UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Paris Shand

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Paris Shand, a 6-5 240 pound DE from Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, CT has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Originally from Canada.

This article from 247Sports (requires membership) covers Virginia's offer to Shand.

Shand has offers from Central Michigan, Vanderbilt and Virginia plus a number of Northeast FCS schools.

UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Harrison Ashby

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Harrison Ashby, a 6-5 250 pound TE from Pearl River C.C. has a UMass offer.

247Sports three-star player.

Pearl River bio here.

Hudl.com has video.

This article mentions Ashby.

Including UMass, Ashby has six FBS offers from Liberty, Louisiana-Monroe, North Alabama, South Alabama and Southern Mississippi.

Thanksgiving 2020

The original Thanksgiving was a celebration of triumph over adversity. We UMass fans know a lot about adversity. I'm thankful for all the friends I've met through Minutemen football and the blog.

I'm also thankful this season is over :)

Things got better for the Pilgrims. Things will get better for us too. Enjoy the day and I'll be back doing UMass recruiting tomorrow.

UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Dan Villari and Chance Nolan II

Some news on two QB's UMass is interested in for the 2020 recruiting cycle. IMHO, the Minutemen absolutely , positively need another QB commit for 2020. We all hope Brady Martin is the man, but UMass could be one turned ankle away from another year of offensive struggles.

I blogged about dual-threat QB Dan Villari back on November 14th, He's reopened his recruiting.

Daniel DeMato image.

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I also blogged about Chance Nolan, a 6-2 186 pound dual-threat QB from Saddleback C.C. back on November 13th.

He just added an offer from Temple.

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A dual-threat QB would be a big addition to the UMass offense. We do not currently have a dual-threat guy on the roster.

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UMass Football News--November 26th, 2019

UMass did not fumble once during the 2019 season.

Bilal Ally went 12-11 GP-GS 166-853 5.1 AVE 7 TD's 63 LONG

Cam Roberson went 12-1 GP-GS 116-355 3.1 AVE 2 TD's 40 LONG

Gilberto Torres went 5-0 GP-GS 33-135 3.8 AVE 1 TD 19 LONG.

UMass averaged 3.5 yards/rush 14 rushing TD's 124.6 average/game

Opponents averaged 6.5 yards/rush scored 50 (!) TD's averaged 299.1 yards/game.

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Josh Walfish reports the young UMass roster looks to grow after a challenging year.

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One thing UMass needs to grow is the roster. I was struck several times during home games it seemed the visiting team had more players on their traveling squad than UMass had on the home side. That included UMass players in a jersey, but not in pads.

BYU had a lot of players during their visit to UMass----and they were all in pads. Visiting teams usually bring about 50-55 players depending on their budget. It's probably going to take at least two recruiting classes to get back to limit, but for next year the Minutemen need to increase the size of the roster to something more reasonable.

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I'm going to be doing a recruiting review by position. As usual, I'll add the disclaimer that I'm not an "insider" and I don't claim to be a football genius. I'll start sometime this week with quarterbacks.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Sammy Solomon

Sammy Solomon, a 6-3 283 pound DT from Pittstown, PA has a UMass offer.

247Sports three-star player.

PennLive has a paragraph on Solomon as one of the top available players from PA (scroll to near the end).

Hudl.com has video.

This article features Solomon.

Solomon has offers from mostly Northeast schools. Boston College, Syracuse, Temple, Virginia and Bowling Green have offered. There is lots of playing time available at UMass.

UMass Football News--November 24th, 2019

Well, I actually had a good day at McGuirk yesterday. It was a beautiful clear November day. UMass found its spark in the second half. The Minutemen played with spirit and never quit.

A tip of the hat to BYU who took their foot off the gas. The two faith-based schools, BYU and Liberty showed the most class this year.

In addition to the game,  I got to meet a Blog-friend who at one time led the UMass Olympic weightlifting team. The UMass team would lift in the basement of Boyden. The team did well despite receiving minimal support from UMass (the team only had two bars). Great guy.

I also sat with UMass freshman DL Johnathan Weir's parents. Nice people. Weir is a 5-10 230 pound defensive lineman with a big heart. He led the team in TFL before banging up his knee. Now I have someone personal to root for.

Then I came home and watch the UMass hoops team play Virginia on DVD. The Minutemen basketball team was not intimidated by the #7 Cavaliers. If a few more of those three-pointers fell, it would have been a really tight game. I really like the freshman players.

That's what UMass football needs. We need more talent and kids like Weir who want to be here. Pro Football has "capologists". We need a guy to figure out how to pack as many recruits into the 2020 class as we can get. A big motivated class will turn this thing around. Let's get after it.

Go UMass.

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UMass write-up here.

BYU write-up here.

Cougar RB Jackson McChesney set a freshman rushing record for BYU.

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UConn had a close loss to ECU.

#25 Southern Illinois kept it close against #1 North Dakota State.

Charlotte is bowl eligible with a win over Marshall.

Coastal Carolina lost a close one to Louisiana-Monroe.

Akron lost to Miami earlier in the week.

FIU upset Miami for their first win over a Power Five team.

Louisiana Tech lost to UAB in a game that may have cost Tech the C-USA title.

Virginia ran over Liberty 55-27.

Minnesota beat Northwestern 38-22.

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Game Day BYU--2020

Last game of the 2019 season. The UMass defense has turned out two of their best efforts over the Army and Northwestern games only to not have it reflected on the score. Three INT's , two special team goofs and two go-for-it on forth downs all resulted in opponent scores.

The offense did move the ball last week, but not into the endzone. It would be nice to play a solid game and give the Cougars a hard time today.

There are only so many game days in my life. I'm not going to miss any. I'll be there cheering for the seniors and UMass.

Go UMass!

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The Deseret News has how to watch or listen to the Cougars-Minutemen game.

The News also expects BYU to roll big time.

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The Herald breaks down BYU's offense.

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BYU's game notes.

UMass game notes for Senior Day.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Anthony Smith

Hudl.com image

Anthony Smith (good name), a 6-2 190 pound WR from Huntingtown, MD has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

MaxPreps has some stats. Averaged 24.5 yards/catch.

Hudl.com has video.

Smith also has an offer from Navy. He's from Maryland, which is a priority area for the UMass staff.

How's this for clairvoyance,  I randomly chose a UMass prospect this morning and the athletic dept sends him some love soon after. Sometimes I amaze myself how much I control the universe :)

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UMass Football News--November 22nd, 2019

MassLive.com has a story about UMass A.D. Ryan Bamford expecting to announce Minuteman football will have multiple bowl tie-ins through 2025.

This is a big deal for UMass football. As it stands, UMass would not be chosen for a bowl even if eligible. By joining Liberty and New Mexico state with bowl tie-ins, the Minutemen have a goal to shoot for in every season. ESPN provides coverage for many of the made-for-TV bowls. People watch them and they make money (or they would not exist). Along with the new practice bubble, it shows improvements in the program. Now we need some improvement on the field.

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Josh Walfish reports on the last game for twelve UMass seniors. He also talks about eight true freshmen who played this year, thus burning their redshirts. DL Xavier Gonsales, DB Taj Jones, and WR Dariyan Wiley have played less than five games, so they will retain four years of eligibility. Coach Bell said he hope not to have to play OL Xavier Graham as his appearance against BYU would put him over the limit to redshirt this year.

Vanquish the Foe, provides information for BYU fans visiting exotic Boston.

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Flo Football previews the BYU-UMass game.

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The Deseret News reports the Cougars are among the nation's leaders in defensive takeaways.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Robert Kennedy

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Robert Kennedy, a 5-10 180 pound CB from Lackawana C.C. has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

This article from October features Kennedy.

Another article from 2018 covers Kennedy's decision to attend a JUCO.

247Sports shows Kennedy making an Amherst visit in December. UMass is his only FBS offer at this time.

UMass Football News--November 21st, 2019

The UMass Daily Collegian says the Minutemen look to the future as they prepare for the last game of 2019.

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Vanquish the Foe has the Cougars depth chart, injury report and more going into the UMass game.

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BTW, the BYU administration extended the Cougars HC Kalani Sitake's contract.

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CBS Sports predicts bowl games for Charlotte, BYU, Louisiana Tech and Liberty.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Xavion Steele

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Xavion Steele, a 5-10 180 pound CB from Fullerton College has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Ranked as a three-star player on this JUCO CB rating.

Fullerton bio has stats.

Hudl.com has video.

Twin brother of Xavier Steele.

This article features Steele.

Steele has offers from UTEP, Arkansas State, New Mexico State and San Jose State. I like Steele's brother Xavier. He's a physical player who is probably playing out of position at LB due to UMass' roster issues. Xavion would be a nice pickup for the Minutemen defensive backfield.

UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Jaden Farmer

Jaden Farmer, a 6-1 215 pound LB from National Christian Academy in Maryland has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has some stats.

This article mentions Farmer and his teammate and UMass verbal Tristan Armstrong.

Farmer is from Washington, DC, which is coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim's wheelhouse. UMass is the first offer for Farmer.

UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Taishan Holmes verbals to UMass

UPDATE: Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post about Holmes committing to UMass and some quotes from him.

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Taishan Holmes a 6-2 300 pound DT from Garden City C.C. has verbaled to UMass.

I blogged about Holmes back on November 4th.

Holmes is the second DT in the 2020 recruiting class. According the the 247Sports UMass scholarship distribution page, the Minutemen have zero senior or junior defensive tackles, which shows the state of the roster. All the 2019 freshmen DL's played this year.

If Holmes comes in for Spring semester, UMass might be able to assign him to the 2019 class, which would open another slot for 2020.  See rule #2 here. The Minutemen were probably under the 25 man limit in 2019.

Welcome to UMass and I hope he has a great career with the Minutemen.

UMass Football News--November 19th, 2019

Vegas has BYU a 40.5 point favorite over UMass.

Keepers College Football rankings has the Cougars by 50.9

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Vanquish the Foe comments on the Vegas Spread.

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The Salt Lake Tribune reports BYU notches another bowl berth.

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247Sports says take UMass and the points.

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The Daily Herald reports the BYU defense led the way against Idaho State.

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UConn might have a chance against ECU Saturday.

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To go 6-6 and be really bowl eligible Boston College has to win one of their last two games against Notre Dame (8-3) or Pitt (7-3).

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UMass Football News-November 17th, 2019

 Blog Note: Comments are shut off for the rest of the season and probably longer.

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Another pretty good defensive effort from the Minutemen "D" was undercut by two special teams miscues and a interception. The UMass forced three turnovers and held Northwestern on downs four times. Logan Darby led the Minutemen in tackles and Xavier Steele's INT was a gem. Again, the defense only gave up one long breakaway run.

I liked the offensive scheme, but despite gaining 310 yards, we never really got it going. UMass did not score any points off the three turnovers. Andrew West threw another bad interception (and stood watching the return, which probably got him pulled from the game). Brito did not move the offense while he was in the game in the second half.

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UMass write-up here.

Josh Walfish says UMass wasted their best defensive effort.

Josh also reports the QB situation continues to haunt UMass.

The Northwestern site reports the Cats ran past UMass.

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A number of UMass 2019 opponents had bye weeks.

Southern Illinois beat Western Illinois for the Saluki's fifth straight win.

Coastal Carolina lost by one to Arkansas State.

AL Tech lost to Marshall for its first league loss.

Army ran past FCS VMI.

BYU overpowered Idaho State.

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Game Day Northwestern --2020

OK, here we go again. Playing a Big 10 would be tough at any time, but this year it will be even more of a challenge. I'm hoping we can get more production on offense. Having the defense on the field most of the game will hurt even against the Wildcats offense.

As long as everyone plays hard and keeps competing I'm OK. The freshmen will be getting reps and that will help next year.

The older I get the more I admire people who don't quit. The video below is on my power lifting exercise mix I take to the gym and meets. Turn your computer speakers all the way up.

I'll be watching and cheering for the Minutemen.

Go UMass!

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Northwestern releases their injury report and uni combination for the UMass game.

The game will be available on the Big Ten network.

It looks like it will be available on Fox Sports online.

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Josh Walfish reports the UMass defense remains resilient.

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL FANS, WE'RE TOTALLY NORMAL

College football fan shoots lifelong friend during an argument over the LSU-Alabama game.

Key quote " surrendered without incident after finishing watching the game."

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UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Jiovanny Holmes

247Sports image

Jiovanny Holmes, a 6-2 190 pound safety from Cleveland, OH has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

247Sports reports Holmes will be taking an OV to UMass.

This article from July features Holmes.

Holmes has offers from Cincinnati, Akron, Eastern Kentucky, Kent State and Rutgers.

UMass Football News--Ides of November 2019

CBS Sports looks at the Northwestern-UMass game.

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The Daily Northwestern looks at the Wildcats 40-point edge.

TDN chronicles Northwestern's lack of explosive plays.

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College Football News predicts Northwestern will win 52-7.

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The Daily Herald power-ranks BYU's opponents after last week's results.

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BC Interruption wonders if the Eagles would go bowling with a 5-7 record.

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