UMass Football News--August 30th, 2018

My Comcast Xfinity NCAA football games list shows the UMass-BC game as an upcoming game with the notation "internet". That's a new one on me. Maybe they are going to stream the game?

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Josh Walfish answers this week's questions about the BC game including how to stop A.J. Dillon, position matchups an more.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has five questions with the BC Interruption blog.

Mike returns the favor as he answers five questions from BC Interruption.

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The Berkshire Eagle previews the UMass-BC game.

The Daily Collegian reports UMass seeks back-to-back wins to start the 2018 season.

The Dorcester Reporter says it's be Miranda vs Miranda Saturday at the Heights.

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The Duquesne Duke recaps last week against the Minutemen. The Dukes play DII Lock Haven this Saturday.

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The Boston Herald reports A.J. Dillion is ready to run the ball and catch it too.

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UConn was run over by UCF last night 56-17. The game featured some poor tackling by both sides. UConn QB David Pindell looked good running the ball, less good passing. Huskie RB Kevin Mensah, who UMass recruited heavily, did not get any running room from the Knights defense. Mensah rushed 20 times for 60 yards.

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UMass Football News--August 30th, 2018

UMass has their game notes for Boston College up.

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Josh Walfish reports Amherst native Taj-Amir Torres will start against the Minutemen this Saturday.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the Eagles-Minutemen game.

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The Naples Daily News has a post on Claudin Cherrelus and Patrick Volcy getting some playing time in UMass' game against Duquesne.

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The AAC.com has a long segment on Steve Addazio's comments on the leagues weekly press conference. Addazio talks about the UMass team and his relationship with Mark Whipple.

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The Herald updates the power rankings of BYU's 2018 opponents.

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The Roanoke Times previews Saturday's games including BC-UMass.

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Writers for the UConn Daily Campus discuss which games they are most excited about in the 2018 season and one writer picks UMass. UConn has not yet announced the time of the contest.

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UMass Football News--August 29th, 2018

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Josh Walfish has an update on UMass news for Tuesday. Josh reports that Whipple would not comment on if suspended starters Jarell Addo and Isaiah Rogers would be available for BC. He did say injured DE Leon Flanagan would practice, but is "questionable" for Saturday. Addo's backup Tyrus LeBeau was out of a sling but is also questionable. Xavier Steele is the next man up after LeBeau. Jesse Britt is another starter should return.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on A.D. Ryan Bamford's August Facebook interview.

During halftime of last week's game Bamford said the Jacobson gift would be used to build a practice bubble outside of the stadium. My impression of what Bamford said is that the bubble would be erected over a new turf field. UMass certainly could use a turf practice field. Back in 2011 when Mrs Blog and I went to the UMass-Delaware game the Hens had two turf practice fields in addition to their stadium.

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Eagle Insider previews the UMass-BC game.

The Eagle Insider has weekly rundown of BC news and lists the UMass game as a "certain win".

BC Interruption looks at the Eagles depth chart.

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BC High has a nice story about UMass freshman DE Elijah Miranda and his brother Isaiah Miranda who plays for Boston College.

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A 247Sports writer predicts Georgia's 2018 season and rates UMass worse than Austin Peay.

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UMass Football News--August 28th, 2018

Boston College has their game notes for UMass up.

BC says the game will be telecast on the ACC Extra channel. Here's how to view it.

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There will be a UMass alumni/gridiron club event at BC this Saturday.

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Josh Walfish has plays that mattered against Duquesne.

Josh also reports Minutemen RB Victor Santiago had a big week.

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The Boston Herald reports Steve Addazio and Mark Whipple know each other well.

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Vegas Insider has BC -18 over UMass. That's down from -20.

ESPN predicts Addazio as the ACC Coach-of-the-Year and an 8-4 record for the Eagles.

BC names their captains for 2018.

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The UConn Blog previews the Huskies-Minutemen game and predicts a UMass victory.

The Huskies get a tough draw Thursday as they host UCF.

A dime back says there are five reasons for UConn to be positive about the 2018 season.

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The Georgia Southern student newspaper previews the Eagles' 2018 season and predicts an 8-4 record.

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UMass Recruiting 2019--Tyrell Wiggins verbals to UMass

Hudl.com image

UMass picked up its second win of the day Saturday when Tyrell Wiggins, a 5-11 177 pound athlete from Roxbury, MA Tweeted he's joining the Minutemen.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on Wiggins' verbal.

Hudl.com has video.

Chose UMass over offer from Maine. Also drew interest from Kent State and Old Dominion.

UMass Football News--August 27th, 2018

We saw some good performances from new players Saturday.

George Georgopoulos- Uncorked a 50-yard punt and another sky high for no return. Let's hope that was the start of a four-year stellar career. Honorable mention to Cooper Garcia and Mike Caggiano who didn't miss an extra point or kick out of bounds.

Joseph Norwood-He already looked bigger and stronger than his HS highlight video. Didn't look lost and, when he was in, he was around the ball, which is a good sign for a defensive player.

Kyle Horn-- Five catches, four for first downs. Andrew Ford needs a TE he can check down to. Great start to 2018.

Larnel Coleman--Jack who? Coleman graded out as one of the top performances Saturday. UMass ran for 282 yards and when you can run the ball, the opposing defense is in trouble.

Bryce McAllister--UConn didn't want to file for the medical redshirt on Mcallister? He looked like a senior out there. Two INT's because he knew where the ball was going to be.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" recaps the Duquesne game.

Pittsburgh Sports Now says Duquesne was out-classed.

The Boston Herald says the Minutemen found plenty of positives.

SB Nation has eleven fun things from college football's Week 0

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Sports Chat Place previews the UMass-BC game and thinks the Minutemen will beat the spread.

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UMass Football News--August 26th, 2018

Well, UMass started the 2018 season with a bang. The Minutemen played a lot of players (did you notice Joseph Norwood was in the game in the first quarter?) Nobody got hurt. The Minutemen rang up 282 yards rushing. Bryce McAllister had two INT's. TE Kyle Horn had five catches for 49 yards.

Not counting the starters, UMass played 41 (if I counted right) players. Most pundits thought it would a pretty close game. It wasn't.

Great start the season.

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Click on an image and Blogger displays a larger view.

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UMass write-up of the game.

Duquesne's write-up.

Josh Walfish reports UMass cruised.

Josh said explosive plays led to the blowout.

He also said Joseph Norwood stood out in his first game as a Minutemen.

The UMass Collegian reports Andy Isabella exploded.

MassLive has their first UMass football story of the fall as they report UMass dominated Duquesne.

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Game Day Duquesne--2018

All right, here we go for 2018. We've all been waiting a long time to see players in Maroon & White running around McGuirk.

I still think UMass will play a reduced package today. We'll save the line stunts and five wide receivers for Boston College.

I do want to see Kyle Horn, Travis Reynolds and Taylor Edwards catch some passes. The TE has always been a significant part of Whipple's offense. We'll see what happens today.

I want to see George Georgopoulos punt. Kicking has been such a thorn in our side a four-year flip-the-field punter would be wonderful. I want to see Cooper Garcia or Mike Caggiano kick in a game situation. Last year we started 0-4 and didn't make a field goal until the Ohio game half way through the season.

I want to see the new defensive line be active. Jake Byczko, Joe Previte, Mario Patton and Leon Flanagan should be able to control the line of scrimmage against a FCS team.

2018 will be my 42nd consecutive year with UMass football season tickets. Hope it's one to remember.

Go UMass!

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The game is available on NESN+, which is available from Xfinity. NESN channel finder for New England.

The Berkshire Eagle says UMass opens its home slate with a game against Duquesne.

Josh Walfish reports UMass hopes to shine in national spotlight.

The Boston Herald has three things to watch for in today's game against the Dukes.

Duquesne is set for the first of two FBS showdowns.

Fan Sided previews the Minutemen-Dukes game and predicts UMass by eleven.

Sports Illustrated previews Week 0's games.

Fan Buzz predicts UMass by four.

Fan Sided predicts the Minutemen by 19.

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UMass Football News --August 24th, 2018

Andrew Ford has been named to the watch list for College Football Performance Awards performer-of-the-year.

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UMass extends its radio partnership with WEEI-Springfield for five years.

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Josh Walfish interviews FCS writer Chase Kiddy about Duquesne.

Josh also responds to e-mail questions about UMass' opener.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the Minutemen-Dukes game.

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UMass Football awards former walk-on RB Victor Santiago a scholarship.

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The Duquesne Duke reports the Dukes starting QB is still up in the air.

The Trib Live has five things to watch in Duquesne's opener.

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Underdog Dynasty says former UMass great Victor Cruz salsas into the sunset.

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Matty Vautour has the 14 best college football games in Massachusetts for 2018.

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Yard Barker previews Saturday's games including UMass-Duquesne.

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State College.com profiles former UMass assistant coach Sean Spencer.

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UMass Football News--August 23rd, 2018

UMass has game notes available for Duquesne including a depth chart.

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Josh Walfish says UMass can't afford to overlook FCS Duquesne.

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The Boston Herald says UMass hopes for momentum and a bowl game.

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The Pittsburg Post-Gazette has the Dukes have a quarter back battle on their hands.

Hero Sports reports Duquesne's revenge quest highlights the NEC conference's 2018 season.

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Athlon Sports previews the Minutemen-Dukes game and predicts a UMass win .

Actually, three different Athlon writers predict a Minutemen victory.

However, everyone at Athlon thinks Georgia is going to defeat UMass on November 17th. 

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Flo Football has five reasons to watch the UMass - Duquesne game.

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Penn Live has a nice post on how Andrew Ford and Bryton Barr ended up on the same team.

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If you have high blood pressure, don't click on this link where an "award-winning" SEC journalist ranks Georgia's opposing QB's. He has Andrew Ford last and starts his review "There’s still no sure-fire starter at UMass" and goes down hill from there.

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UMass Football News--August 22nd, 2018

I think August 25th against Duquesne is the Minutemen's earliest ever opening date. The latest starting date (not counting the no-coach era in the 1890's) was in 1945 when UMass played a war-shorted schedule that started on October 20th. The latest modern date is September 23rd 1972 vs Maine. UMass went 9-2 that year, beat BC 28-7 and won the Boardwalk bowl...

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Josh Walfish reports UMass OL blocking is taking the next step.

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As of Tuesday, Duquesne has yet to decide on a starting QB.  The choice is Brett Brumbaugh, and redshirt junior FAU transfer Daniel Parr.
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Former UMass WR Victor Cruz retires and joins the ESPN broadcast team.

The Dukes All-American RB A.J. Hines has plenty of motivation for the 2018 season.

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Eagle Insider has video of BC QB Anthony Brown talking about getting ready for UMass.

The Heights says a Eagle victory over UMass is "All but expected".

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Former UMass player Brandon Collier talks about helping European players get scholarships to play American football.

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UMass Football News--August 21st, 2018

UMass has some game notes for Duquesne up. No depth chart yet.

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The UMass Minutemen Club sets a record for donations.

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Josh Walfish has a post on the UMass defense needs to have discipline in order to stop opponents running game.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" previews the Minutemen's 2018 season and predicts a 7-5 result.

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle reports UMass is making strides on defense.

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UMass and Duquesne kick off the season for Flo Football.

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Boston College receives preseason top-25 votes.

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The UConn blog previews the Huskies quarterbacks.

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UMass Football News--August 20th, 2018

Thom Kendall image

Josh Walfish reports Larnel Coleman is fitting seamlessly into the UMass offensive line.

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 Ex-UMass strength coach Joe Connelly posted this image of Andy Isabella shoveling off McGuirk so he could run sprints in the winter.

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The UMass Twitter feed has video of coach Hankerson talking about the Minutemen's receiving corps.

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Duquesne's 2018 prospectus and quick facts (a .pdf) download. Lots of good stuff by the Dukes sports info office. Duquesne has an impressive 102-28 home field record. They also have 13 FBS transfers on their roster.

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GBM Wolverine says Don Brown is the heart of Michigan's defense.

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The NCAA explains college overtime play.

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UMass Football News--August 19th, 2018

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a fifth and final position review: special teams.

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Shaun Gordon of Fan sided previews UMass as a BYU opponent.

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The News-Herald has a story about how 6.72 seconds changed Andy Isabella's football life. Good read.

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Jack Driscoll is making an impact at Auburn.

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Sports Chat Place previews the UMass-Duquesne game. They have UMass as -23.  Usually there is no line on FBS-FCS matchups. Vegas Insider has no line on the Minutemen-Dukes game.

If I could find a line. I think UMass will be playing "plain vanilla" on both offense and defense against the Dukes, so the Minutemen brain trust would be shooting for a 14 point or so win and lots of playing time for the new players.

The Dukes RB A. J. Hines gathers another preseason All-American award.

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UMass Football News--august 17th, 2018

Blog note: there will be no update tomorrow. I'll be away from the computer all day. I'll catch up on Sunday.

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The 2018 version of the UMass record book is available for download as a .pdf.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" does a position review for the offensive line.

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Andrew Ford was named to the Manning Award Watch List.

The complete list is here. Nathan Rourke of Ohio is the only opposing QB on the list.

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle says UMass is in a good place going into the last week of practice.

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UMass will receive $1.3 million to play at Rutgers in 2019.

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Looks like UMass transfer Jack Driscoll will start for Auburn.

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Boston College may start the season ranked in the top-25.

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Paul Finebaum thinks Georgia will win the SEC East.

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UMass Football News--August 16th, 2018

Josh Walfish reports the UMass offensive line has plenty of experience.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has another position review: this time backs and receivers.

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The UMass Twitter feed has Coach Wissman talking about the defensive line.

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Underdog Dynasty has underdogs against the spread. They have UMass as 5.5.

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Time.com has UMass at #87 out of 727 colleges as a best value for a student's money.

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Duquesne will play West Virginia in 2023.

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UConn loses their #1 running back Donevin O'Reily for the 2018 season with a torn ACL. The article says the Huskies starting back could be Kevin Mensa. He's from Worcester and I've blogged about him several times here.

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Eagle Insider says the sky is the limit for the 2018 Boston College team.

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UMass Football News--August 15th, 2018

Josh Walfish has two experienced quarterbacks leading the UMass offense.

It would be nice if they can integrate Comis into the offense. If he came in on third-and-seven, the opposing defense could not be sure UMass would pass.

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Mike Traini continues his position review with the defensive secondary.

If the Minutemen stay health, the defensive secondary should be one of the strongest units in 2018. The safety position is deep and I really like the UMass corners Lee Moses and Isaiah Rogers.

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Yesterday's live Facebook presentation by UMass A.D. Ryan Bamford is here.

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The UMass Football Twitter feed has video on the Minutemen linebackers.

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The UMass-BYU game will kick off at 12:00 Noon on November 10th.

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Eleven Sports and NESN will televise UMass Football in 2018.

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The Lynchburg News & Advance previews Liberty's opponent UMass.

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A Saturday Down South writer previews Georgia's 2018 schedule and says the UMass game won't be close.

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UMass Football News--August 14th, 2018

Josh Walfish has lessons learned during the first two week of UMass' Fall camp.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a defensive front seven position review.

Mike points out several UMass DL, three in fact, are over 300 pounds. DaVonn Hall, Chris DiTommasso and Mario Patton are all over 300.

The latest version of the roster also lists Almost Titi 6-3 275 and Burnis Brown 6-1 295. The Minutemen should have at least seven DL who could play.

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The UMass Twitter feed has video on new players in the special team units.

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Underdog Dynasty thinks UMass is optimistic about playing in a bowl.

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Every UMass home game will be live streamed by Flo Football.

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Excel Sports Academy looks to develop football talent in Western Mass.

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Duquesne Football has a video report from the Dukes first two weeks of camp.

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HERO Sports says Ohio's Nathan Rouke is the best player wearing #12 in the country. Includes a video snip of him playing against UMass.

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UMass Football News--August 13th, 2018

New Adidas uniforms for the UMass cheerleaders. UMass Cheer Twitter is here.

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USF wants another year of success without being mistaken for UCF.

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The Hartford Courant breaks down UConn's season and rates each opponent. It rates the difficulty level of the game against UMass as "low".

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Jackson Porter is on the roster of the Baltimore Ravens.

Validmir Ducasse is starting his 9th year in the NFL.

Elijah Wilkson is starting his second year with the Broncos.

Tajae Sharpe starts his third year with the Titans.

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UMass Footbal News --August 12th, 2018

Cougar Sports Insider ranks Andrew Ford #6 in BYU opposing QB's rating.

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Speaking of BYU, they're trying to stay focused.

The Cougars want to improve their running back unit.

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Ohio sets its sights on the MAC championship.

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USF unveils their new Adidas uniforms. The Bulls should be wearing the white version when they visit McGuirk.

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Defensive improvement is vital for Liberty's first FBS season.

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Saturday Down South lists four teams that could upset Georgia in 2018. UMass is not one of them.

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