UMass Football News--June 2nd, 2018

The Ravens have waived Da'Sean Downey. Let's hope someone else picks him up. Downey might prosper in the CFL. Lots of space to work in.

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Former UMass player Taylor Riggins will be eligible to play for the Bulls this season.

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Legalized college football betting is coming and it will change the game. Note that in West Virginia, Marshall and UWV will get a cut of the action. Hard to envision that ever happening in Massachusetts.

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UMass Football Recruiting --New Jersey

NJ.com has a post on local (New Jersey) players who could score scholarship offers in today's Rutgers Football Camp.

The article mentions UMass six times.

The Minutemen could use TE's, DL's and RB's in 2019.

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UMass Football News--June 1st, 2018

Ohio vs UMass game time on September 29th is still pending.

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UMass at Georgia Southern at 6:00pm on September 8th will be on ESPN+

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I must have missed the notice UMass will play Big Ten Indiana in 2023.

The 2023 schedule so far as per Future FBS Schedules is:

• 09/09 - at Indiana
• 09/16 - at Eastern Michigan
• 09/30 - at New Mexico State
• 10/28 - at Army
• 11/11 - at Liberty

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Athlon Sports has Marquis Young in College Football's Top-50 running backs for 2018.

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Coastal Carolina has 10 players on Athlon Sports preseason All-Sun belt team.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Anthony Gordon

247Sports image

Anthony Gordon, a 6-1 175 pound WR fro Imhotep Institute in Philly has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

2017 All-Public league.

PennLive has a post on Gordon picking up an offer from Virginia.

UMass Football News--May 31st, 2018

FBS Schedules has 2018 Helmet schedules for FBS Independents. Includes UMass.

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SB Nation predicts BC will exceed its Vegas over and under predictions.

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FIU will lean on a new corps of wide receivers in 2018.

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The NCAA has limited the number of headsets available for sideline coaches to 20. Don't think UMass will have trouble with this one.

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OT, but Georgia basketball will meet UMass on November 30th, about six weeks after the respective football teams meet on November 17th.

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UMass Football News-May 30th, 2018

Coach Whipple has a 10 minute podcast interview on a Florida radio station on recruiting South Florida.

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Ohio State will visit the Rutgers East Coast Elite recruiting camp at Rutgers that UMass will also attend.

More on the East Coast Elite recruiting camp here.

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ESPN has released its win predictions for Georgia's 2018 season. According to ESPN, the Dogs have a 98% win projection over the Minutemen and will be undefeated when the game is played.

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Duquesne vs Dayton on September 15th, rates a one of the Top-25 FCS non-conference games of 2018.

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How Appalachian State determines recruiting areas for assistant coaches.

Seven stats to know about the 2018 Mountaineers. 

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UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Angelo Vokolos

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Angelo Vekolos, a 5-11 205 pound MLB/FB has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

MaxPreps has stats.

Hudl.com has video.

First Team All-Independence Division in 2017.

MaxPreps 2nd Team All-American Freshman Team.

UMass is the first FBS offer for Vekolos.

UMasd Football Recruiting 2021--Xavier Coleman

Twitter image

Xavier Coleman, a 5-11 185 pound RB/DB from Medford, NJ has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

I believe UMass is the first FBS offer for Coleman.

Mass Football News--Memorial Day 2018

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Mrs Blog sent me out Saturday morning on some "Honey Do" errands. It was kinda reassuring how small-town America was enjoying the Memorial Day weekend. Several HS athletic teams were doing car washes to raise funds. The various athletic fields were packed. Pickup trucks were pulling boats and campers. Still, it's worthwhile to remember that all this exists is not an accident. Many people paid the price.

I don't know if anyone caught this, but retired Navy Seal Master Chief Britt Slabinski (born in Northampton!) had his Navy Cross upgraded to the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend.

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Flo Football has a post on two-sport athlete Joe Girard (wearing a UMass uniform in the article) will opt to play both basketball and football in college.

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A 247Sports writer says T.J. Sharpe could benefit under the Titans new offensive scheme.

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HERO Sports picks Statesboro, GA as #91 in college football towns. UMass will visit on September 8th.

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SB Nation has a post on how to use Vegas odds to predict college football spreads for yourself.

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UMass Football recruiting 2020--Eric Rogers

Hudl.com image

Eric Rogers, a 6-2 160 pound DB from Camden Catholic HS in Cherry Hills, NJ has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

Besides UMass Rogers has an offer from North Carolina.

UMass Football News--May 25th, 2018

HERO Sports ranks UMass #93 in its preseason rankings and says the Minutemen may be bowl bound.

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Marquis Young is included in a 247Sports story about the Top-25 tackle breakers return for 2018.

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How WWE's network TV deal could signal a bonanza for college football.

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UMass Football recruiting 2019--Isaiah Baghah

Canadian Football Chat image

Saturday Blitz has a UMass page (I didn't know that). They have a Q&A with Canadian recruit Isaiah Bagnaw.

Bagnaw is a 6-5 250 pound SDE from Calgary.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

NCSA profile here.

Bagnaw also has a FBS offer from Old Dominion.

UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Joe Smith

Twitter image

Joe Smith (good name), a 6-1 205 pound OLB from South Dade HS in Miami, FL has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

The Miami Herald mentions Smith in this article about the top 2019 South Florida prospects.

Smith has fourteen offers including Pitt and Syracuse from the Northeast.

UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Aaron Kelley verbals to UMass

ASA college image

Aaron Kelley, a 6-3 180 pound Safety from ASA College in Brooklyn, NY has Tweeted he's joining the 2018 Minutemen class.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has him as a PWO.

247Sports page here.

ASA College bio here.

Hudl.con has video from ASA college.

This article from 2017 calls ASA college a "hidden gem".

MaxPreps has stats from his prep career.

UMass Football News--May 23rd, 2018

AP/Mark Humphrey image

The Titians will lean heavily on young receivers including T.J. Sharpe.

The Titans website has an extensive biography of Sharpe.

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HERO sports previews Georgia Southern. UMass and the Eagles will tangle at Paulson Stadium on September 8th. UMass' last visit to Paulson was a 38 to 21 loss in the FCS quarterfinals on December 4th, 1999.

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Rebuilding BYU plays Washington, Wisconsin and Boise State from the 2018 preseason Top-25.

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CBS Sports has 100 things to get you fired up for the 2018 season.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Scott Elliott

Twitter image

Scott Elliott, a 6-3 283 pound OG from Holliston, MA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

This article from September of 2017 features Elliott and mentions UMass. (fixed link)

Elliott has ten offers, all except for UMass, from FCS schools.

UMass Football News--May 22nd, 2018

BC opens as a 20 point favorite over the Minutemen on September 1st.

BC Interruption reports one preseason magazine predicts a last place finish for the Eagles in the ACC.

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BTW, Innovative Statistics had UMass ranked as #84 in 2017.

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This article says UMass coaches will attend a "showcase" camp at FAU on June 7th.

Quote from the article: "Overall, it isn’t a huge surprise to see so many staffs heading to FAU. The school is in a recruiting hot bed down in South Florida."

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UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Ronald Nunnery

Hudl.com image

Ronald Nunnery, a 6-2 190 pound Safety from Pearland, TX has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

Video is from a Rivals camp in Houston.

Nunnery has five offers including Air Force, Boise State, Texas San Antonio and Tulsa.

UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Cavon Butler II

Irish Sports Daily image

I've blogged about Cavon Butler, a 6-3 285 pound DL from Toledo, Ohio before.

This article covers his visit to West Virginia.

247Sports has an article that reports he does not have a favorite at this time.

Since I posted about Butler in March, he has added offers by Ohio, Youngstown state, Kent State, Cincinnati and West Virginia.

UMass Football News--May 19th, 2018

BC has announced a 1:00 PM start time for UMass' visit to the Heights.

The game will appear on ACC Extra TV.

Athlon Sports ranks BC's 2018 schedule as 6th most difficult in the ACC.

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Appalachian State completes its 2020 schedule. UMass and the Mountaineers will meet on 09/26/20.

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UConn will have an earlier start to its Spring Football in 2019 and will not have a Spring Game.

The Huskies add a DT graduate transfer from Miami.

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