UMass Football News--July 15th, 2017

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UMass currently has 14 defensive lineman on the roster:

Ali Ali-Musa  #90 DL 6-2 274 SR 12-11 GP-GS 16 UT 21 AT 37 TT 4.5 TFL 1 PD 2 FF
Domenico Cipriani #63 DL 6-3 290 RSFR Redshirted in 2016
Basit Dennis #69 DL 6-1 268 RSJR 3-0 GP_GS 1 TT
Da'Sean Downey #4 DL 6-4 225 SR 10-6 GP-GS 25 UT 23 At 44 UT 8.5 TFL 4 FF 6 SACKS
Leon Flanagan, #54 DL 6-1 212 SO 2-0 GP-GS
DaVone Hall, #75 DL 6-3 315 RSJR JUCO transfer
D'Shan Harley #88 DL 6-5 215 RSSO 7-1 GP-GS 3 UT 3 AT 6 TT
Sha-Ki Holines #95 DL 6-3 257 RSSR 12-9 GP-GS 18 UT 26 AT 44 TT 7.0 TFL 1 FF
Roderick Jones, #11 DL 6-2 260 RSSR 10-1 GP-GS 13 TT 1 TFL
Mario Patton #96 DL 6-0 297 RSSO 12-0 GP-GS 5 UT 7 AT 12 TT 1.0 TFL 1 PD
Alex Piechocki #91 DL 6-6 260 FR in for Spring semister
Joe Previte #61 DL 6-2 269 RSJR 8-4 GP-GS 4 UT 18 AT 22 TT 4.5 TFL 1 FR
Sharif Saleem #93 DL 6-5 251 RSFR Redshirted in 2016
Charly Timite #94 DL 6-3 307 RSFR Redshirted in 2016

Although it has not been announced, most UMass fans expect the Minutemen to change to a 4-3 base defense. As football junkies know, defensive linemen are the scarcest recruits.

The college football magazines predict UMass will start Joe Previte and Ali Ali-Musa as the two DT's with Da'Sean Downey and Sha-Ki Holines as the two DE's.

Downey led the Minutemen with 6 sacks in 2016 and he could prosper in a 4-3 as there would be less unassigned offensive linemen facing the defense.

Joe Previte was having a good season before suffering a elbow injury against South Carolina.

UMass does get four new defensive linemen for 2017. Domenico Cipriani, Sharif Saleem and Charly Timite come off redshirt seasons. JUCO transfer DaVone Hall weighs 305 and could provide immediate help inside.

Charlie Timite was a 247Sports three-star recruit. Sharif Saleem was two stars. Cipriani was unrated by recruiting services.

The Minutemen brought in five defensive linemen for 2017 and Alex Piechocki and DaVone Hall were in for the Spring semester. Two-star 2017 recruits Hunter Brown, Jake Byczko and  Caeleb Washington are probably looking at a redshirt year.

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Recruiting 2016--DaVone Hall verbals to UMass

Twitter reports Devone Hall, a 6-3 315 pound DL from Butler County CC in Kansas has verbaled to UMass.

Hudl.com Spring ball highlights here.

More video highlights here.

Orange Coast bio here.

Wednesday--August 10th, 2016

Dan Malone has a very early look at projected starters. In 2016 the Minutemen signed their best ever recruiting class. There is just too much talent for some of them to be redshirted.

At RB, UMass only had two scholarship RB's on the roster. I expect one or both of Peytton Pickett and Bilal Ally to play this year.

At WR once we get beyond Jalen Williams and Shakur Nesmith, things look iffy. I would expect three-star recruits Brennon Dingle and Sadiq Palmer to get long looks.

TE was and is a talent hole in the Minutemen roster. Hopefully Penn State transfer Adam Breneman has some gas left in his tank, but true freshman Cody Banks and Avien Peah, both three star recruits have too much talent to sit.

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Adam Aucoin of the Daily Collegian reports UMass looks for a balanced rushing attack this year.

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Meanwhile UMass has added six JUCO's the defensive roster. In the first four years, the defense was kinda the step child of recruiting. The recruiting mix usually ran about 60-40 in favor of offensive players. The UMass defense needed more bodies. This year UMass has added:

DaVone Hall DL
Rod Jones DL
Colbert Calhoun LB
Ali Ali-Musa DL
Teddy Lowery LB/S

New to the mix is Domenico Cipriani a 6-4 270 DL form IMG Academy Football.

Hudl.com has video on Cipriani.

Andrew Cyr of the UMass Daily Collegian says UMass adds size and depth for 2016.

Mike Traini has a post on Rod Jones joining the Minutemen and has some information on the other JUCO defensive players.

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Dan has a post on Penn State transfer Adam Breneman. If he can stay healthy, it'll be a big boost to the Minutemen.

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Matty Vautour has a report on Sekai Lindsay and also mention freshman RB's Peytton Picket and Bilal Ally.

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BC Interruption interviews Mike Traini on the state of the 2016 Minutemen.

BC Interruption also does a preview of UMass.

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The Tennessean has a bunch of images of Tajae Sharpe from the Titans camp.

The Columbia Daily Herald says Sharpe made two excellent plays in yesterday's camp.

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Victor Cruz may not play in the Giants first preseason game due to "groin tightness".

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Georgia Tech's Mike Bobinski seems to leaving for Purdue. Would the Wreck's make a run at Ryan Bamford? UMass could not match their finances.

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Tuesday--August 23rd, 2016

Hey, it's 48 degrees here in Jaffrey this morning! Feels like Fall. Feels like football! Video is UMass cadence. Turn your computer speakers all the way up.

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Let's do the bad news first, Austin Whipple was arrested for DWI Saturday night. Mike Traini of Fight Massachusetts reacts. Don't drink and drive. It's a tragedy waiting to happen. Not to mention the Globe will love something like this.

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Matty Vautour says JUCO transfer could make an impact with the UMass defense this fall. This is a smart move on the part of Whipple and staff. The UMass "D" got the short end of the recruiting numbers for the first couple of years in FBS. Not to mention of the six FBS games we've won, five were due to outstanding defensive efforts. The Minutemen need to fill deficiencies in the roster with JUCO's and transfers. That's just a fact of life for our program at this stage.

Ali Ali-Musa and Tedrick Lowery are sure starters. Linebackers Rod Jones and Colbert Calhoun should be in the rotation. Davone Hall at 6-2 330 gives UMass some much needed size on the DL. Jordan Hamilton was good enough to get an offer from Air Force.

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Dan Malone has a post on the rebuilt Minutemen offensive line. I thought the OL underperformed last year. With five Power Five teams on this year's schedule, a better running game would sure help.

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Tajae Sharpe has graded out as the top NFL rookie so far in camp.

Marcus Mariota says Sharpe makes it easy on the quarterback.

iSportsweb.com reports the Titans had a Sharpe take on their game with the Panthers.

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The Florida Gators open at #25 in the preseason AP poll.

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Austin Burton, a QB from Newton South, who had a UMass offer has flipped his commitment from Boston College to UCLA.

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Hawaii and Cal prepare for kickoff in Australia this Friday.

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Monday--April 3rd, 2017

Jeff Lajoie of the Hampshire Gazette profiles new UMass DL coach Dave Wissman.

Wissman will have more defensive line depth this year. That may have been part of the reason to switch to a four-down front.

Ali Ali-Musa 6-2 274 SR
Domenico Cipriani 6-3 290 RS FR
Basit Dennis 6-1 268 RS JR
Leon Flanagan, Jr 6-1 212 SO (listed as a LB last year. DE this year?)
DaVone Hall 6-3 315 JUCO RS JR
D'Shan Harley 6-5 215 RS SO
Sha-Ki Holines 6-3 257 RS SR
Roderick Jones 6-2 260 RS SR
Mario Patton 6-0 297 RS SO
Alex Piechocki 6-6 260 FR
Joe Previte 6-2 269 RS JR
Sharif Saleem 6-5 251 RS FR
Charlie Timite 6-3 307 RS FR

I would speculate Ali Ali-Musa, Sha-Ki Holines and Mario Patton would be three of the starting four DL. That would leave one position open. Joe Previte played well before suffering an elbow injury late in the season.

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Underdog Dynasty previews the 2017 Sun Belt conference. UMass will be an honorary member this year as we play Georgia Southern, Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina.

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Georgia Southern returns to their signature option offense this year and ran for 371 yards and five TD's in their Spring Game Saturday.

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Wednesday--March 29th, 2017

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There's a new version of the 2017 Spring roster up. It has the early enrollees from January. The revised roster shows the numbers they were assigned.

Michael Curtis QB 6-2 210 # 17  (ex James Sosinski)

Jake Froehlich LB 6-1 245 #47 (ex Michael Dowe)

Spencer Goldberg OL 6-4 295 # 70 (ex Ryan Johnson)

DaVone Hall DL 6-3 315 #75 (not assigned in 2016)

Jaylen Larry OL 6-3 287 # 76 (ex Tyshon Henderson)

Alex Piechocki DL 6-6 260 # 91 (ex Chris Carter)

Mike Ruane LB 6-0 227 # 33 (ex Rodney Mills)

Patrick Volcy WR 6-3 190 # 80 (ex Jalen Williams)

David Weinstock OL 6-1 287 # 78 (ex Matt Sparks)

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Speaking of Jalen Williams, he worked out for the 49rs.

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Kyle Daluz of the UMass Daily Collegian has a post on new UMass DL coach Dave Wissman.

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Buffalo Low Down.com has a profile of Vladimir Ducasse. Vlad's been an OG most of his pro career. Up State NY.com asks if he can play right tackle.

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USF DB Hassan Childs was shot multiple times in a possible road rage incident.  The Minutemen play at USF on October 14th.

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UMass Football News--March 28th, 2018

Matty Vautour reports the young UMass defensive line is coming together this Spring.

Matty reports the starting DL looks like:

Joe Previte RSSR 6-2 265. Started all 12 games in 2017. Totaled 10 UT 15 AT 25 TT 3 TFL 1 FR

Leon Flanagan, Jr  JR 6-2 220. 9 GP 0 GS 9 UT 7 AT 16 TT 3 TFL 1 BKUP 1 INT

Jake Byczo SO 6-3 250 12 GP 0 GS 6 UT 17 AT 23 TT 2.0 TFL

Chris DiTommaso SO 6-4 275 Redshirt in 2017

For reserves:

Mario Patton RSJR 6-1 315 11 GP 0 GS 2 UT 6 AT 8 TT 2 BKUP

Also on the Spring roster are:

Zack Loane SO 5-11 240 Redshirted in 2017

Basit Dennis RSSR 6-1 270 1 GP 0 GS in 2017

Davone Hall, SR RSSR  6-3 325 DNP in 2017

Alex Piechocki SO 6-5 255 Redshirted in 2017

Caleb Washington, 6-1 250 Redshirted in 2017

Charlie Timite RSSO 6-3 275 12 GP 0 GS 5 UT 5 AT 10 TT 1 TFL.

In the 2018 recruiting class are:

Uchenna Ezewike 6-2 220

Shannon Junior 6-3 210

Arnold Mbembe 6-6 240

Timothy Moulton 6-3 240

For 2018, the Minutemen defensive line looks light by FBS standards. Leon Flanagan will probably be the rush DE. Let's hope they're all fast and highly motivated...

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Old Dominion gets their best WR back from a season-ending injury during the UMass game last year.

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