Christmas Day--2016

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

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

Saturday--December 24th, 2016

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UMass 2016 opponents continue on a roll during bowl games.

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

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

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

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

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

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Hawaii plays tonight at home against Middle Tennessee State.

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Recruiting 2017--Dorian Jones III

Twitter image

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

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

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

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

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

Recruiting 2017--Maxi Hradecny II

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

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

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

Thursday--December 22nd, 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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Recruiting 2018--Kevin Moran

Hudl.com image

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

Hudl.com has video.

UMass is the first offer for Moran.

Wednesday--December 21st, 2016

Robert Samuels image

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

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

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Sports Illustrated says the college bowl system is thriving.

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

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Recruiting 2017--Mike Curtis makes it official

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

MassLive has a post on Curtis' signing.

Matty Vautour also covers Curtis's committing to UMass.

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

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

Monday--December 20th, 2016

UMass AD Ryan Bamford comments on the 2016 football season and looks to 2017.

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Old Dominion preps for the Bahamas Bowl and remembers UMass players cramping up in the Virginia humidity.

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Kansas.com says Wichita State would prosper in the AAC.

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UMass adds another Florida team to its schedule when the Minutemen play USF in Tampa of 10/14/17. The Bulls have a new HC in Charlie Strong. UCF went 10-2 in 2016.

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Recruiting 2017--Joshua Fedd-Jackson

Scout.com image

247Sports relates UMass offered to Joshua Fedd-Jackson on November 29th. Fedd-Jackson is a 6-3 300 pound OL from North Arlington, NJ.

247Sports page here. (Fixed link)

Hudl.com has junior highlights.

Partial quote from a December 8th article from Scout.com. That recruiting service has Fedd-Jackson as the top-rated OG in NJ.

Joshua Fedd-Jackson's  recruitment took an interesting turn Tuesday when UCLA popped out of nowhere and extended an offer. If the Montvale (N.J.) St. Joseph's offensive guard prospect makes an official visit to the Westwood campus, it would put the Bruins in great position. However, Illinois and Boston College each put in a lot of work with Fedd-Jackson, and it is close with both of them. His coach played at Boston College, so that connection exists.

Fedd-Jackson has 11 offers from Power Five schools. BC, Syracuse, Rutgers and Temple have offered from the Northeast.

Monday--December 19th, 2016

CBS Sports picks Middle Tennessee State over Hawaii.

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Victor Cruz savors what was probably his last game in MetLife stadium.

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This article features BYU WR Colby Person. It has a image of him being tackled by UMass LB Colbert Calhoun.

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The AAC is on the defensive during this year's bowl season.

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CONSPIRACY THEORISTS TAKE NOTE:

There have been 5,156 page views of the UMass football blog last week from Russia...

Pageviews by Countries

Entry	Pageviews
United States	5878
Russia	5428
Germany	175
France	29
Ukraine	19
Poland	18
Slovenia	14
China	12
Portugal	12
United Arab Emirates

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Recruiting 2016--Justin Gibbs.

247Sports image

Several recruiting services indicate UMass has offered to Justin Gibbs, a 6-2 200 pound WR from Augusta, GA.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has senior highlights.

Visited by UMass coach Steve Costello on December 5th.

Gibbs has 17 FBS offers. UMass is the only offer from the Northeast.

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Sunday--December 18th, 2016

Twitter post on former UMass football player and now AD at Kennesaw State being interviewed by the Minutemen broadcast team.

This blog post from 2008 has an image of Vaughn in his UMass uniform.

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New Liberty AD Ian McGraw thinks football is the driver for college athletics.

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UConn finished dead last in the AAC football rankings.

Fan Rag says the AAC is the current place to develop a coaching career.

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Today's game against Detroit might be Victor Cruz's last game as a giant.

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Recruiting 2017--Jylton Tusha II

Hudl.com image

Back in April I blogged about Jlyton Tusha, a 6-5 305 pound OT from Jacksonville, FL receiving a UMass offer.

He recently decommitted from Purdue. He cited the recent coaching change for his decision.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has senior season highlights.

Tusha has nine FBS offers with UMass as the only offer from the Northeast.

Saturday--December 17th, 2016

UPDATE: Bowl season starts today. The Camellia Bowl features 2017 UMass opponent Appalachian State against Toledo.

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Thirteen UMass players on Phil Steele's 2016 All-Independent Team.

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James Ihedigbo played through a fractured leg in a game against the Steelers.

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This post previews Hawaii vs Middle Tennessee State (with a quote saying the Hawaii QB "took apart" the UMass secondary) and also previews BYU vs Wyoming.

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ODU's coach Bobby wilder wants a salary in excess of $800,000.

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The UConn Blog says the AAC needs to expand.

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James Madison upsets North Dakota State to end the Bisons' five year national championship run. I watched that game on ESPNU last night and the Dukes were in control the whole way.

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Recruiting 2017--Calvin Francis III

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I've blogged about Calvin Francis, a 6-2 295 pound OL/DL from Orlando, FL a couple of times before.

He recently de-committed from FIU.

UMass, Toledo and Akron were his other three FBS offers before verbaling to FIU.

Recruiting 2017--Kerryon Richardson

Kerryon Richardson, a three-star athlete, who had a UMass offer has verbaled to Georgia State.

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Wednesday--December 16th, 2016

Jack Driscoll was named to the Campus Insiders Honorable Mention Freshman All-American team. Special thanks to the blog reader who pointed me to this article.

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Misdemeanor charges against Jalen Williams resulting from an incident in June have been dismissed.

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UMass 2017 commit Mike Ruane named First Team All-Metro.

The bruising catalyst of one of the state’s stingiest units (9.75 ppg.), Ruane was a heat-seeking missile who detonated with lasting impact. He recorded a sack in each of the Bulldogs’ three playoff wins and had eight tackles in the Central Jersey, Group 3 final, a 27-22 decision over South Plainfield. He finished with 120 tackles. -

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Former UMass football player Vaughn Williams is the AD of Kennesaw State. Former UMass player and coach Al Skinner is basketball coach. I had a couple of classes with Skinner back in the day.

Vaughn's Kennesaw State bio.

Skinner's Owl's bio.

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Wichita State has been mentioned as a possible basketball-only addition to the AAC conference.

Kansas.com has this quote from AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco:

Last spring, Aresco said the conference was not looking to expand and, if it did expand, would want schools that play football.

“We’re happy with 12,” he said. “We are not interested in expanding at this point. Eleven (basketball schools) worked out fine.”

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Minnesota football players boycott football activities including a possible bowl game over the suspension of 10 teammates.

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Recruiting 2018--Owen Thomas

Bob Raines image

Owen Thomas, a 6-4 215 pound TE/OLB from Landsdale, PA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

MaxPreps has some video highlights.

This article features Thomas.

UMass is Owen's first FBS offer. Also drawing interest from BC, Penn State and Pitt from the Northeast.

Thursday--December 15th, 2016

Coach Whipple has a message to Gridiron members. Most notable is he says Adam Breneman will return for his senior season. He will be a big chunk of the 2017 offense.

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James Ihedigbo has been place on injured reserve by the Bills with an ankle injury. Ihedigbo had played well in four games for Buffalo after being activated.

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Two Louisville players were shot at a party celebrating a teammates Heisman win.

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NESN has eight teams that have no business being in a bowl. List includes two UMass opponents: BC and Mississippi State.

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The AAC loses five coaches to Power Five schools.

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