UMass Football Blog News

 No blog updates Saturday July 31st or Sunday August 1st.

I'll be back Monday, which is, I believe, the first day of Fall camp.

UPDATE: This says Fall camp is seven days away.

UMass Football News--July 30th, 2021

 Pitt has holes to fill on both offensive and defensive lines.

Pro Football Focus thinks the Panthers are the most underrated ACC team.

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Three BC players (all on offense, and two from the O-line) receive preseason All-ACC status.

BC Interruption has the preseason strongest and weakest positions for the Eagles. 

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Hustle Belt looks at Eastern Michigan's skill positions.

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A Colorado State site previews common opponent Toledo.

Saturday Blitz says the Rockets are ready to make a run at the MAC title.

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CT Insider reports UConn is confident they're in a position to win.

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Liberty plans for another exciting home season in 2021.

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Rhode Island is picked sixth in the CAA preseason poll.

HERO Sports picked the Rams close to the FCS preseason top-25 poll. 

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Maine adds five defensive transfers to their 2021 roster. 

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Fan Sided previews the 2021 Army Black Knights. 

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UnderDog Dynasty previews 2021's New Mexico State.

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UMass Football News--July 29th, 2021

 This ESPN article calculates "stability ratings" for all 130 FBS teams. UMass is not last. I'm an analytics type of guy, but stats from the year 2020 are pretty shaky because the the screwed up scheduling, IMHO.

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UMass is an honorary member of the ACC this year and this article gives the over and under odds for the league including BC, Pitt and Florida State.

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This article looks at the potential impact of turnovers on all 130 FBS teams.

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Eagle Insider looks at ESPN's FPI and calculates the chances of a BC win for each team on their 2021 season.

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College Football realignment is back in the news and everybody is writing about team movement. This article has UMass and Army joining the AAC. 

This writer argues Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC may blow up college football as we know it.

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Hustle Belt looks at Eastern Michigan's defensive secondary.

Hustle Belt previews Eastern Michigan's offensive line.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Devon Marshall

Twitter image

 Devon Marshall, a 5-10 170 pound DB/Athlete from Catholic Memorial in MA has a UMass offer.

Hudl.com has video.

Had the game-sealing INT in the Catholic Conference championship game (includes video of the INT).

Also has offers from Villanova and Sacred Heart.

UMass Football News--July 27th, 2021

 Former UMass star Adam Breneman has been placed on administrative leave from his position with Arizona State after an investigation of ASU's recruiting practices.

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UnderDog Dynasty has a non-snarky post on why College Game Day should visit Amherst for the UMass-UConn game.

The York Dispatch reports Randy Edsall is certain that a turnaround looms for UConn.

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Liberty extends their media contract with ESPN for football rights.

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BC and Florida State were picked to be #3 and #4 in the ACC Atlantic preseason poll. Athlon Sports reverses this picking the Seminoles #3 and the Eagles #4.

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Brandon Collier's European player connection is making an impact in the CAA.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2023--Maxwell Tucker

Tucker #3/Boston Globe image

 Maxwell Tucker, a 6-0 180 pound DB/Athlete from Catholic Memorial HS in MA received a UMass offer at last week's UMass camp.

Hudl.com has sophomore highlights.

The Minutemen are developing a strong DB room and Tucker could play in front of friends and family in Amherst.

UMass Football News--July 24th, 2021

 Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle talks with UMass A.D. Ryan Bamford about possible implications of the move by Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC.

I don't know if any row of dominoes would end up affecting UMass. The Big 12 could raid the PAC 12, which has been slipping in recent years. The only two Group-of-Five teams that might interest a Power Five league are BYU and Boise State.

UMass and UConn would probably have more leverage if they worked together to try to get into C-USA, the MAC or the Sun Belt, but I doubt the Huskies would cooperate. Why? Just because they're UConn...

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Tomahawk Nation has a snarky preview of the FSU-UMass game. A lot of smack talk for a team that went 3-6 in 2020 and one of those wins was over Jacksonville State.

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CBS Sports has nine coaches on the hot seat for 2021. One of them is Coach Bell. With effectively only one season under his belt, a hot seat is at least two seasons away for Coach Bell.

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This 247Sports article covers Brandon Collier's European recruiting service. Mentions UMass several time.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Jawan King

 

Rice Athletic Dept. image

Jawan King, a 5-10 228 pound RB from Kilgore Junior College has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Originally signed with Rice. His Owls bio here. 

HS Hudl video here.

UMass needs running backs and King could find a home in Amherst.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Kanye Udoh

247Sports image

 Kanye Udoh, a 6-0 200 pound RB from St. Augustine Prep in NJ has a UMass offer.

247Sports three-star player.

This Twitter post says Udoh will make a UV to Amherst. 

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

A Top-50 recruit in NJ.

Udoh has eleven offers including Power Five teams Nebraska and West Virginia. Boston College, Buffalo, UConn, Rutgers and Syracuse have offered from the Northeast. UMass is light on running backs and Udoh would make an impact in Amherst.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Donavin Milloy

 

Donavin Milloy, a 5-10 170 pound RB from Toronto, ON has a UMass offer.

Hudl.com has video.

Hudl.com has some combine highlights.

UMass needs more players in the RB room. Milloy could find playing time early in Amherst.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Patrick Bowen

Twitter image

 Patrick Bowen, a 5-9 180 pound RB from Independence C.C. has received a UMass offer.

Hudl.com has video. 

Had 214 total yards and 3 TD's against Highland C.C. earlier this year.

Bowen has multiple offers out of HS including B.C. FAU, Maryland, Southern Mississippi, UCF and Western Kentucky.

UMass Football News--July 19th, 2021

 The UMass offense will get a test early in the 2021 season as Pro Football Focus reports Pitt will again have a FBS top-ten defense.

In 2020 the Panthers defense was 2nd-in-the-nation in sacks (4.18/game) also 2nd in tackles-for-loss (10.1/game). They were 3rd in rush defense. Pitt lost two All-America defense ends, but returns Deslin Alexander and Devin Danielson.

The Minutemen have not been able to run the ball since our move to FBS. Getting some sort of offense against the Panthers would bode well for the rest of the season. Not having the UMass offensive line being overwhelmed would also be a positive sign.

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Coastal Carolina signs their first four-star recruit. And his name is McDoom, a great name for a football player.

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SB Nation previews Toledo's skill positions. The Rockets return all five of their offensive linemen and their starting RB and WR's from 2020.

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Liberty signs former top-50 Tennessee QB Kaidon Salter.

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UMass Football News--Jult 17th, 2021

 UMass Sports legend Rene Ingoglia signs for another year of college football announcing for ESPN.

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UConn has twelve commits so far in its 2022 class.

Saturday Blitz previews the 2021 Huskies.

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Boston College center Alec Lindstrom has been named a preseason All-American by Lindy's Football Magazine.

BC returns all five offensive linemen for 2021and four of the five have been named first or second team All-ACC by pundits. All four will probably end up NFL draft picks.

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Athlon Sports predicts UMass 2021 opponents Toledo, Coastal Carolina, Army and Liberty to go a combined 33-15. They predict Toledo to win the MAC East, Coastal to win the Sun Belt, Army to win the Commander-in-Chief trophy and Liberty to contend to be the top team in the Group-of-Five.

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SOMEBODY NOTIFY MONTE PYTHON

When a New Hampshire state police marine patrol boat attempted to stop a speeding boater he took off. When the escaping boater was in a no-wake zone he slowed down----and so did the pursuing state police boat.

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UMass Football News--July 16th, 2021

 Panther 247 previews the Pitt offense.

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Yahoo Sports ranks UMass #130 in a preseason ranking.

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Pro Football network ranks the Minutemen QB tandem of Tyler Lytle and Garrett Druzo last in a preseason team QB rating. 

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Eagle Insider lists UMass #11 in their 2021 opponent rankings.

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Sports Gambling Podcast predicts a weak chance Florida State will exceed 5.5 wins and another weak prediction BC will exceed 7 wins.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Ma'kyi Lee

Twitter image

 Ma'kyi Lee, a 6-6 325 pound OL from Coffeyville C.C. has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video. 

This article from 2019 has Lee as one of the top rated HS OL in Louisiana.

UMass is the first FBS offer for Lee. He would be a nice fit in Amherst.

UMass Football News--July 14th, 2021

 

 

UMass will have no capacity limits for the 2021 season.

UMass releases information on Minutemen athletes' name, image and likeness rights based on the recent supreme court decision.

The decision opens the way for the return of EA Sports College Football game (sometime).

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This article mentions transfer offensive lineman Willie Allen. If Allen has NFL dreams, he needs to play every snap in 2021 and play well. 

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A Q & A session with Liberty AD Ian McCaw. The Flames are loaded again this year. Liberty QB Malik Willis threw for 20 TD's in 2020 and, in addition, was #1 rushing QB in FBS with 944 yards and 14 rushing TD's.

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College Football News ranks UMass last among seven Independents in a preseason power ranking.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Josh Pitsenberger

Hudl.com image

 Josh Pitsenberger, a 6-0 210 pound athlete from The Avalon School in Maryland has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats. 

Pitsenberger has seven total offers mostly from FCS schools. Columbia, Dartmouth and Georgetown have offered from the Northeast. UMass is the first to offer from FBS.

 

UMass Football News--July 12th, 2021

 College Football News predicts UMass will win only its' two FCS games against Maine and Rhode Island.

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PFF's initial 2021 FBS power ratings has UMass as #126 out of 130.

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This article mentions Liam Coen as the new OC at Kentucky.

Liam's Kentucky bio.

Saturday Down South has five things to know about Coen. The article includes a seven minute highlight video on Liam's time with the Minutemen.

Mark Stoops is excited about Coen's offense.

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UMass opens 2021 with two Power Five teams --- Pitt and BC. The results will probably be pretty lopsided. The Minutemen then play Eastern Michigan at home on September 18th. That game should show if we're going to be competitive with Group-of-Five teams.

The Eastern Michigan Eagles placed 13 on Phil Steele's preseason All-MAC team.

Our old friends at "Hustle Belt" looks at Eastern's skill positions.

Saturday Blitz says the Eagles offense will be the key to a possible bowl bid for Eastern.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Chase Brewster commits to UMass.

 

Chase Brewster, a 6-5 195 pound QB from the Tilton School in NH has committed to UMass.

I blogged about Brewster back in June.

Brewster is the first commit for 2022. FBS schools generally recruit at least one QB per year. With Colorado transfer Tyler Lytle a junior, Brewster could be in the quarterback mix fairly quickly.

UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Isaac Ross commits to UMass

Twitter image

 Isaac Ross, a 5-9 165 pound WR transfer from Charleston Southern has committed to UMass as a PWO.

Charleston Southern bio here.

Son of former Dallas Cowboys DB Derek Ross.

MaxPreps has HS stats.

UMass needs help in the WR room Ross has a good chance to earn a scholarship in Amherst.

UMass Football News--July 8th, 2021

 Saturday Blitz previews the 2021 Minutemen.

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Pittsburgh Sport Now previews UMass' opening opponent Pitt.

247Sports previews Pittsburgh's offense.

The opening line is UMass +36 against the Panthers.

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BYU RB Jackson McChesney, the fourth-string true freshman RB who ran for an all-time freshman Cougar record  against the beleaguered UMass defense in 2019 is returning from a season ending injury.

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UMass and UConn have one player apiece on Yahoo Sport's top-30 pre-season Independents team.

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Former UMass offensive lineman Jack Driscoll's younger brother plays TE for Auburn.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Isaiah Boyd

Twitter image

 Isaiah Boyd, a 6-1 265 pound DL from the Haverford School in PA has a UMass offer.

247Sports three-star player.

MaxPreps has some stats. 

Hudl.com has video.

Boyd has five total offer including UMass, Old Dominion and Army from FBS. There should be a lot of playing time up for grabs in Amherst in 2022.

UMass Football Recruiting 2024--Cam'Ron Richardson

 

Twitter image

Cam'Ron Richardson, a 6-1 WR/DB from St. Peter's Prep in NJ has a UMass offer.

Hudl.com has video.

Was a member of St. Peter's Prep's freshman leadership selection.

The Minutemen were the first offer for Richardson.  There is lots of opportunity for WR in Amherst.

Fourth of July 2021

 

 

Mrs Blog and I wish all UMass Football fans and staff a happy and safe 4th of July!

UMass Football Recruiting 2024--Yasin Willis

 

Twitter image

Yasin Willis, a 6-0 202 pound RB from St. Joseph Regional HS in New Jersey has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

This article on New Jersey's 7 V 7 mentions Willis.

Willis has a Power Five offer from Ole Miss. UMass and Temple have offered from the Northeast.

UMass Football Recruiting 2024--Ellis Robinson IV

Twitter image

 Ellis Robinson IV, a 6-0 175 pound CB from Iona Prep in NY has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Video from Best of New England Camp.

 This article has him talking about his offer from West Virginia.

Robinson has thirteen total offers including a number of Power Five teams. Just about everybody from the Northeast has offered including BC, Syracuse, Rutgers, West Virginia, UMass and UConn.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Anwar Lewis

Twitter image

 Anwar Lewis, a 5-8 180 pound RB from Hutchinson C.C. in Kansas has a UMass offer.

Rivals.com page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Kansas C.C. Conference has some stats. Averaged nearly 9 yards/carry. 

UMass has offered several Hutchinson players in the past. The Blue Dragons won the JUCO national title in 2021.

Lewis also has a FBS offer from Louisiana Monroe.