Senior Day is Saturday

Click on the image and Blogger displays a larger view (much larger on my monitor)

Saturday will be the last game for the UMass seniors. Let's turn out for the game and give them a big send off.

Five years of football practices and lifting weights. Five year of running conditioning drills like I talked about when I visited the field in August to check on the lighting project.

Remember Courtney Robinson's interception against Montana .

Remember George Byrd's blocked punt for a TD against Army.

Remember when Liam Coen came in against Colgate in the fourth quarter and led an amazing comeback ?

This Blog has lots of memories of the last five years. It's been a great time for UMass football and the seniors were a big part of it.

Put on the thermal long johns Saturday and come to the game to watch the seniors become the winningest class ever!

Thursday-before-senior-Day

The Daily Collegian says UMass is playing for pride in its last game of the season.

The Collegian states UMass is trying to regain focus .

Marty Dobrow has an article about UMass' QB Liam Coen .

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The CAA expects a busy Saturday .

David Coulson entitles this week's "Around FCS" column "November Nailbiters"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Up in Canada, Keron Williams was named to the All-Canadian Football League team . His UMass bio here .

Meanwhile, Shannon James is going to the Gray Cup.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday-before-the-final-game-of-the-season stuff

The UMass Daily Collegian has an article on the defense's troubles .

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

College Sporting News has an article about this year's National Championship and a printable playoff bracket here .

CSN is also continuing their series on the history of FCS. They have their picks for the top 30 Offensive Linemen and the top 30 Defensive linemen. (pdf)

Continuing a CSN morning, the latest Gridiron Power Index is here (UMass is #19).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sports Network defogs the playoff picture .

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a sad note, Bob McGovern has stopped publishing Between Mullins and McGuirk . He did a great job during the blog's run.

Let's hope some other UMass fan picks up his mantle and starts a UMass basketball or hockey blog (or both!).

In a related note, this is the UMass Football Blog's 2,258th post. I'm still having fun with the blog and I intend to keep it going.

UMass-UNH Picasa Web Album

Click on the image and Blogger displays a larger view. The Picasa web album also allows a larger view if needed.

Not much good photography here except for the bonus images by Peter Miller. The Picasa web album is here .

I had my point-and-shoot, and because of the rain and general gloom, I had the ISO set at 800, which Nikon helpfully flashes red to tell you "we really don't want you using this setting". So besides the rain, the images are pretty noisy.

Tuesday-before-the-Hofstra-game articles

The UMass Daily Collegian has commentary on the UMass-UNH game here .

UNH's Matt Parent was named the CAA Defensive player-of-the-week for his performance against UMass.

The Portsmouth Daily News talks about the UMaine/UNH game for a playoff bid.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the first time in a number of years, UMass has been knocked out the the top-25 polls .

We did hang on to 10th in the Lambert Throphy poll.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday Morning Mulling

Matty Vautour says mistakes doom UMass in painful defeat .

Lost in the defeat were a number of UMass records. Courtney Robinson set the All-Time UMass return yardage record.

Tony Nelson went over the 1,000 yard mark rushing.

Victor Cruz went over 1,000 yards receiving. The UMass season stats page for everybody is here.

Also lost for season is Senior Brian Ellis, who broke his leg against Maine.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All the FCS score from Saturday are here . The CAA site has a review of all the league games here .

Keepers FCS power rankings are here . His predictions page is here (he has UMass by 10+ over Hofstra).

The week# 12 Bracketology page is here .

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll be back this evening with a Web album from the New Hampshire game.

Sunday-after-the-UNH-game articles

The Boston Globe said UNH routs UMass .

The Boston Herald phrased it differently: UNH clobbers UMass.

ESPN recaps the game .

The Portsmouth Herald said Parent and the seniors lead rout of UMass .

Foster's Daily Democrat said it was a memorable day for Parent .

The Concord Monitor says the Cats can run .

The Nashua Telegraph and the Union Leader have articles here and here .

The Springfield Republican called it embarrassing .

Matty Vautour said we got buried .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Under the misery-loves-company category: Delaware had three first downs against Richmond.

Uh-Oh. Hofstra beat Northeastern 42-14.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dude, where's my team? UNH 52-UMass 21

Well, if you were watching it on TV, it wasn't any better in the mist and rain in Durham.

UMass got run over by a better Wildcat team. UNH had 621 total yards and went around, over and through UMass. They averaged 8.6 yards/play and 29.5 yards per completion.

Liam struggled again and he was not helped by a bunch of dropped passes.

Not much went right except for Brett Arnold, who punted 6 times and averaged almost 50 yards a kick. He just crushed the ball all day.

UMass write-up here .

UNH write-up here .

Even a 16-ounce steak at the Steak House in Wells, ME didn't raise my spirits, but I'll be back tomorrow with more articles.

As I said before, win or lose, Go UMass!

Game Day New Hampshire

Well, Mrs Blog and I are in southern Maine and we will be leaving for the game in an hour or so. The local weather does not seem promising. They're predicting fairly steady rain in the afternoon.

We drove up yesterday afternoon. Had a great meal at Mike's clam shack.

Jeff Thomas says that UMass is playing to keep its slim playoff hopes alive.

The Boston Globe says UNH is ready for UMass .

The Naples Daily News has an article about UMass LB George Byrd.

The Portsmouth Herald News has an article about UNH captains Boyle and Parent .

Matty Vautour says UMass is not ready to quit on a playoff bid just yet.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sports Network has its week 12 FCS preview article up.

I'll be back tonght, if my WI-FI conection keeps working, with a game report.

Go UMass!

UNH Preview

UMass game notes for the UNH game here (html) and here (pdf).

New Hampshire game notes for UMass here (html) and here (pdf).

Recent game articles include:

• There is no love lost between UMass-UNH
• It's an inter-state rivalry
  
• One from the Concord Monitor
• The Union Leader UNH notebook
• The Nashua Telegraph says UNH needs to bounce back against UMass

Bruce Dowd has his weekly "CAA Today. Weeks 11 & 12 " here .

Dowd also has an article on the NCAA playoff selections and most of the article is based on an interview with UMass' John McCutcheon.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The UMass-UNH game will be televised on CSNMA and CSNE. That will be channel 435 on Dish Network.

Be sure to check channelsurfing.net if you don't have satellite or cable access. Note that they usually don't list the game until Saturday.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Wildcats are 7-2 for the season.

Wins:

• Beat Army 28-10 (perhaps the best FCS win of the year)
• 51-43 over Rhode Island
• 32-24 over Albany
• 42-6 topping Dartmouth
• 31-24 over Northeastern
• 42-14 over hapless Towson
• 45-25 against Hofstra

Losses:

• 34-38 against William & Mary
• 13-24 against Villanova

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Statistically, the Wildcat are led by:

Offense

Rushing: Robert Simpson (9 G, 101-540 yards, 6 TD)
Passing: R.J. Toman (9 G, 183-263-7-2188 yards, 21 TD)
Receiving: Mike Boyle (9 G, 49-724 yards, 7 TD)

Defense:

Tackles: Dino Vasso (9 G, 51 solo, 20 assisted, 71 total)
Sacks: Brian McNally (9 G, 2.5-16 yards)
Interceptions: Ryan Hinds (9 G, 4-218 yards)

The Wildcats lost senior tackle Josh Droesch to a knee injury against Villanova. It looks like Senior Chis McClurg will replace him guard and the rest of the line will shuffle.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, UMass will be playing for pride this week. There are still plenty of goals for the season. Tony Nelson has a chance for a 1,000 yards rushing. Victor Cruz has a chance for 1,000 yards receiving.

The Seniors need at least one win to go out as the top winning class of all-time.

UNH's defense has given up a lot of yards this year. They are 9th in total defense in the CAA. UMass' offense needs to jump out and control the game and keep UNH's high powered offense off the field.

I think we should try to speed it up and not be too slow in the huddle and in our play calling. This year's offense seems to work better in a hurry. Let's get after the Cats and take one step to winning out .

Go UMass!

Sure Happy it's Thrusday

The Dover Community News says New Hampshire has little room for error .

The Concord Monitor states that UMass is more than just another game for the Wildcats .

The UMass Daily Collegian knows the Wildcats are waiting.

The weather forecast for Durham on Saturday has gone from rain to showers .

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maine is playing Rhode Island in Kingston and it will be raining.....

CSN continues its series on the FCS's best players since 1978 when the division began. This section covers the 30 best defensive backs . (pdf)

Bruce Dowd has a long article on last week's UNH-Villanova game .

David Coulson's latest "Around the FCS" column is here .

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recruiting 2008 ---RB Cedric Gonnet

During one of Coach Brown's radio shows, he was asked if there had been any impressive players on the scout team.

One of the players he cited was Cedric Gonnet, a 5-9 180 pd Freshman RB from Passaic, NJ.

Gonnet was Group IV first team All-South Jersey.

Welcome to the Minutemen, Cedric! May you have a great career with UMass.

Middle-of-the-week before the UNH game

The GridIron Power Index is up and UMass is #15.

CSN is doing a series on the FCS Division from 1978 to present time. The first article covers the top 30 wide receivers .

Meanwhile over in the Big Money Divsion, the BCS game and related Bowls (Orange, Sugar and Fiesta) are considering moving the TV rights to ESPN/ABC for .5 $Billion.

UMass has fallen to ninth in the Lambert Cup .

BTW, fellow Western Mass team AIC is undefeated at 9-0 and is ranked #16 in Division II. (pdf) And they're in the DII playoffs.

Veterans Day

Click on the image and Blogger displays a larger view. A US Navy image. Details here .

Today is Veterans Day. Please remember the people who have served our country and are still serving today.

Congress recently passed a law allowing veterans and military personnel not in uniform to salute the flag, although I probably would not do it unless I was covered and had something visible, like a veteran's hat, to identify me.

Tuesday-before-the-UNH-game stories

The Daily Democrat says the Wildcats must clean up their act .

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matty Vautour has an article that state picking the CAA Players-of-the-Year is easy in 2008 .

This week's FCS Polls .

This week's FCS Bracketology prediction .

Keepers FCS power ratings still has UMass at #9 . He has us as less than a point favorite against UNH.

The UMass-UNH game will be on CSNE TV and CSMA TV .

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's good being good. Under Armour will pay Texas Tech $11 Million to be the exclusive provider of the Red Raiders' apparel and footwear .

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass-Maine Picasa Web Album

Click on the above image and Blogger displays a larger view.

I have a shorter than usual Picasa web album of the UMass Maine game here . It poured during portions of the game and I was keeping my camera under my jacket.

Monday Morning Musings

The UMass Daily Collegian says the Black Bears ran all over UMass .

They also talk about the loss doomed the Minutemen's playoff chances .

The Collegian has a third story about the UMass Seniors, who still have the chance to be the winning-est group ever .

The Maine student paper has a game article here .

Jeff Thomas says the Minutemen still have a chance for a 8-4 record .

Matty Vautour says UMass Safety Brian Ellis got hurt in the Maine game . He also talks about the remaining season .

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All the FCS scores this weekend .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remember yesterday I talked about UMass' strength of schedule? The NCAA reports we have played the 2nd toughest cumulative schedule in FCS/I-AA . (pdf)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday after the Maine loss stuff

The Boston Globe said Maine made its point .

The Boston Herald said it was the point of no return .

The Worcester Telegram has a story here .

The Kennebec Journal said Maine picked up a rare win in Amherst.

The Bangor Daily News has an article on the Black Bears win.

Matty Vautour of the Hampshire Gazette says the playoffs are unlikely.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was no joy in Durham either yesterday as New Hampshire lost to Villanova . Another article on the UNH loss here .

The Sports Network reports on the Villanova-UNH game here (Notes: Andy Talley became the all-time winningest coach in the CAA with 98 victories).

Our strength-of-schedule continued to improve as:

• Albany beat Robert Morris 41-7
• Holy Cross routed Fordham
• Texas Tech crushed #8 Oklahoma State 56-20

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Playing for Pride

Well, UMass' 2008 quest for the playoffs ended in the rain at McGuirk. Hopefully, we will play with pride in the last two game and send the seniors out winners.

This game went bad right at the start. You would think that Maine's All-American DE Jovan Belcher would be the one player UMass would be pointing to on every play. He went flying in untouched on the first play and hit Coen. The hit seemed to hurt Liam, who has been playing with what has been described as a shoulder or elbow injury. Or maybe it's both. He was inaccurate for the rest of the game. There were four interceptions, but there could have been six. One of whom was a sure six points.

Then on the next play, Ben Coblyn got hurt and was on the field for a long time. Those first two plays took all the air out of the offense in the first half. For some reason, when Maine plays a slow-down offense and we do the same. We were slow in the huddle and slow getting plays in. In the second half, we picked up the tempo and moved the ball.

The defense played well enought to win. We had a couple of stops late in the game. The Black Bears ran the ball, but that's what they do.

Let's get after UNH next week. As I have said before, win or lose, Go UMass!

UMass write-up here .

Black Bear's write-up here .

Jeff Thomas has an article on the loss here .

I'll be back tomorrow with more stories and a web album.

Game Day Maine

The Boston Herald says that UMass is out to cool off Maine .

The Springfield Republican states both UMass and Maine need a win .

Matty Vautour says UMass awaits Maine .

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

David Coulson is on vacation, but sent his weekly picks to CSN anyway .

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The New Hampshire-Villanova game will be on Channelsurfing.net at 3:30 pm.

Texas Tech will meet Oklahoma State in another prime time game @ 7:00 pm on ABC.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did you know that High School football is big in British Columbia? No?

Perhaps it's the Canadian rules with the wider field and two-men-in-motion.

Then again, maybe it's the nearly naked cheerleaders .

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's supposed to be warm with showers in Amherst. Hopefully the rain will hold off until 3:00 PM.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------