMass bio.
Andre is one of the few UMass seniors, so he'll be the leader of the Minutemen defense as well as one of it's leading tacklers. At 6-2 240 he has FBS size. With a young and fairly light DL, the two MLB's in the the 3-4 are going to have to be the run-stoppers. If the 3-4 is going to work, the defense needs some TFL and more stops around the line of scrimmage. Last year the defense had 46-133 in TFL; opponents went 80-203.
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Dan has observations from the first day of UMass camp.
Dan also has Whipple and the team are pleased to get working.
He also has Todd Stafford moves to TE. At 6-7 250 he has an NFL-sized body, so he has the potential to make an impact as a TE. Anyway, it'll be light years more fun than walking the sidelines with a clipboard.
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Matty Vautour has a story about the first day of Fall camp with lots of quotes from players as well as RB coach Marcel Shipp.
Matty notes the return of Michael Boland. Three potential starters Jean Sifrin, Liam Porter and Ryan Johnson are all sitting out while they finish a summer course.
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The Boston Herald says Mark Whipple hopes to get UMass back on track.
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This article mentions Michael Cox's nice one-handed catch in the Giants win over the Bills.
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In MAC conference news, Buffalo looks to build on success.
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Two players leave Boston College's football program.
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New Vanderbilt HC Derek Mason moves the Commodores to closed practices.
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Penn Live.com has a story from Penn States Media Day and tons of links to Nittany Lion football articles.
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Monday, August 04, 2014
Recruiting 2015--Derek Dumais
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| Hudl.com image |
I've blogged about Dumais before.
The Salem News has a story about Dumais' verbal to UMass.
Monday--August 4th, 2014 First day of Fall Camp
Matty V. has a story about Coach Whipple being ready to go. A couple of points about the article. Matty reports the team will use the Gladchuck practice fields more often than Molnar did. I would speculate that's an attempt to preserve the currently awesome looking new surface at McGuirk. UMass could use a turf practice field. Delaware, for example, has two.
The other thing is two 2014 recruits Randall West and Lamarriel Taylor will grayshirt. I believe the addition of Drew Harris put UMass over the NCAA mandated limit of 24 recruits in one year, so somebody had to be grayshirted.
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Dan Malone also has a story about Coach Whipple being anxious to get going on the start of the 2014 season.
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Dan also has a special teams primer for 2014 training camp. One addition I would make would be to add Jordan Broadnax to the kick return team. In 2012, Broadnax had 44-932 21.2 AVE 61 LONG. Between Broadnax and Trey Dudley-Giles UMass could have one the top return squads in the MAC.
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The Giants beat the Bills in the Hall-of-fame game. Victor Cruz only played a couple of series. Julian Talley just missed a leaping catch as pass was just beyond his fingertips. Talley was wearing #19.
Michael Cox had a number of carries late in the game. When he had some room, he ran well. He also had some pretty crappy blocking from the reserve offensive line.
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The Boston Globe says Boston College is out to prove people wrong.
Metro West reports questions abound for the Eagles.
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Steelers Depot says Rob Blanchflower is still out of Pittsburgh's camp with an injury.
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The other thing is two 2014 recruits Randall West and Lamarriel Taylor will grayshirt. I believe the addition of Drew Harris put UMass over the NCAA mandated limit of 24 recruits in one year, so somebody had to be grayshirted.
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Dan Malone also has a story about Coach Whipple being anxious to get going on the start of the 2014 season.
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Dan also has a special teams primer for 2014 training camp. One addition I would make would be to add Jordan Broadnax to the kick return team. In 2012, Broadnax had 44-932 21.2 AVE 61 LONG. Between Broadnax and Trey Dudley-Giles UMass could have one the top return squads in the MAC.
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The Giants beat the Bills in the Hall-of-fame game. Victor Cruz only played a couple of series. Julian Talley just missed a leaping catch as pass was just beyond his fingertips. Talley was wearing #19.
Michael Cox had a number of carries late in the game. When he had some room, he ran well. He also had some pretty crappy blocking from the reserve offensive line.
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The Boston Globe says Boston College is out to prove people wrong.
Metro West reports questions abound for the Eagles.
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Steelers Depot says Rob Blanchflower is still out of Pittsburgh's camp with an injury.
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Sunday, August 03, 2014
Sunday--August 3rd, 2014
With Fall camp opening tomorrow, I guess it's time to do the the blog on Sundays too.
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Dan Malone previews the 2014 UMass defense.
The Minutemen have won two games in FBS and the UMass defense won them both. That's despite getting much less recruits and transfers than the offense. That trend continued this year with the offense receiving two graduate transfers and six JUCO's. The 2013 defense gave up almost 7 points less per game than in 2012 going from 40.16 points/game to the 33.0. Most of the improvement came against the BCS portion of the schedule with UMass allowing 35.3 points per game to Wisconsin, Vanderbilt and Kansas State. UMass threw five INT's for a TD, so actually the defense only gave up 30.0 points per game.
The UMass defense played some stout games against Vanderbilt, Miami and Akron. We also had some games where we were not competitive. For the second year in a row, NIU scored at will. The Minutemen were outscored 88-23 in our last two games of the 2013 season. Perhaps the most depressing game was Maine. The Black Bears rang up 514 total yards of offense and averaged 5.5 yards per rush.
The new 3-4 should give UMass some room to make plays. In 2013 the Minutemen were 12th in the MAC in INT's and 12th in sacks. We were 10th in turnover margin, but most of that was the fault of the offense, who threw 18 INT's.
I think the defensive secondary could be one of the best units in the MAC. The UMass linebacker corps should be deeper and more athletic. Our d-line is both young and light. Expect opponents to run right at the Minutemen.
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Matty Vautour says James Ihedigbo is providing leadership for the Lions secondary.
Detroit Jock City says Ihedigbo embraces a mentor role.
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Michael Cox and Julian Talley should get some reps in tonight's NFL Hall-of-Fame game.
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The Buffalo News says the Bulls are aiming high despite losing six all-conference players.
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Dan Rubin of BC Interruption wants to "decimate" UMass. It's another sign that a UMass-BC annual series would be good for both teams. Because basically, except for perhaps a few Syracuse fans, nobody in the ACC cares a fig about Boston College. No Florida State or Clemson blogger wants to decimate the Eagles. Over the last five years BC has gone 28-35. That's only one more win than Duke. The center of gravity in the ACC is in the big southern state schools. Lindy's picks BC 6th in the ACC East. Sporting News has them 4th. Most pundits think anything more than six wins would be a great season for the Eagles. Boston College averaged 33,712 in home attendance in 2013. The ACC average was 49,987.
The fact is Boston College is a private school with high academic standards. That's a mismatch with the big southern state schools of the ACC. It appears the Eagles are remorselessly heading for a rivalry with Wake Forest and Duke for the annual ACC basement.
A loss to UMass would fire up their fan base and that could in turn could light a fire under their athletic administrators.
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Dan Malone previews the 2014 UMass defense.
The Minutemen have won two games in FBS and the UMass defense won them both. That's despite getting much less recruits and transfers than the offense. That trend continued this year with the offense receiving two graduate transfers and six JUCO's. The 2013 defense gave up almost 7 points less per game than in 2012 going from 40.16 points/game to the 33.0. Most of the improvement came against the BCS portion of the schedule with UMass allowing 35.3 points per game to Wisconsin, Vanderbilt and Kansas State. UMass threw five INT's for a TD, so actually the defense only gave up 30.0 points per game.
The UMass defense played some stout games against Vanderbilt, Miami and Akron. We also had some games where we were not competitive. For the second year in a row, NIU scored at will. The Minutemen were outscored 88-23 in our last two games of the 2013 season. Perhaps the most depressing game was Maine. The Black Bears rang up 514 total yards of offense and averaged 5.5 yards per rush.
The new 3-4 should give UMass some room to make plays. In 2013 the Minutemen were 12th in the MAC in INT's and 12th in sacks. We were 10th in turnover margin, but most of that was the fault of the offense, who threw 18 INT's.
I think the defensive secondary could be one of the best units in the MAC. The UMass linebacker corps should be deeper and more athletic. Our d-line is both young and light. Expect opponents to run right at the Minutemen.
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Matty Vautour says James Ihedigbo is providing leadership for the Lions secondary.
Detroit Jock City says Ihedigbo embraces a mentor role.
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| NY Daily News image |
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The Buffalo News says the Bulls are aiming high despite losing six all-conference players.
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Dan Rubin of BC Interruption wants to "decimate" UMass. It's another sign that a UMass-BC annual series would be good for both teams. Because basically, except for perhaps a few Syracuse fans, nobody in the ACC cares a fig about Boston College. No Florida State or Clemson blogger wants to decimate the Eagles. Over the last five years BC has gone 28-35. That's only one more win than Duke. The center of gravity in the ACC is in the big southern state schools. Lindy's picks BC 6th in the ACC East. Sporting News has them 4th. Most pundits think anything more than six wins would be a great season for the Eagles. Boston College averaged 33,712 in home attendance in 2013. The ACC average was 49,987.
The fact is Boston College is a private school with high academic standards. That's a mismatch with the big southern state schools of the ACC. It appears the Eagles are remorselessly heading for a rivalry with Wake Forest and Duke for the annual ACC basement.
A loss to UMass would fire up their fan base and that could in turn could light a fire under their athletic administrators.
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Saturday, August 02, 2014
Saturday--August 2nd, 2014
 |
| Lorenzo Woodley |
Woodley's UMass bio.
Woodley battled leg troubles in 2014. He ended up 8 GP 84-314 3.7 AVE 25 LONG 2 TD's 39.3 YGS/G. Note that in 2012, Minutemen backs averaged a dismal 2.6 yards a carry. So even nicked up, Woodley did pretty good. The running back position, is one part of the UMass team that has depth and talent. In football, you're always one play away from starting against Penn State. Last year the Minutemen went six deep on the RB roster. I think Whipple's offense will provide more yards for everybody.
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Dan also looks the UMass offense going into Fall camp. I pretty much concur with his conclusions, but I would not be surprised to see Marken Michel or Shakur Nesmith start at one of the WR positions.
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Matty Vautour says there are plenty of questions going into training camp.
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According to a SB Nation writer, former UMass OT Anthony Dima left the Dallas Texans camp and was subsequently cut.
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Hustle Belt has a post on UMass verbal Michale Yerardi.
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The Colorado Buffs see their early schedule, which includes UMass as winnable.
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Boston College is having problems with scheduling in 2015.
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Theo Agnew, who started his college career at UMass, has been signed by the Atlanta Falcons.
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Victor Cruz says buckle up and watch the new Giants attack.
Michael Cox gets a lot of quotes in this article from the Giants camp.
The NY Daily news says David Wilson's injury opens the door for Michale Cox.
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Friday, August 01, 2014
Michael Yerardi and Jack Driscoll verbal to UMass
UMass picked up two verbals from last weekend's Clam Bake.
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Michael Yerardi, a 6-6 305 pound OL from Suffield Academy chose the Minutemen according to Dan Malone who credits Bob McGovern with the news.
NCSA recruiting profile here.
Hudl.com highlight video here.
Partial quote from an July 7th Scout.com report on Yerardi:
"Suffield Academy (Suffield, Conn.) 2015 lineman Michael Yerardi liked camp and school after arriving with his father for the one-day event at Maryland.
"It was great, had a lot of fun, and learned a lot of new stuff," Yerardi said. "Had a great time at the camp and the coaches coached me up on everything I need to learn."
So far, the 6-foot-4, 307-pounder has offers from UMass, ODY and New Hampshire, and is looking for more.
Terps inside linebackers coach Keith Dudzinski is his area recruiter. "
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| NCSA image |
NCSA recruiting profile here.
Hudl.com highlight video here.
Partial quote from an July 7th Scout.com report on Yerardi:
"Suffield Academy (Suffield, Conn.) 2015 lineman Michael Yerardi liked camp and school after arriving with his father for the one-day event at Maryland.
"It was great, had a lot of fun, and learned a lot of new stuff," Yerardi said. "Had a great time at the camp and the coaches coached me up on everything I need to learn."
So far, the 6-foot-4, 307-pounder has offers from UMass, ODY and New Hampshire, and is looking for more.
Terps inside linebackers coach Keith Dudzinski is his area recruiter. "
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Also committing to UMass was Jack Driscoll a 6-4 250 pound OG/DE from Madison, CT.
Dan has the story.
247Sports page here. (Fixed link)
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Thursday--August 1st, 2014.
August, guys! The 2014 season is getting close.
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Dan Malone continues his "Top-25" UMass players with a story on Kessan Messiah.
Kessan's UMass bio.
In 2012, Messiah made an impact with the generally over-matched UMass defense. We were better when he was playing. In the 4-3 defense, the "Mike" linebacker is the hero as the defense is designed to channel tackles his way. The "Sam" linebacker does not a lot of tackles because the TE, the pulling guards and the fullback (if there is one) are all tasked with blocking him. Only the "Wil" linebacker is free to roam around. In the 3-4, Messiah should have some room to make some football plays. So far in FBS, we've been striving to play competitively even against the lower regions of the MAC. This year, hopefully we'll be able to play some attacking defense. At 6-4 237, he has an NFL frame. At least in the MAC, he has the tools to dominate. Lets hope he has a monster come-back year in 2014.
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The latest version of the UMass Roster is up.
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The Times Free Press says Vanderbilt receivers should feast on the Commodores OOC schedule.
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Baltimore Ravens.com report Jeromy Miles is pushing for a starting role. Miles Ravens bio.
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Notes from the Lions camp say James Ihedigbo was popping players left and right.
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Boston College loses an FCS opponent.
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 |
| Kessan Messiah |
Kessan's UMass bio.
In 2012, Messiah made an impact with the generally over-matched UMass defense. We were better when he was playing. In the 4-3 defense, the "Mike" linebacker is the hero as the defense is designed to channel tackles his way. The "Sam" linebacker does not a lot of tackles because the TE, the pulling guards and the fullback (if there is one) are all tasked with blocking him. Only the "Wil" linebacker is free to roam around. In the 3-4, Messiah should have some room to make some football plays. So far in FBS, we've been striving to play competitively even against the lower regions of the MAC. This year, hopefully we'll be able to play some attacking defense. At 6-4 237, he has an NFL frame. At least in the MAC, he has the tools to dominate. Lets hope he has a monster come-back year in 2014.
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The latest version of the UMass Roster is up.
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The Times Free Press says Vanderbilt receivers should feast on the Commodores OOC schedule.
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| Karl Ferron image |
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Notes from the Lions camp say James Ihedigbo was popping players left and right.
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Boston College loses an FCS opponent.
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Thursday, July 31, 2014
Recruiting 2015--Jared Southers II
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| 247Sports image |
This article from NJ.com updates his recruiting.
Current leaders are Temple and Rutgers.
Recruiting 2015-- Danile Clifford IV
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| Clifford family image |
This article from NJ.com updates his recruiting.
His current top four are Iowa State, UConn, ECU and Buffalo.
Thursday--July 31st 2014
In his latest installment of his "Top-25" UMass players, Dan Malone discusses JUCO transfers Liam Porter and Ryan Johnson.
Johnson's UMass bio.
Porter's UMass bio.
I've blogged about the potential 2014 offensive line several times before. In an earlier interview, Whipple said he hoped the O-line would be able to go "7 or 8 deep". As Dan says, I would expect either or both Porter and Johnson to start. For one thing, they're older and UMass will start a very young team on August 30th. Boston College is likely to start five seniors on their offensive line that day.
My take on the top eight would be:
Rob Blanchflower suffered a high ankle sprain in Steelers training camp.
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Matt Kier, a 6-2 215 pound QB playing for California (PA) had a offer from UMass.
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The BC blog "Soaring to Glory" looks at the Eagles path to a bowl game. They count UMass as a given win.
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The Toledo Rocket's football building gets a $5.5 million facelift.
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Johnson's UMass bio.
Porter's UMass bio.
I've blogged about the potential 2014 offensive line several times before. In an earlier interview, Whipple said he hoped the O-line would be able to go "7 or 8 deep". As Dan says, I would expect either or both Porter and Johnson to start. For one thing, they're older and UMass will start a very young team on August 30th. Boston College is likely to start five seniors on their offensive line that day.
My take on the top eight would be:
- Tyrell Smith RSSO 6-5 295
- Elijah Wilkinson SO 6-4 330
- Matt Sparks JR 6-4 290
- Josh Bruns RSJR 6-5 285
- Tyshon Henderson SO 6-7 339
- Liam Porter RSJR 6-6 293
- Ryan Johnson JR 6-5 320
- Fabien Hoeller SO 6-3 290
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UMass football breaks out on snapchat.
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Mike Wegzyn's Tennessee bio is up.
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Rob Blanchflower suffered a high ankle sprain in Steelers training camp.
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Matt Kier, a 6-2 215 pound QB playing for California (PA) had a offer from UMass.
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The BC blog "Soaring to Glory" looks at the Eagles path to a bowl game. They count UMass as a given win.
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The Toledo Rocket's football building gets a $5.5 million facelift.
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Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Wednesday--July 30th, 2014
I had an appointment at VAMC Northampton yesterday. I stopped in to see how the Performance Center was progressing. The work site was busy. The center and the press box are not finished. It looks as if they will be working right up to September.
The new field turf looks great! I spoke with some of the field workers and they thought the "UMass" logo came out especially good. They liked the Maroon & white colors with the gray and black shading. The press box, the performance center and the field turf are outstanding, but there's only so much lipstick you can put on the stadium itself. It's still an old 50's structure.
There were no UMass coaches or players around. The door to the new weight room was propped open and I asked one of the workers if I could look inside and they said "Sure, why not?". I didn't want to push it so I just took a few images from the doorway. The weight room is going awesome.
Click on the images for a larger view. I set up a Picasa web album with ten or so images here.
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The UMass website has video from the "We built it" weekend.
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Dan Malone has MAC West season preview. He also teams up with Collegian sports editor Mark Chiarelli for a podcast about the changes to the UMass football team.
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Dan also continues the "Top-25" UMass players for 2014 with a post on Blake Lucas. Lucas' UMass bio here.
We will hope that Lucas got his "sophomore slump" season out of the way last year. In 2013, the Minutemen lost two games by one point. Sometimes the margin of victory (or loss) is razor thin. UMass finished 9th in the MAC going 12-19 .632 AVE.
Other kickers on the Spring roster are RSFR Marcus Colin and true freshman Matthew Wylie.
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A Bleacher Report writer includes Victor Cruz as an athlete everyone should root for.
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The new field turf looks great! I spoke with some of the field workers and they thought the "UMass" logo came out especially good. They liked the Maroon & white colors with the gray and black shading. The press box, the performance center and the field turf are outstanding, but there's only so much lipstick you can put on the stadium itself. It's still an old 50's structure.
There were no UMass coaches or players around. The door to the new weight room was propped open and I asked one of the workers if I could look inside and they said "Sure, why not?". I didn't want to push it so I just took a few images from the doorway. The weight room is going awesome.
Click on the images for a larger view. I set up a Picasa web album with ten or so images here.
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The UMass website has video from the "We built it" weekend.
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Dan Malone has MAC West season preview. He also teams up with Collegian sports editor Mark Chiarelli for a podcast about the changes to the UMass football team.
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Dan also continues the "Top-25" UMass players for 2014 with a post on Blake Lucas. Lucas' UMass bio here.
We will hope that Lucas got his "sophomore slump" season out of the way last year. In 2013, the Minutemen lost two games by one point. Sometimes the margin of victory (or loss) is razor thin. UMass finished 9th in the MAC going 12-19 .632 AVE.
Other kickers on the Spring roster are RSFR Marcus Colin and true freshman Matthew Wylie.
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A Bleacher Report writer includes Victor Cruz as an athlete everyone should root for.
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Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Tuesday--July 29th, 2014
Dan Malone continues his "Top-25 UMass players for 2014" series with a post about Shane Huber and Steve Casali.
Huber's UMass bio. Casali's UMass bio.
Lots of dynamics in play for these two UMass linebackers. One thing you couldn't fault about Charlie Molnar was his recruiting. Casali and Huber were highly rated members of Molnar's second recruiting class. They were expected to add speed and athleticism to a Minuteman front seven that badly needed both quantities.
I don' have images of either player because both DNP in the practice I attended or the Spring Game. Casali was injured early in the season and received a medical redshirt. Huber suffered a torn MCL and ACL late in the season. The conventional wisdom is that it takes a year to come back from torn ligaments. Keep in mind that college students usually don't have the five-hours-a-day rehab time that the pros do.
Unless there are some sort of complications, I would expect Casali to be ready to go by August 30th. Huber is another story. If he's not ready to go until late in the season, would UMass redshirt him? It would seem a waste to activate him for four games or so. OTOH, UMass needs wins. The conference affiliation clock is ticking. The Spring depth chart had Trey Seals listed as one the first unit's OLB's. Seals is really more of a stand-up DE kinda guy. If Casali is ready to go, I think he would be playing one OLB slot.
Shane Allen of Hustle Belt predicts Huber to have a breakout season in 2014.
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Dan also reviews the various college football publications and finds UMass is ranked last in MAC East in all of them.
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Hustle Belt previews Miami (Ohio), a team that is being ranked ahead of UMass despite going 0-12 in 2014.
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The Boston College blog "Soaring to Glory" looks at BC being tabbed as a 14.5 point favorite over UMass.
Speaking of BC, a Hampton Roads reporter ranks the ACC OOC schedules.
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A New Orleans sports writer thinks UMass has a shot at the AAC conference.
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The Sports Network previews the 2014 MAC.
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Steelers Depot reports Rob Blanchflower is doing well at blocking (scroll all the way to "final thoughts").
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Huber's UMass bio. Casali's UMass bio.
Lots of dynamics in play for these two UMass linebackers. One thing you couldn't fault about Charlie Molnar was his recruiting. Casali and Huber were highly rated members of Molnar's second recruiting class. They were expected to add speed and athleticism to a Minuteman front seven that badly needed both quantities.
I don' have images of either player because both DNP in the practice I attended or the Spring Game. Casali was injured early in the season and received a medical redshirt. Huber suffered a torn MCL and ACL late in the season. The conventional wisdom is that it takes a year to come back from torn ligaments. Keep in mind that college students usually don't have the five-hours-a-day rehab time that the pros do.
Unless there are some sort of complications, I would expect Casali to be ready to go by August 30th. Huber is another story. If he's not ready to go until late in the season, would UMass redshirt him? It would seem a waste to activate him for four games or so. OTOH, UMass needs wins. The conference affiliation clock is ticking. The Spring depth chart had Trey Seals listed as one the first unit's OLB's. Seals is really more of a stand-up DE kinda guy. If Casali is ready to go, I think he would be playing one OLB slot.
Shane Allen of Hustle Belt predicts Huber to have a breakout season in 2014.
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Dan also reviews the various college football publications and finds UMass is ranked last in MAC East in all of them.
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Hustle Belt previews Miami (Ohio), a team that is being ranked ahead of UMass despite going 0-12 in 2014.
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The Boston College blog "Soaring to Glory" looks at BC being tabbed as a 14.5 point favorite over UMass.
Speaking of BC, a Hampton Roads reporter ranks the ACC OOC schedules.
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A New Orleans sports writer thinks UMass has a shot at the AAC conference.
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The Sports Network previews the 2014 MAC.
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| Image credit unknown |
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Monday, July 28, 2014
Recruiting 2015--Lee Moses
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| Moses #23/ Bob Breidenbach image |
247 Sports page here.
Hudl.com has video.
Ranked #2 in potential recruits from Maine, Vermont, RI and New Hampshire.
This article from the Warwick Beacon features Moses.
Moses and a teammate raced to help people involved in a fiery crash on I-95.
Monday--July 28th, 2014
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| From the UMass feed |
Hustle Belt has superlatives from the MAC Media Day.
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Western Michigan could start 14 true freshmen says Broncos HC P.J. Fleck.
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Ex-Georgia Southern QB Greg Hill remembers his championship loss to UMass.
The Statesboro Herald looks at GSU's move the the Sunbelt conference.
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The Buffalo Bulls hope to keep their 2013 success going this year.
EMU, who will play at Gillette on October 18th, welcomes a well-traveled quarterback.
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Steve Addazio wants college football's next Tim Tebow to play for the Eagles.
BC also debuts their season poster. Meh.
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The Colorado Buffs were picked last in PAC-12's Southern Division but avoided the league cellar in the media poll.
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Penn State's latest depth chart.
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Victor Cruz looks to be a good influence on the Giants rookies.
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Saturday, July 26, 2014
Saturday--July 26th, 2014
Lots of images from the Football Alumni tour of the new Performance Center on the UMass Athletic Dept main page. Check it out.
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There is also a video interview of Stanley Andre, Tajae Sharpe and Mark Whipple from the MAC Media Day.
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Former UMass player E.J. Barthel joins the Rutgers football staff. E. J. 's UMass bio.
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Dam Malone interviews Terry Bowden about Akron's climb in the MAC standings and the Minutemen's attempt to do the same. Bowden has a point. UMass lost two league games by a total of two points. If we had an offense, we could have put a serious scare into Vanderbilt. There's a fine line between winning and losing. That said, we still need more time to make all the reforms needed for the move to FBS. I'm impressed (really impressed) with what Whipple has accomplished since his arrival, but he's going to need more than one year to start beating BCS teams and the cream of the MAC. That said, I'm going to enjoy the ride and for the first time I think UMass will show some flashes of what we can be.
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UMass adds some banners to McGuirk for 2014. If you're a UMass fan and are not local, be aware the basic concrete structure of McGuirk, is pretty deteriorated. New England weather is not kind to concrete.
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Cleveland.com says the Toledo Rockets eye the MAC East title.
They also review Bowling Green and says the Falcons start their conference games with MAC doormat UMass.
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A long blog post from the Steel Curtain looks the Steelers used SPARQ info to focus on athleticism and Rob Blanchflower's excellent numbers.
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An Arizona State beat writer tries to do a college football workout.
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There is also a video interview of Stanley Andre, Tajae Sharpe and Mark Whipple from the MAC Media Day.
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Former UMass player E.J. Barthel joins the Rutgers football staff. E. J. 's UMass bio.
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Dam Malone interviews Terry Bowden about Akron's climb in the MAC standings and the Minutemen's attempt to do the same. Bowden has a point. UMass lost two league games by a total of two points. If we had an offense, we could have put a serious scare into Vanderbilt. There's a fine line between winning and losing. That said, we still need more time to make all the reforms needed for the move to FBS. I'm impressed (really impressed) with what Whipple has accomplished since his arrival, but he's going to need more than one year to start beating BCS teams and the cream of the MAC. That said, I'm going to enjoy the ride and for the first time I think UMass will show some flashes of what we can be.
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UMass adds some banners to McGuirk for 2014. If you're a UMass fan and are not local, be aware the basic concrete structure of McGuirk, is pretty deteriorated. New England weather is not kind to concrete.
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Cleveland.com says the Toledo Rockets eye the MAC East title.
They also review Bowling Green and says the Falcons start their conference games with MAC doormat UMass.
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A long blog post from the Steel Curtain looks the Steelers used SPARQ info to focus on athleticism and Rob Blanchflower's excellent numbers.
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An Arizona State beat writer tries to do a college football workout.
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Thursday, July 24, 2014
Thursday---July 24th, 2014
UPDATE: Very limited Wi-Fi where I'm staying, so the blog will not be updated until probably sometime Saturday.
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Good morning. I'll be on the road the next three days. As usual, I'll try to keep the blog going if I have a WI-FI connection. If not, I'll be back late Saturday.
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UMass was picked last in the MAC East again. Note that we were picked last by a substantial margin. Below winless Miami. UMass has not finished last in either 2012 or 2013. I don't we'll be last in 2014.
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Dan Malone reports on Coach Whipple's debut in the MAC media world. Whipple brought the white helmet to the show. A hint for 2014?
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During the TV interview, the announcers asked Whipple about Blake Fronapfel, but didn't seem aware UMass has signed Drew Harris. Dan Malone thinks those two players will make an impact for UMass this year.
Remember this article about Harris from NJ.com?
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Dan interviews MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher about UMass' departure from the MAC. Basically, when Temple jumped, UMass' rational for joining the MAC left too.
Steinbrecher was optimistic about the new college playoff system.
He also is not in favor of paying student athletes.
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Matty Vautour reports Mark Whipple expressed confidence at the Media Day convention.
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The Boston Globe reports UMass was picked last in the MAC and New Hampshire first in the CAA.
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Watch Victor Cruz propose to his fiancee.
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Good morning. I'll be on the road the next three days. As usual, I'll try to keep the blog going if I have a WI-FI connection. If not, I'll be back late Saturday.
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UMass was picked last in the MAC East again. Note that we were picked last by a substantial margin. Below winless Miami. UMass has not finished last in either 2012 or 2013. I don't we'll be last in 2014.
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| UMass white helmet |
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| 247 Sports image |
Remember this article about Harris from NJ.com?
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Dan interviews MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher about UMass' departure from the MAC. Basically, when Temple jumped, UMass' rational for joining the MAC left too.
Steinbrecher was optimistic about the new college playoff system.
He also is not in favor of paying student athletes.
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Matty Vautour reports Mark Whipple expressed confidence at the Media Day convention.
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The Boston Globe reports UMass was picked last in the MAC and New Hampshire first in the CAA.
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Watch Victor Cruz propose to his fiancee.
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Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Wednesday --July 23rd
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| A.J. Doyle |
Doyle's UMass bio here.
In 2013 Doyle went 11-9 Starts 99.1 EFF 128-235-11 54.5 Pct 1274 YARDS 6 TD 55 Long 115.8 AVE/G.
In 2013, UMass QB pass efficiency was 12th in a 13 team league. Doyle threw almost twice as many interceptions as TD's.
Let me be first to state I think A.J. will play better this year. I still think Blake Fronapfel will start, but when Doyle gets in the game, he will look better. First, he'll be healthy, something he hasn't been often in his Minutemen career. Second, even though being under center is new to him, he'll have a better offense around him. I keep saying that a good rushing offense makes a QB look good. I hope Drew Harris lives up to his recruiting commentary.
Doyle should get better WR play this year. Mike Cassano is the new WR coach. Last year Doyle had at least two TD passes dropped. In addition, there was some piss-poor route running. If you were not a UMass fan during Whipple's last era with the Minutemen, know that he does not take dropped passes or catch one yard shy of a first down lightly. Do that and Whipple will grab your face mask when you come off the field and he'll explain your deficiencies to you ---- loudly.
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Today is MAC Media Day. The event starts at noon. It will be televised on ESPN3.
Coach Whipple and Stanley Andre and Tajae Sharpe will be there.
Cleveland.com has an article on the league's Media Day.
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The Boston College Blog "BC Interruption" looks at the betting odds for the Eagles and thinks BC will win easily over UMass, Maine and Colorado State.
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The MAC Blog Hustle Belt held its own media poll and picks UMass last in the league.
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Victor Cruz thinks he'll prosper in the Giants new offense.
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