UMass 2010 Football Banquet

There was a good turnout for the UMass Football Banquet Friday. Click on the above images for a larger view.

I spoke personally with UMass AD John McCutcheon. He commented on the NCAA's committee's choice of Firsco, TX to host the FCS National Championship game. He stated that Frisco made an outstanding presentation and the committee felt the event needed to be re-energized.

In his speech to the gathering, McCutcheon stated that UMass Football was important to the athletic dept and to UMass. He stated that program was healthy, as were the remaining CAA teams. McCutcheon said he felt the state's financial support of the University was stable. He also said he expected to continue to work on improvements to McGuirk stadium. The stadium support buildings would receive some attention in 2010.

Brandon London attended and gave a rousing speech to the crowd.

Victor Cruz was not at the gathering, but Coach Morris announced that Victor had received his degree.

My notes have disappeared, so feel free to comment on the team honors. Tom Brandt received the outstanding defensive scout team award and Octavious Hawkins won the award on the offensive side.

UPDATE: From Jason Yellin (UMass Sports Information Office)

"AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass football team held its annual team banquet on Friday, Feb. 26 at the Campus Center. Senior wide receiver Victor Cruz was honored as a team MVP. Senior tackle Vladimir Ducasse was named the Outstanding Offensive Player while seniors Kyle Harrington and Jeromy Miles shared the top Defensive Player Award. Former star receiver Brandon London, who recently signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, spoke to the team as a guest speaker.

Here are the 2009 season award winners:

Outstanding Defensive Scout Team Player: Tom Brandt
Outstanding Offensive Scout Team Player: Octavious Hawkins
Vic Fusia Most Improved Offensive Player: Jared Chivers & Chris Zardas
Vic Fusia Most Improved Defensive Player: Anthony Monette & Tyler Holmes
Academic Achievement Award: David Ramsden & Jeff Strait
Marcel Shipp Iron Minuteman Award: Vladimir Ducasse & Jeromy Miles
Outstanding Special Teams Player: Armando Cuko
Outstanding Offensive Player: Vladimir Ducasse
Outstanding Defensive Player: Jeromy Miles & Kyle Harrington
Team Most Valuable Player: Victor Cruz"

Thursday News 02/05/09

Matty Vautour has an article on the UMass recruits and says UMass is still pursuing several more players.

Jeff Thomas of the Springfield Republican has an recruiting article here .

The Metro Daily New has an article about the Brandt brothers signing with UMass.

Kevin Stevens of Press Connects says Jamar Smith is happy to be a Minuteman.

The Worcester Telegram has an article on Rob Blanchflower and Brandon Potvin signing with UMass.

The Boston Herald discusses New England college recruits including UMass.

Some additions and corrections to yesterday's blog post:

I did not add Brandon Potvin to the recruits list. Sorry Brandon! I was getting a little tired.

• Brandon Potvin DT. He's Worcester Telegram's Defensive Player-of-the-year.
  
• Sean Unterkoefler RB. I had him listed as a LB although he still may play there, but the UMass recruiting bio emphasises his RB skills. Ran a 6.14 55 meter sprint (20th in nation). YouTube highlights here .

FYI this was last years recruits under Coach Brown. In 2008 we had three Rivals "starred" players :

• DJ Adeoba two stars (red shirted)
  
• Korey Davis two stars (played as true freshman)
  
• Quinton Sales three stars. (red shirted)

This year we recruited five Rivals starred players

• Christan Birt two stars
• Tim Brandt two stars
• Tom Brandt two stars
• Kyle Havens three stars
• Devin Lindsey two stars.

Rivals.com has us as the #3 rated recruiting class in FCS/I-AA.

Raw Data on the CAA North:

• Maine signs 15 recruits
• New Hampshire signs 10 recruits
• Northeastern signs twelve
• Rhode Island signs 16 (Darren Rizzi's first class)
• Hofstra signs 17

One of our 2009 OOC opponents Albany, signed eleven.

thursday News--- July, 29th, 2010

Lots of coverage from the CAA Media Day on the UMass web site and the CAA site.

Video interviews with Tyler Holmes and Emil Igwenagu here.

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Matty Vautour has a Media Day article here.

Craig Haley of The Sports Network says it's not easy to catch your breath in the CAA.

Maine did not get any players on the CAA preseason team.

The Coaches Preseason All-CAA team here.

The CAA has the FCS' largest TV package.

More than a dozen Google news links to articles on various CAA teams related to the Media Day here.
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Villanova's Matt Sczcur has hit safely in every game he's played in the Cubs farm system.

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There's an article on the changing face of the FCS Championship game and the playoffs here.

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Today is thirty-seven day until the season starts. Wearing #37 for UMass this year will be Tom Brandt, a 6-0 200 pd RS FR LB from Natick, MA. Brandt had a redshirt year in 2009.

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New Hampshire, Land of Excitement.

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Sunday--August 25th, 2012

MassLive's Harry Plumer has a feature on Coach Molnar's full speed ahead life.

Plumer also says UMass' preparation has turned to UConn.

UMass linebackers Tim Brandt and Tom Brandt are the focus of this article from the Herald News.

The Worcester Telegram says the Minutemen are looking to make a big splash.

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The Hartford Courant features UMass Head Trainer Jennifer Brodeur. Jennifer's UMass bio.

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UConn has it's Game Day info up including roster and depth chart.

Torrington's Register-Citizen says the Huskies senior-laden defense is looking for a big year.

The Greeewich Times says it's a make-or-break year for UConn.

A Bleacher Report writer says Lyle McCombs will run through the Big East.

CBS Sports have three team records that will fall for UConn this year.

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Roster cuts are looming for the Rams.

A UMass fan took in the Cowboys-Rams game and sent us these images of Travis Tripucka. Thanks! Click on images for a larger view.

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CBS Sports predicts Josh Samuda will make the Dolphins roster.

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Tuesday News -----July 20th, 2010

The Union Leader has an article discussing some of the details of the UMass-UNH game at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 23rd.

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The Sports Network has released their Buchanan Award Watch List for the best defensive player in FCS. IMHO, the list is a little strange. Six of the 20 nominees come from two schools: Appalachian State and Richmond. According to my literature, the Spiders only return four starters on defense. Three of the four are amoung the top 20 defensive players in the division?

The official CAA blogger has more details on the three plus LB Terrance Thomas of Villanova.

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J&B Scouting has a new Q&A Monday article up.

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Villanova has a 2010 Pump Up video on YouTube. It's good to be National Champion.

BTW, the Wildcats highlight film from their win over Montana here. Matt Szczur's touchdown run right through a Montana LB reminds me of the famous Bo Jackson-Brian Bosworth run-over.

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UMass loses a recruiting battle to Iowa as Danvers, MA native Mike Orloff commits to the Hawkeyes.

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Former UMass player and assistant coach Matt Dawson has returned to Fordham for his second coaching stint, this time as Defensive Coordinator.

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Catching up on the player countdown. Wearing #48 this year will be Dawan Nolton a 5-11 212 pd RS SO LB from Irvington , NJ. Dawan appeared in two game in 2009. Did not have a tackle.

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Wearing #47 for the Minutemen in 2010 will be Tom Brandt a 6-0 200 pd RS FR LB from Natick, MA. Brandt was redshirted on 2009.

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Today is forty-six days until the season opens. Wearing #46 for UMass will be Chad Hunte, a 6-0 205 pd SO LB from Brookline, MA. Hunte transferred from Northeastern. He played as a true freshman for the Pride and racked up 18 UT 15 AT 33 TT 1 INT.

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Wednesday--April 4th, 2011

Linebackers, not the sanest of individuals

Continuing our series on the UMass defense. The Minutemen lost only one linebacker out of the last two-deep chart I have. But it was a big loss as Tyler Holmes graduated. He was the leading tackler on the team going 11-11 GP-GS 69 UT 49 AT 118 TT 6.0 TFL 2.0-17 SACKS 1-0 INT  7 BKUP. Holmes also led UMass in pass BKUP.

UPDATE: As a commenter pointed out I missed Shane Viveiros and Courtney Jackson. Actually, I picked up that this morning, but Comcast dropped a 10 hour service outage on me for the rest of the day.

The Minutemen also lose Shane Viveiros 6-6 GP-GS 15 UT 11 AT 26 TT 3.0-17 TFL 1-26 INT 2 BKUP. The UMass defense was a lot better when Viveiros was in there. Also graduating was Courtney Jackson 8-3 GP-GS 7 UT 5 AT 12 TT.

Returning in 2011:

• D.J. Adeoba RSSR 11-3 GP-GS 15 UT 15 AT 30 TT 2.0-4 TFL 1-2 INT 3 BKUP
• Stanley Andre RSSO 1-0 GP-GS 1 UT 1 TT
• Tim Brandt RSJR 11-0 GP_GS 24 UT 9 UT 33 TT 3.5-15 TFL 1 BKUP
• Tom Brandt RSJR 9-1 GP-GS 7 UT 2 AT 9 TT 1.0-4 TFL 1.0-6 SACK
• Matt Campbell RSSO 
• Ryan Delaire RSSO 10-0 GP-GS 3 UT 6 AT 9 TT 10.0-4 TFL 
• Chad Hunte SR 11-10 GP-GS 37 UT 21 AT 58 TT 2.0 TFL
• Perry McIntyre SR 11-10 GP-GS 53 UT 63 AT 116 TT 11.5-56 TFL 6.5-43 SACKS 2 BKUP
• Carlito Weaver RSJR 3-0 GP-GS 2 UT

The Minutemen return the #2 and #4 leading tacklers on the defense. Counting dual-position players there are five possible LB's on the the 2012 recruiting list.

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Matty V reports the UMass offensive line has impressed Coach Hudson.

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Ron Chimelis has a story about the improved UMass hoops program and covers the four MAC games we will play next year. Ohio's run to the Sweet Sixteen should make a good home for UMass fans.

A couple of NCAA appearances would not hurt UMass' image if we try for a BCS league in football in the future.

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Victor Cruz is a restricted free agent, so he is stuck with his contract. He can't imagine holding out.

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UMass Depth chart for UConn

UPDATE:  The 2012 roster is up.

UPDATE II: Ahhh, maybe somebody from football needs to compare notes with whoever is working on the roster. It does not list Blake Lucas or Rob O'Connor and most of the recruits and transfers have no bios.

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Matty V. has a post on UMass' depth chart for the UConn game.

The following is a cut-and-past from part of the article with links added by me.

"Offense

QB- Mike Wegzyn - A.J. Doyle will back him up.

WR- Alan Williams - He'll also play some running back, but he's a starter at receiver
WR - Deion Walker and Tajae Sharpe are still battling a bit to see who'll start, but both will play.
WR - Marken Michel - No surprise here.
TE - Rob Blanchflower - Derek Beck will be the No. 2 at least until Brandon Howard is healthy

RB - Chris Burns, Michael Cox and Jamar Smith are all in the mix to play at running back, which one will start has yet to be determined.

"Jamar Smith has really come on in the last couple of days," Molnar said. "He put himself in the competition. He deserves to have a shot to run out there for the first snaps against UConn."

C - Quinton Sales
Tackle - Nick Speller, Jamie Cassleberry and Stephane Milhim will all play tackle, which ones will start is uncertain.
Guards - If Milhim doesn't start at tackle, he'll start at guard. John Wallace and Michael Boland are competing for the other. Both will play.

DEFENSE

"We're rotating eight guys for the four spots on the defensive line. The four healthiest guys will probably start," Molnar said.

DE  - Stanley Andre, Ryan DeLaire, Kevin Byrne, Brandon Potvin will all see the field in some rotation.
DT - Chaz Thompson, Galen Clemons, Hafis Williams and Daniel Maynes - Same as at end.

LB - Perry McIntyre, Tom Brandt, Greg Hilliard will start. - Tim Brandt. D.J. Adeoba. Jovan Santo-Knox. Rob O'Connor, Leo Krizanovic could all see the field.

S - Darren Thellen, Christian Birt - Ed Saint-Vil is a likely backup here.
CB - Randall Jette and Antoine Tharpe will start. Trey Dudley Giles and D'Metrius Williams will play. "I can see all three of those guys playing."

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Some surprise missing names: Chad Hunte (58 TT in 2011) and Anthony Dima (11 games played in 2011). Hurt?

Eleven transfers or true freshmen mentioned in the above depth chart, if I counted right.

The state of UMass 2010---Linebackers

This will be the fifth unit review for 2010. Previous editions include:

• Defensive Line
• Offensive Line
• Running Backs
• Receivers

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Losses for 2010:

• Eric Dickson -RSSr 10 Starts, 95 TT, 5 BKRP, 2nd on team in TT, 6th in CAA TT

Returning 2010 (class rank for 2010):

• Tyler Holmes- Jr, 10 Starts, 2nd Team All-CAA, Led UMass 110 TT, 2nd in CAA and 8th in NCAA in TT, led UMass in INT's and tied for most BKRP's
• Perry McIntyre -Soph, Played 11 games-started 7, 3rd on team with 64 TT, CAA Rookie-of-the Week Sept 26th Stony Brook
• Kurt Filler - Sr (?) Played 4 games started 4, season ending knee injury 9/26. Not sure if he wants/will get medical redshirt.
• D.J. Adeoba - RSSoph, Played 8 games-started one. CAA Rookie-of-the-week 9/5 Kansas State, injured during that game 12 TT
• Nick Haag - RSSoph , Played 11 games-started 0, 12 TT
• Mike Mele -SR, Played 3 games-started 1, 11 TT
• Scott Duggan -RSSR, Played 8 games-started 0, 8 TT
• Chris Chamberlin -RSSoph, Played 11 games-started 0, 5 TT
• Dawan Nolton -RS Soph, Played 3 games-started 0, 1 TT

Red Shirt Freshmen for 2010:

• Tim Brandt
  
• Tom Brandt, Scout Team Defensive Player-of-the-Year
• Devin Linsey

True Freshman recruits:

• Stanley Andre 6-1 250
• Matt Campbell 6-1 230

Transfers:

• Chad Hunte -Soph, Transfer Northeastern-Played 11 games, 32 TT
  

Notes: Dickson's graduation causes UMass to lose 29% of their 2009 linebacker tackles. A commenter in another post stated that Nick Haag has transferred to Assumption. I have no information about that. We probably won't know if Kurt Filler took a redshirt year until the spring roster comes out.

Even if we are without those two, there will still be seven returning linebackers who played in 2009. Also available will be three redshirt freshmen and one transfer. So we will have at least eleven linebackers and maybe thirteen available in 2010. UMass will have five linebackers (six if you count the Hofstra transfer) who started at least one game in 2009.

The linebacker corps is the only UMass position unit that returns an All-CAA player for 2010: Tyler Holmes. This has to be the deepest unit on the team. It would seem the two true freshmen linebackers will almost certainly be redshirted unless they are switched to another position.

UMass appears to have a lot more linebackers than defensive linemen. Would UMass consider playing a 3-4 defense----or even a 3-5-3 (gaining popularity to defense the spread) ?

Northeastern transfer Chade Hunt played as a true freshman for the Huskies. I wonder if UMass would like him to take a redshirt year? He is more of a safety in size --- 6-0 205. The UMass secondary could probably use him more than the linebacker corps.

Monday News ----- August 2nd, 2010

Wow! It's finally August. It's finally time for football camp next week. In the Blog's view, life is better when there is football.

The Milford Daily News has an article about two sets of NaticK twins on the UMass football team. Tim Brandt and Tom Brandt are RS FR linebackers . Thad McCummings is a RS FR DB, while his brother Theo will have to sit out a year after transferring up from DIII.

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UMass HC Kevin Morris starts a weekly interview with CBS3 Springfield.

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Holy Cross now has a Football Blog.

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A Bleacher Report writer asks if Vilanova will get some votes in the AP College Football Poll.

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The Virginia Gazette says predictions aside, let the games begin for William & Mary.

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Catching up on the players countdown. Wearing number 35 for UMass this year will be Stanley Andre, a 6-1 250 pd FR LB from Dorchester, MA. Andre is a 2010 recruit.

Wearing #34 for the Minutemen will be Kumar Davis, a 6-0 215 pd SR DB from Nutley, NJ. Davis played in nine games in 2009 and started one. He went 17 UT 9 AT 26 TT 1.5-2 TFL 1-0 INT.

Wearing #33 for UMass will be Mike Mele, a 6-0 218 pd SR LB from Sea Girt, NJ. Mele played in 3 games in 2009 started in 1. He had 3 UT 8 AT 8 TT 0.5-1 TFL 1 Fumble RCV.

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UMass 2009 Recruits up

The UMass Athletic site has the 2009 UMass Recruiting list up.

Ok. Some recruits I've already blogged about. There is quite a bit of material to review on those players. Click on their name and Blogger will display past blogs about them just below the current post.

• Christian Birt DB
  
• Tim Brandt LB
  
• Tom Brandt LB
• Ryan Carter DB
  
• Kyle Havens QB
• Bill Nesselt DL
• Jamar Smith TB
• Royce Terrell LB
  
• Sean Unterkeofler LB
• Rob Blanchflower TE. Worcester Telegram article mentioning him here . He also played defensive line .
• Kevin Byrne DL. Picked UMass over Maine and Northeastern
• Mike Lee DB. Youtube highlight video here. He's #13. (be sure to click on the "high quality" setting". He runs a 4.55 40 and Clemson and South Carolina were interested.
• Devin Lindsey LB. Rivals two star player. He was First Team All-State.
• Thad McCummings DB. He rushed for A LOT of yards at Canterbury School.
• Perry McIntyre LB. Rivals page here . He was All-Area on defense . Also All county.
• Jeff Strait P. Highlight video here . Good athlete too .
• Adham Talaat OL. Big dude.
• Vincent Westcarr. Played Dade-Brower All-Star game. Mentioned in this article (scroll all the way to the bottom)

UMass Athletics has a video interview with Coach Morris on signing day here .

Whew! I'm going to take a break. Everybody play nice.

UMass 2010 Spring football game

Friday was a fun day for the Blog. In the morning I hiked Pack Monadnock in southern NH. The first two images in the set are a view from the summit east and the only patch of Trillium grandiflorum we saw on the hike.

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The Spring Game is my first set of images on Flickr. So far I'm finding Flickr not as intuitive as Picasa. The link is here. See if it works and you can view it.

I arrived about 6:30 in Amherst. Some UMass fans and families were tailgating inside the stadium. a hefty crowd of students were drinking in the usual tailgate areas outside. The students stayed outside.

To me, it looked like the number of family and friends inside the stadium about tripled from last year. UMass did not announce the attendance.

Special thanks to the UMass Marching Band who sent a pep squad to the game and added a lot to the ambiance .

No body got hurt.

The UMass team split into two squads. Seeing the Minutemen do not dress 150 players for the game, that means some players were moved out of position to make up the squads. If anyone has any other information, add it to the comments.

As I've said before, you can't take a lot out of the Spring games. Everyone is playing at 4/5 speed and trying not to get anyone hurt.

Anthony Nelson, Christopher Green, Dan Sheeran, Tom Brandt Courtney Jackson and Jeffery Lingenfelter, all sat out the game (if they were wearing the correct jerseys).

The most entertaining play of the game was the very first play when the white squad tried a flea flicker back to Octavious Hawkins. Tyler Holmes came flying in and leveled Hawkins, who did a vertical 180 spin. He came up laughing.

Probably the most impressive thing I saw was the pass receiving. Unlike one recent year, the receivers caught about everything that was catchable. Jesse Julmiste looked fast and shifty. Woody Carter IV, playing WR had a couple of good catches. Tom Gilson had four catches and Julian Colarusso had three. Johathan Hernandez had a TD catch.

Not much to report on quarterbacks. Hawkins and Kyle Havens had almost identical stats. Third String QB Jesse Hunt looked as if he belonged.

John Griffin, the Northeastern transfer looked fast. Sean Unterkoefler was playing FB. Jamar Smith also looked fast. It seems we will have a speed backfield this year. Unless we move someone from another position, we do not have a 240 pd fullback.

With the defense broken up into two squads, it was harder to spot defensive standouts. Red shirt freshmen Christian Birt and Ryan Carter were around the ball a lot.

All in all, I thought the offense looked promising. Even with all the turnovers last year, we were #2 in the CAA in total offense. This year shows promise if we hold on to the ball.

Tuesday--October 8, 2013

Matty V. says UMass will stick with A. J. Doyle. He goes on to list this week's casualty list.

The following is a cut-and-paste from Matty's article:

 "INJURY UPDATES — Bedell and Woodley returned to practice Monday, as did receiver E.J. Burston, linebackers Jovan Santos-Knox, Ed Saint Vil and Tom Brandt, the latter of whom was limited.

Broadnax, linebackers Steve Casali and John Robinson-Woodgett, safety Joe Colton, defensive lineman Trey Seals and receiver Shakur Nesmith did not practice because of injuries.

Senior defensive lineman Kevin Byrne, who missed Saturday’s game for “non-football reasons,” didn’t practice. According to UMass spokesman John Sinnett, there is no update on his status."

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Mike Mancuso/The Times image

He also mentions future UMass QB Randall West. The UMass-bound QB led New Jersey in passing last week with a 17-26 406 3 TD effort.

NJ weekly stats here.

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Dan Malone has Week #6 helmet stickers.

Shakur Nesmith tweets he may take a medical redshirt.

Dan discusses the coaching changes at Miami (Ohio). It would have been nice if Miami had waited one more game to fire Treadwell. We need a win like we need oxygen right now. Sometimes a coaching change gets a team fired up as the staff and the players close ranks. Let's hope Miami struggles for one more week.

A weird Minutemen season got weirder as potential redshirt RB Dequan Mack tweets he might get some reps at DE.

Jimmy Kelly of Hustle Belt has some comments on Mack's tweet.

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Sports Chat Place previews the UMass-Miami game.

Miami's website also has the Red Hawks'  game notes.

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Michigan State's HC Mark Dantonio criticizes Miami's firing of Don Treadwell.

Cincinnati.com says a "helpless feeling" among the Red Hawks players led to Treadwell's firing.

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Two new bowls will bring the total to 39. The MAC conference will be eligible for both of the new contests.

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Monday musings 02/23/09

UMass football recruit Tom Brandt ran a 7.88 55-meter hurtles recently.

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Northeastern's star TE Brian Manderville received bad news at the combine. A routine medical check indicated he has a heart valve problem. Not only will he not be drafted; he was advised to give up football.

Another article here .
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Nasuha South RB/DB David Zocco has a decision to make.

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Montana and Appalachian State are looking to set up a home-and-home series.

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Thursday--June 26th, 2014

Some of the changes from the latest UMass roster.

#2--Ross Comis will now share the number with Quayshun Smith
#6-Jamal Wilson switches from #22
#7--Blake Frohapfel shares with D'Metrius Williams
#8--Alex Kenney shares with Shane Huber
#14-Ryan Jacobucci switches from #5
#18-Andrew Verboys ex-Matt Quinn
#23-Charan Singh ex-Greg Oreoya
#26-Jarell Addo ex-Quayshun Smith
#27-Jesse Monteiro ex-Nick Valles
#30-Zeke Edmonds ex-Michael Rapoza
#32-Matt Tuleja ex-Arthur Williams
#37-Andrew Libby ex Tom Brandt
#39-Jordan Fiske ex-Eduardo Cruz
#40-Jon Lucier ex-Dillon Tighe
#41-De'Sean Downey ex Jeff Strait
#43-Matthew Wylie shared with Shadrach Abrokwah
#48-Michael Grasis ex-Vance Barton
#49-Jeremy Rodriguez ex-Galen Clemons
#50-Jack Wynne ex-Justin Anderson
#61-Joe Previte ex Aaron Oberst
#62-Emmett Odegard not assigned last year
#63-Dmitri Angelas not assigned last year
#66-Anthony Fernandez ex Costa Toubelis
#67-Dan DiNicola ex Will Giggi
#70-Ryan Johnson ex Anthony Dima
#71-Basit Dennis not assigned last year
#74-Liam Porter ex Terrel Correia
#79-Jake Largay ex Vincent Westcarr
#82-Connor Lemieux ex #27
#84-Alfred Adarkwah ex E.J. Burston
#87-T.J. Kelley ex Rob Blanchflower
#89-Jon Denton ex Derek Beck

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How Michigan's greed alienated its fans. My first thought when the "Big Five" said they wanted to leave the NCAA and form their own division was this was going to cost their fans an arm and a leg. Paying players and other planned perks is going to be big money. It's going to have to come from somewhere. Tickets, "seat licenses , parking and mandatory contributions to the athletic fund are going to increase.

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Central Michigan will provide $18.5 million to athletics from the general fund.

 Syracuse will only pay the Chippewas $550,000 for a game at the Carrier Dome, but the Orange will play at Central Michigan this year.

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Davon Jones, a DB form St. Johns Prep in MA, verbaled to Boston College yesterday. He was a teammate of current Minutemen players Shadrach Abrokwah and J.T. Kelley.

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The Day after the win over the Tribe Sept 5th, 2010

UMass beat writer Matty Vautour covers UMass' upset of the Tribe. He also has three stars from the game.

The Boston Globe says UMass rallies for the upset.

William & Mary's student paper the Flat Hat covers the Tribe's loss to UMass.

MassLive.com says Griffin and Hernandez give UMass a one-two punch. MassLive also said UMass refused to be denied.

The Worcester Telegram said Griffin and Hernandez led UMass.

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From the UMass game notes:

For UMass, 17 players made their debuts in maroon and white.

Two true freshmen played in the opener: LB Stanley Andre and DB Antoine Tharpe.

The following players made their college-playing debuts: DB Mike Lee, DB Christian Birt, DB Ryan Carter, LB Stanley Andre, DL Kevin Byrne, TE Rob Blanchflower, DL Theo Agnew, DL Brandon Potvin. K Brendon Levengood. DB Antoine Tharpe. LB Tom Brandt

Also, the following transfers made their UMass debuts: WR Anthony Nelson, TB John Griffin, OL Greg Niland, OL Nick Speller, DL Galen Clemons, LB Chad Hunte.

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The CAA website has reviews of all the CAA games. UMass, JMU, UNH and Delaware won.

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Nationally, there were a couple of FCS/FBS upsets. Jacksonville State beat Ole Miss in overtime. North Dakota State beat Kansas.

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Michigan QB Denard Robinson had 383 total yards of offense to lead the Wolverines to a 30-10 victory over UConn. BTW, Michigan drew a record 113,090 to the game.

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I should have a web album of the UMass-William & Mary game up on Flickr by this evening.

Game Day --Miami (Ohio)

From the UMass Game Day Guide:


Minuteman March at 12:45 p.m. Be sure to join the Minuteman Marching Band and UMass Cheerleaders in Minutefan Park to welcome the team to the stadium.
The Minuteman Club opens at 1 p.m.
Today is Band Day at Gillette Stadium. More than 3,000 members of high school marching bands will join the Minuteman Marching Band for their halftime performance. To find out if students from your town will be part of the event, visit the Alumni Association's game page.
The Minutemen will be wearing pink UMass logos on their helmets tomorrow, as well as other pink gear, to show their support for breast cancer awareness and prevention. And the UMass-based organization Protect Our Breasts will be present in Minutefan Park providing information on breast cancer prevention.
Go here for broadcast media information and essential game notes.
For complete game notes, click here.
Information on Gillette Stadium, tailgating and activities is available here.
Remember:

• Gillette Stadium now features WiFi throughout the facility. Bring your devices and follow stats, follow UMass Football social media throughout the game, and share your thoughts, images and video.
• UMass Football on Facebook
• UMass Football on Twitter
• UMass Athletics on Facebook
• UMass Athletics on Twitter
• Use the hashtag #AllIn
• Tailgate Tent: Join the UMass Amherst Alumni Association at their official tailgate tent, part of Minutefan Park.
• Patriots Alumni: Each game this season brings a New England Patriots alumnus to the Minuteman Club to sign autographs and talk football with UMass fans. This week, meet Ronnie Lippett. Ronnie played cornerback for the Patriots for eight seasons, starting in 1983. He played a pivotal role in the Cinderella 1985 team's run to Super Bowl XX, intercepting Marc Wilson twice to help the wild card Pats upset the top seeded Raiders in Los Angeles.

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Matty V. reports UMass and Miami are both seeking their first wins of the season.

Dan Malone says the reported shift of Daquan Mack's to DE is true.

Kevin Byrne will miss his second straight game. Brandon Potvin will start in Byrne's place. 

Out for Miami:

• Kevin Byrne DT
• Jordan Broadnax RB
• Shakur Nesmith WR
• Steve Casali LB

Questionable:

• Trey Seals DE
• Joe Colton S
• Tom Brandt LB

Dan also has UMass has its first shot at win against beatable Miami.

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MAC Conference games and TV times from the MAC's website.

Cleveland.com previews today's MAC conference games.

Last week's foe Bowling Green, gets a challenge against Mississippi State.

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OK, losing is making everybody crazy.  As I said before, many UMass players have NFL dreams. If you want to play in the Pro's you've got to turn the switch to "On" when the light goes green. UMass needs to get after it today.

Let's run the ball for some scores. Let's get the ball to Rob Blanchflower. The defense needs to dominate a weak Miami team. It looks like it will be another great weather game at Gillette. Hope to see a bunch of UMass fans there today to see the Minutemen's first home FBS win.

Go UMass!!!

Tuesday--October 15, 2013

Matty V. reports UMass has a shot at a more than one win season.

Injury Report: Matty says Shakur Nesmith, Jordan Broadnax and Steve Casali are not practicing. Joey Colton, Trey Seals and Tom Brandt are limited.

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Dan Malone says for the second year in a row, Buffalo stands between UMass and a streak.

Coach Molnar still believes in Blake Lucas.

Malone awards three helmet stickers for the Minutemen's win over Miami.

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The Western Michigan website has more on the MAC's affiliation with the new Bahamas Bowl. The article lists the MAC's tie-ins with future bowls through 2019. Let's hope by then the Minutemen will be doing well enough to be bowl eligible.

Actually, UMass could be bowl-eligible this season. The Minutemen have one win. In the remaining schedule of Buffalo, Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, Akron, Central Michigan and Ohio, only Northern Illinois is a sure loss. Five wins out of six would be a real stretch, but not totally impossible. UMass could be favored over Western Michigan and Akron. Both are winless and both play at UMass.

Yahoo Sports says Buffalo's Jeff Quinn could be in line for MAC coach-of-the-year (scroll down).

Buffalo DE Colby Way was named MAC East Defensive Player-of-the-Week for his performance against Western Michigan.

NIU is projected for the Fiesta Bowl.

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USA Today ranks UMass as #120.

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Jeff Zelevansky image

Michael Cox is the last standing running back for the Giants.

Thursday News 01/23/09

Kyle Havens, the JUCO QB from California, moves to UMass on Sunday. Matty Vautour's article also has some quotes about UMass' twin recruits Tom and Tim Brandt.

Back in the '60s we had five Toner brothers play for UMass, but have we ever had twins? Anyone know?


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David Coulson has FCS news here .

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Lawrence Sidbury, the Richmond DE that kicked Montana's ass in the FCS Championship game, will play in the Senior Bowl tomorrow.

In our game against Richmond, we did pretty good against Sidbury. He had 2UT 4 AT 0.5 TFL. No sacks.

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Travis, from AGS, is again work on his 2009 master schedule site.

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Jack Bicknell, who many UMass fans hoped would coach the Minutemen, is leaving Boston College for the NY Giants.

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Martin Hyppolite, the RB from Wakefield, that UMass was strongly interested in committed to UConn on 01/18/09.

I had blogged about him before .

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