UMass Football News--August 6th, 2023

 

UMass held an open practice yesterday and I drove down to watch.

My observations:

Be of good cheer Minutemen fans, because I thought UMass looked impressive. First, numbers: if you remember the home game when it looked like BYU's travel squad substantially out-numbered the players UMass dressed for the game, then we had a full complement yesterday.

Size: again remembering looking at FCS Southern Illinois and thinking they looked bigger across the board than the Minutemen. Southern Illinois is a pretty good FCS team. If you missed it, the Saluki's beat a Big Ten team last year. UMass has a lot of big guys this year.

As I was walking past the end zone, I said "Hi" to Eni Falayi, who looked every bit of the 6-5 height listed in his bio.

Offense: the Minutemen offense held it's own against Don Brown's killer defense and made some nice plays. There were good catches by Mark Pope, Anthony Simpson and more. UMass gained yards running the ball inside and outside. The QB's looked good passing and pulling the ball out and running. This offense looks as if it has much more talent than we've seen in a long time.

The defense also looked good with close coverage of receivers and closing on run plays.

I don't know how many wins all this will produce in 2023, but I do think this is the most complete UMass team we've had since we moved to FBS..

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The New England Football Journal was there and they report the UMass QB battle heats up. 

The NEFJ also has the Minutemen defense looks dangerous. 

The NEFJ also has some video from the practice here, here and here.

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UMass Football News--August 5th, 2023

 

UMass will UConn at McGuirk on November 25th.

FBS Schedules.com also has a post on game.

Actually, this is better. Wouldn't it be great if the game meant bowl eligibility for either or both teams? A UMass-UConn game with something on the line would be like old times. 

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The Hampshire Gazette reports the UMass defense is further along than it was last year. The Minutemen defense made strides last year, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

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Fan Buzz asks if New Mexico State can be C-USA contenders? The article says the Aggies should be easy winners over UMass.

Sports Gambling Podcast takes a look at the New Mexico State Aggies.

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UMass Football News--August 4th, 2023

 A new UMass podcast "Outside Amherst" introduces the Midnight Ride Collective and also has an interview with Minutemen legend Coach Jimmie Reid.

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A College Sports.com writer thinks the MAC conference is the only conference option for UMass.

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The Liberty site "A Sea of Red" previews the 2023 Flames-Minutemen game.

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 More images from this week's practices.

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Hugh Freeze is excited about the 2023 edition of Auburn's offensive line. 

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Chron.com reports UConn opens Fall camp with higher expectations.

The CT Insider says UConn's revenue from the Big 12 would be ten times the income from Big East basketball. Like it or not, football is the sport you have to plan your athletic department around.

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NCAA.com predicts Merrimack to win the NEC conference crown.

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UMass Football News--August 3rd, 2023

 

Jordan Mahoney named to the Bronco Nagurski Watch List.

Nagurski had a great name and a legendary career in college football and the NFL.

From his Wikipedia bio:

'A time-honored and perhaps apocryphal story about Nagurski is a scoring run that he made against the Washington Redskins, knocking two linebackers in opposite directions, stomping a defensive back and crushing a safety, then bouncing off the goalposts and crashing into Wrigley Field's ivy-covered brick wall in the back of the endzone. On returning to the huddle for the extra point try, he reportedly said: "Jeeze, that last guy hit me awfully hard."

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More images from Monday's practice.

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Yahoo Sports reports New Mexico State will lean on a young linebacker corps. 

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New Auburn coach Hugh Freeze is resurrecting the War Eagles' recruiting in Alabama.

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Fox Sports has the over-and-under and win total odds for the Liberty Flames. 

Last year the Flames played four Power Five opponents and beat two of them. The two losses were by a combined two points. This year, Liberty does not play a Power Five opponent. Based on their past production, a C-USA championship and maybe a 10-2 record should be reasonable..

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UMass Footballl News--August 2nd, 2023

 Nice video from the UMass Athletic dept on opening Fall camp.

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The New England Football Journal has thoughts from Coach Brown after Day three of football camp.

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Cole Garcia talks about the O-line and Amherst (fixed link). Every time I hear him talk, I think he's born to be a coach..

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Jordan Mahoney

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" concludes his 2023 position reviews with Minutemen defensive backs.

This is a deep and talented group. If any unit at UMass is competitive with Power Five schools, it's the defensive secondary. Jordan Mahoney is probably UMass' best player.

Coach Brown loves defensive packages. The UMass secondary can play nickle or dime sets. He should be able to scheme down-and-distance sets to keep opposing offenses guessing. UMass was 9th nationally in pass defense in 2022. We were #118 in rush defense. I think the rushing defense will be better in 2023 and that means opponents will have to throw more. With more attempts against them, this year's numbers might not look as good, but will result in more wins for the team.

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Miami of Ohio picked to finish 2nd in the MAC East. UMass' first home opponent.

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The Casper Tribune previews 2023 opponent New Mexico. 

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Florida A&M pauses Fall camp after a locker room incident.

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UMass Football News--August 1st, 2023

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a 2023 position review of the Minutemen linebackers.

Last year Jalen Mackie had 98 TT and 14-37 TFL. This year senior transfer Jerry Roberts 6-2 240 should step into Mackie's role. He started all 12 games for Arizona last year. His brother, Jyree Roberts 6-1 225 should keep the Roberts family name in the UMass box score in future years. Gerrell Johnson, Nahji Logan and Jalen Steward are experienced LB's.

When I attended that practice in 2021, UMass had five LB's practicing. This year, we have significantly more speed, numbers and size. I think this is a talented group and should be an effective part of Coach Brown's attacking defense.

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The UMass Twitter feed has video from Day #2 of practice.

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Happy belated birthday to Coach Brown.

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Jay Burnham has a video interview with Jordan Mahoney.

Mahoney's UMass bio. Lost in UMass' 1-11 season was Mahoney's brilliant play last year. He rang up 42 tackles (28 solo, 14 assisted), 3.0 TFL (six yards), three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries (22 yards), three interceptions (105 yards) and six pass breakups..

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Yahoo Sports has story lines from Auburn's Fall camp.

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UMass Football News--July 31st, 2023

 The UMass Twitter feed has video from Sunday's practice.

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Coach Brown said the team will be in full pads today.

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 UMass 2024 WR commit Kenyon Massey took in Sunday's practice.

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Conner Whitson, a 6-2 198 pound Pro-style QB CA has joined UMass as a PWO.

MaxPreps has some video of Whitson.

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Saturday Blitz says Auburn is the hottest team in college football recruiting right now.

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UMass Football News--July 29th, 2023

 

Yesterday was the first day of Fall Practice.

Some video from the practice here.

Also an interview with UMass WR George Johnson III. Lots of new faces in the WR room. This is a unit that needs more production in 2023. They did not get a lot of help from the QB's last year, but also had some drops. The WR's can make a big contribution to an improved UMass offense this year.

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The Greenfield Recorder reports UMass opens Fall camp on a sweltering July day.

The New England Football Journal has five things to watch in the Minutemen's Fall camp.

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Andy Isabella signs with the Buffalo Bills.

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UMass Football News--July 28th, 2023

 Yesterday was report day, so UMass opens Fall camp today.

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Mke Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" continues his 2023 position review with UMass' Edge Rushers.

This group has been a multi-year problem for the UMass defense. Since the move to FBS the Minutemen have lacked size, athleticism and above all, speed on the edge. The Minutemen have been able to put pressure on opposing QB's and have not been able to maintain defensive contain on the outside.

The Minutemen had 18 sacks for 118 yards in 2022. Opponents had 25 for 169. UMass and opponents tied for 11 forced fumbles. 

The edge is the heart of Brown's pressure defense. UMass improved significantly in 2022. With more depth and talent, I'm hoping the Minutemen defense improves even more in 2023. 

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New Mexico State opens Fall camp.

The Aggies participate in their first ever C-USA Media Day. 

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Sports Illustrated predicts a 97.2% chance of an Auburn victory over UMass. 

Auburn's QB competition is still open.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2025--Joshua Robinson

Twitter image

 Joshua Robinson, a 5-6 154 pound WR from Clearwater, FL has a UMass offer.

247Sport page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats. 1529 All-purpose yards last year. 

Robinson has five offers including Charlotte from Group-of-Five. The speedy Florida WR would add some octane to the reviving Minutemen offense and he could find a home in Amherst.

UMass Football News--July 26th, 2023

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has another 2023 position review this time of the defensive line.

Since our move to FBS the defensive front seven have been a deficit for the Minutemen. We lagged on speed, size and athleticism. Coach Brown has made an impressive turn around in two years. In 2022 the Minutemen had 72-223 TFL and 18 Sacks. There is no better defensive play than a DL or LB in the opposing team's backfield.

I once read a post on NFL defensive linemen. The study said the average DL took three times the number of steps than an offensive lineman did during a game (because the defensive has to chase the play). Having enough depth so DL's can be rotated in and out prevents the defense from being gassed in the second half.

Transfer JB Brown could be in the regular rotation if he could return to his 2018 form where was one of Arizona's most effective players.

This is the deepest, most athletic group of defensive linemen we've had. I'm looking forward to watching them play.

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College Football News predicts one win for UMass in 2023.

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Fan Duel looks at 2023's Week 0 match-ups including UMass-New Mexico State.

Possibly written by an AI writing assistant? The story has the Minutemen and the Aggies as the bottom two in FBS last year, which is not true as New Mexico State went 7-6 and won a bowl game. That's probably from 2021.

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Western Mass News has 2023 UMass over-and-under plus projected win totals. 

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2023 opening opponent New Mexico State cancels a four game series with UTSA. 

The Aggies exuded excitement at the C-USA Media Day. 

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UMass Football Recruiting 2025--Ali Uaisele

 

Twitter image

Alai Uaisele, a 6-0 200 pound LB from Cincinnati, Ohio has a UMass offer.

247Sports Page here.

Hudl.com has video. 

Uaisele looks like he'd be a excellent fit into Don Brown's "viper" position. He could play for the most creative defense coach in college football. He has a Power Five offer from Kentucky and is drawing interest from Cincinnati.

UMass Football News July 24th, 2023

 

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a position review of the 2023 Minutemen offensive line.

Offensive linemen do not get any stats, but the success or failure of the teams depends on their efforts. UMass has 17 O-linemen and that's a big plus from the 2021 practice I attended that had eight total linemen practicing. Four starters return and that should be a big help. 

Senior transfers Marcellus Anderson 6-5 330 and Parris Heath 6-4 325 have played in 29 games between them. One of them will probably start.

O-linemen generally like run blocking and UMass wants to have a run-first offense. I'm hoping for big results in the run game in 2023.

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With the 2023 recruiting completed, 247Sports ranks UMass as #82 in recruiting for 2023. 

I believe that's the highest ranked FBS class in Minutemen history. In addition, 247Sports has 26 of the recruits (including transfers) as three stars. Most top Group-of-Five teams sign about 20 three-stars annually. Boise State signed 22 and Tulane signed 20 in 2023. Twenty-six three-stars is probably close to the top class in Group-of-Five.

I'm impressed by Coach Brown and staff's recruiting in the two years he's been in Amherst. 

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I was watching a replay of the Mississippi State-Illinois 2022 Reliaquest bowl last evening on the SEC chanel. The Bulldogs won on a field goal with 2 seconds left by Massimo Biscardi.

The holder for Biscardi's winning kick was George Georgopoulos..

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UMass Football News--July 22nd, 2023

 

 

The UMass Football Twitter feed has Te'Rai Powell and three other Minutemen players looking seriously jacked.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" reviews the 2023 TE room. The UMass TE group is an unknown quantity going into the season. Eni Falayi is the top returning TE in stats and he had two catches for 12 yards.

The tight end position has significantly increased as a receiving weapon in modern football. Perhaps because of highly evolved pass defenses currently being played. The Georgia Bulldogs are winning national championships with TE's like Brock Bowers as a big part of their offense.

Both Coach Bell and Coach Brown have praised the Minutemen TE's. UMass really needs to get more production from that group if the offense is to significantly improve. A big year from transfer red shirt senior Matt Smith would help.

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Play Pocks.com has some insights on UMass' over-and-under and betting numbers.

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New Mexico State was voted 5th in Conference USA's pre-season media day.

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Auburn may be without their top RB Jarquez Hunter for the UMass game.

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UMass Football News--July 21st, 2023

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" is doing a series of position group studies for 2023.

This one is on the UMass running backs. The major change since the arrival of Coach Brown is the depth at this position. In 2021, we were down to effectively one scholarship running back. UMass could not compete at the FBS level in that situation. 

The Minutemen want to be a run heavy offense. Despite our decent-appearing ranking of #68 in rushing average, UMass did not have a rushing attack--a rush game that put pressure on opposing defenses. In 2022 the Minutemen scored only 10 rushing TD's--less than one a game. Doubling that would be a good goal for 2023 and RB room needs to make that happen.

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Mike also has a post on the Minutemen wide receivers. I spent 2022 being noncommittal about the UMass WR's mainly because they were not getting a lot of accurate throws from UMass' quarterbacks. However, there were some drops and an overall lack of speed that definitely did not help.

If UMass is to improve in 2023, the WR group needs to improve its production. In 2022 UMass had only four TD receptions. The Minuteman rushing game spent most of last year running into eight or nine in the box because opposing teams knew we could not throw the ball.  Transfers Mark Pope, Christian Wells and Anthony Simpson need to make an impact.

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KTSM.com reports New Mexico State is looking for an encore after last year's bowl game.

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War Eagle says Auburn is looking for "sunny skies"  in 2023.

BTW, Auburn is also in the middle of a QB competition. 

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UMass Football Recruiting 2023--Rashad Henry signs with UMass

Twitter image

 Rashad Henry, a 6-2 225 pound LB from Fort Lauderdale, FL signed with UMass last weekend.

I've blogged about Henry twice before on April 25th and April 22nd.

Henry had 43 solo tackles and 2 INT's in his senior year.

Henry had seven FBS offers including a Power Five offer from Pitt. Chose UMass over Group-of-Five offers from Navy and Marshall among others. He played for Florida powerhouse program St. Thomas Aquinas and should be a great addition to the Minutemen's defense.

Henry's signing brought UMass' roster to 85 scholarships and ends 2023 recruiting.

UMass Football Recruiting 2023--Anthony Jphnson commits to UMass

 

247Sports image

On Monday evening Coach Brown appeared on the New England Football Show (well worth watching in its own right) and said Anthony Johnson, a 6-5 260 pound DL from Iowa Central C.C. has signed with UMass.

247Sports page here.

Johnson's JUCO bio here.

Hudl.com has video.

Johnson had 26 offers including Marshall, EKU, LA Tech and Bowling Green from Group-of-Five schools. Defensive linemen are scarcest recruits. If his Hudl bio is correct and he runs a 4.7 40, he could be a big find for the Minutemen. Johnson should be a good fit in Coach Brown's attacking defense. He's also from Central Bucks West in PA and we had a number of players from that school back in FCS days.

UMass Football Recuriting 2023--Isaiah Rutherford transfers to UMass

 

University of Arizona image

Isaiah Rutherford, a 6-1 190 pound DB from Arizona has joined UMass.

Arizona bio here. 

ZonaZealots.com has the story of him entering the transfer portal. 

Rutherford was a four-star player and top-100 recruit coming out of HS. Originally signed by Notre Dame. He should be in the mix to start right away for the Minutemen. Don Brown has put a bunch of DB's in the NFL, so this should be a good fit for both parties.

UMass Football News--July 17th, 2023

Taisun Phommachanh #3

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" (who is effectively the UMass beat writer with the demise of the dead tree media), does a pre-season review of the UMass quarterbacks.

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Traini's write-up pretty much parallels my take on current QB room. Since our move to FBS the Minutemen offense has been a problem. During the Whipple II era his offense still worked. The pro-style down-the-field passing game rang up good statistics. However, UMass rarely won those MAC shoot-outs. Blake Fronapfel threw for a MAC single game record and UMass still lost the game. In two years (2014-2015) Fronapfel threw for 6,148 yards and 38 TD's---and won only 3 games both years.

The new dual-threat offense is probably a better fit for our current status. We are a cold weather team. A more run-first ball control probably better fits our Independent schedule. 

Last year's offensive struggles had deeper roots than just the QB's. We need more speed and less drops from the wide receivers. In 2022 UMass was #67 in rushing offense and #127 in third down conversions. Generally, if you can run the ball, you've got a good looking offense (and a good looking QB). The Minutemen did not put pressure on opposing defense on either passing or running.

Like the defense, I think resurrecting the UMass offense is a several year process. This year, UMass has greatly added talent in QB's and RB's. It may be another year before the offensive line and WR's are where Brown wants them to be. Still, I think the offense will be much improved and we will move out of FBS's basement in most offensive categories .

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Indiana OC Walt Bell lands a highly rated QB he started recruiting while at UMass.

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UMass Football News--July 15th, 2023

 College Football News reviews UMass' 2023 schedule and predicts between 1 and 3 wins.

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It's July and the UMass Football team is grinding.

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UMass opens our 2023 schedule at New Mexico State. The Aggies head coach Jerry Kill is optimistic.

Fan Sided considers if New Mexico State can contend in their new conference: C-USA

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UMass also plays The Land of Enchantment's other team, New Mexico.  College Football News previews the 2023 Lobos.

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The Opelika Observer looks at Auburn's 2023 schedule and thinks the War Eagles can win against UMass, Samford, New Mexico and Vanderbilt with "half a team".

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