UMass Football News--September 10th, 2021

 UMass helmets will feature a 9/11 decal to commemorate the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

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BC Interruption has a question-and-answer session with Dan Morrison of UnderDog Dynasty about the UMass game.

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College Football News previews the Minutemen-Eagles game and predicts a 45-7 BC win.

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Action Network thinks BC will cover the 37 point spread.

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Flo Football says the Eagles head to Amherst as a heavy favorite.

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UConn announces a QB change prior to hosting Purdue this week. The Huskies are a 34 point home dog to the Boilermakers.

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Eastern Michigan gets Wisconsin on the road this Saturday.

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UMass Football News--September 9th, 2021

 UMass has its game notes for BC up. The Minutemen will wear the throwback script "u" helmets for Saturday's game.

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BC ramps up its attention on the UMass game.

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The Eagles will wear their "red bandanas" uniforms for the Minutemen game.

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BC Interruption recaps the Colgate game and makes scoring predictions for the Minutemen.

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Eagle Insider has five questions for the BC team going into the UMass game.

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The Hampshire Gazette report CB Bryson Richardson is "doubtful" for the BC game, QB Tyler Lytle is a "game day decision" and so is starting guard Reggie Marks.

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Madison.com has five things to know about Eastern Michigan prior to the Wisconsin game. 

BTW, Eastern Michigan beat Big Ten teams in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

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UMass Football News--September 8th, 2021

 The Hampshire Gazette reports UMass wants to raise the bar against Boston College.

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BC Interruption previews the Eagles-Minutemen game. 

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Sports Illustrated says Boston College opens as a big favorite against UMass.

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Eagle Insider reports the Eagles have released their two-deep for the UMass game. 

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Fan Duel looks at the odds for the Eagles-Minutemen contest.

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Pitt News has some images from the Panthers game.

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The Pitt game was not what I had hoped, but the reality is this is really the second year of the rebuild and we just gotta keep grinding. Temple, an established team with a complete roster got waxed 61-14 by Big Ten non-power Rutgers.

UConn, which lost to Holy Cross gets Purdue this week. That's probably not going to be a joy for Husky fans. UConn announced a QB change for the Purdue game.

The ACC surprise team may be Florida State, who took Notre Dame to overtime last Saturday. 

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UMass Football News--September 7th, 2021

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" recaps the Minutemen's opening loss to Pittsburgh.

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BC Interruption wonders if the Eagles can cover a big point spread for the second week in a row.

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle looks back on a tough opening game against Pitt.

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Meanwhile, Randy Edsall steps down as coach of UConn.

The Huskies face another tough challenge as they face Purdue Saturday, who beat Oregon  State last week.

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Encouraging news that college football is returning to normal: "LSU fans drink the Rose bowl dry". Well done, Tigers fans.

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UMass Football News--September 6th, 2021

 BC Interruption reports the Eagles open as a 38 point favorite.

BC Interruption also has some observations on BC's blowout win over Colgate.

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UConn HC Randy Edsall will step down at the end of the 2021 season.

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Eastern Michigan is a 32 point underdog to Wisconsin.

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UMass Football News--September 5th, 2021

 Well, I knew Pitt was going to be a bad match-up as an opening game. I could not get the ACC video working, so I listened to the WHMP audio feed. I miss Josh Maurer, BTW. 

The UMass offense was pretty much stuffed by an outstanding Panther defense. When we did do something right we had dropped passes. Leaving the defense on the field for the entire first half makes some ugly stats.

The defense, I think, played pretty good. We had 3 TFL, 1 SACK and a FF. The defensive secondary had a number of BKUP's. The defense also had a goal-line stand.

The UMass offense did manage a score and over 200 yards of offense against probably the best defense we'll see all year. Chalk it up to a learning experience and get ready for BC. 

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UMass write-up here.

Pitt write-up here. 

Hampshire Gazette recap here.

The Berkshire Eagle recap, with some after game video here.

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Boston College beat Colgate 51-0.

Eastern Michigan won earlier in the week.

Coastal Carolina won earlier in the week.

Toledo ran over Norfolk State 49-10.

UConn (watched this game) lost to Holy Cross 38-28. 

Florida State plays Notre Dame today.

Liberty beat FCS Campbell 48-7

Rhode island rang up 508 yards of offense against Bryant.

Maine lost to Delaware earlier in the week.

Army dominated Georgia State 43-10

New Mexico State lost to UTEP earlier in the week.

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Game Day --Pittsburgh 2021

 Well to starts my 45th year with UMass season tickets (I'm giving myself 2020). There has not been a lot of positive reinforcement for Minutemen fans for a while. I'd like to see a functioning offense today, even though Pitt has maybe the best defense we'll see all year.

I'd like to see a competitive UMass defense. Make some plays and make the Panthers sweat. 

I'd like to see something more than a 40+ point blowout. 

Anyway, I'll be watching and cheering for the Maroon & White.

Go UMass!

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MassLive says Pitt, with Mark Whipple as offensive coordinator begins the season with high expectations.

The Athol Daily News says UMass knows what's coming.

The Daily Collegian reports UMass is yearning to win games.

The Tribune-Democrat says Pitt welcomes back fans as the Minutemen visit Heinz field.

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Eastern Michigan rang up 27 first downs to dominate St. Francis 35-15 last night.

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UMass Football News--September 3rd, 2021

 Action Network thinks Mark Whipple and the Panthers are going to run it up.

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The Hampshire Gazette says it's just another opponent for Whipple.

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle looks at the UMass depth chart prior to the Pitt game.

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Pitt Football gets a $20 million donation. 

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Joe McGonigal of the Post Gazette predicts 51-10 Pitt.

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Coastal Carolina rang up 610 yards of offense in a 52-14 rout of The Citadel. 

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Maine blew a 24-10 halftime lead and lost to Delaware.

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UMass Football News--September 2nd, 2021

 UMass has its game notes for Pitt up.

Panthers game notes for UMass.

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Jeff Lajoie of the Hampshire Gazette previews the Minutemen's season.

The Gazette also reports Tyler Lytle is a "gravitational force" for the Minutemen.

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Pitt News says the Panthers are set for a solid season.

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Pittsburgh Sports Now has five takeaways from Pat Narduzzi's press conference.

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UConn announces its two-deep for Saturday's game against Holy Cross.

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Two UMass 2021 opponents play tonight. Coastal Carolina hosts The Citadel on ESPN+ and Delaware plays at Maine on Flo Video.

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UMass Football News--September 1st, 2021

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has two position reviews:

Defensive backs. 

Special Teams.

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 The Hampshire Gazette reports this year's UMass team has some maturity. 

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle says Coach Bell has handed the ball to Tyler Lytle.

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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette previews the Panthers season.

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The National Football post reports UMass brings a eleven game losing streak to Pittsburgh.

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Fan Duel has the UMass-Pitt game odds and more.

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The Sun-Sentinel previews the Seminoles season.

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UMass Football News--August 31st, 2021

 The Post-Gazette analyses Pitts 2021 schedule and make predictions.

Pittsburgh Sports Now says there are no surprises on the Panthers recently released two-deep.

Pat Narduzi's weekly press conference here. He says UMass is pretty much an unknown quantity. Mentions Coach Reid and others. 

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BC is a 50.5 point favorite over Colgate.

BC Interruption says it's a new beginning for the Eagles.

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Eastern Michigan opens Friday against St. Francis. The game will be on ESPN3.

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The Blade predicts an 11-1 season for Toledo and a cakewalk over UMass.

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The Sun has five things about Coastal Carolina before their opener against the Citadel.

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BC opens against Colgate, Eastern Michigan opens against St. Francis. Toledo opens against Norfolk State. The Chants open against the The Citadel. UMass opens against Power Five team Pittsburgh. It ain't easy being a UMass fan.

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UMass Football News--August 30th, 2021

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has two position reviews for the 2021 Minutemen:

Defensive linemen.

Linebackers.

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Sports Chat Place thinks Pitt will cover the 38 point spread.

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The Boston Herald says UMass is ready to turn the corner with an influx of new players.

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WSET reports Liberty is facing a new set of challenges this year.

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle reports on the pros and cons of UMass' coordinators being in the press box or on the field.  

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New Mexico State lost to UTEP on Saturday. The full game is available on YouTube. Drag the play indicator to about the eight minute mark to skip a lot of commercials.

The Aggies gave up 452 yards and lost 30-3. New Mexico State did not show much. UTEP was 3-5 in 2020 and two of the Miners three victories were against Stephen F. Austin and Abilene Christian.

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UMass Football News--August 29th, 2021

 I watched UConn lose to Fresno State 45-0 yesterday. The Huskies are long-time rivals, but it was tough to watch the game. Their performance looked like UMass in 2020.

UConn could not run, gaining only 35 total rushing yards. The UConn defense was out there all day against a faster, more athletic team.

UMass opens against a Pitt team that may be a contender in the ACC. I don't think UMass is going to win, but I'd like to see the Minutemen be more competitive than what the Huskies showed against Fresno State.

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Speaking of the Panthers, they just named their 2021 captains.

Pitt's 21 seniors hope to break the cycle of mediocrity. 

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Boston College will require fans to show proof of vaccination to attend home games.

Sports Illustrated has the biggest questions for BC prior to their opener against Colgate. 

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UMass Football News--August 28th, 2021

 Kyle Grabowski has a story on UMass QB coach Frederick Walker. His UMass bio.

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle looks at the Minutemen's strength of schedule.

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UConn opens against Fresno State at 2:00 pm on the CBS Sports Network. 

UConn's depth chart and breakdown for the Fresno State game.

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New Mexico State also opens their season at 9:30 pm ET against rival UTEP. 

The game will be televised by FloFootball.

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UMass Football News--August 27th, 2021

 Kyle Grabowski of the Hampshire Gazetter has an update on UMass practice. Minutemen TE Josiah Johnson is rooting for former teammate Mac Jones. Johnson is a pretty good athlete. He had 12 catches for 139 yards and 2 TD's in 2019. 

Being able to dump down to the TE is a QB's friend when there is a pass rush. Making the defense pay on an all out rush helps the offense compete.

Kyle also said DB Noah Boykin was back in pads. Boykin''s return will make a talented UMass secondary even better.

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College Football News previews the UMass-Pitt game and predicts a 51-6 Panther victory.

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Yahoo Sports thinks Eastern Michigan will go 4-1 against its opening games of Wisconsin, UMass, Texas State and Northern Illinois. 

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The Post-Gazette has 10 thoughts before Pitt's opening game against UMass.

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Maine learns more about itself as Fall practice winds down. 

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BTW, UConn opens TOMORROW at Fresno State. The Bulldogs are a heavy favorite over the Huskies.

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UMass Football News--August 26th, 2021

 Mike Traini of "Fiight Massachusetts" has a position review of the 2021 UMass offensive line.

Offensive linemen don't get any stats, but the offense depends on them. We're a cold-weather team who plays more Power-Five teams than just about any other Independent. A good running game would really help cope with that. The one game we won in Coach Bell's tenure was secured by nine straight carries by Bilal Ally. Let's get started on a run-first offense this year. 

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Kyle Grabowski of the Hampshire Gazette has a post on the UMass wide receivers. Nothing much worked well in the UMass offense last year. With the Minutemen QB's having a full training camp, hopefully the UMass passing game will be better. 

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle says the Minutemen are starting to pivot towards  the opening game at Pitt.

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Joe Starkey of the Post-Gazette says the new Pac-12, Big 10, ACC alliance might not help Pitt or West Virginia in the long run.

He's saying what I've been saying all along. The ultimate goal of all this is a 36 (roughly) team super-conference. The Vanderbilts and Kansas' of the world won't make the cut. I wonder if Boston College would? If roughly half of the ACC was invited, the Eagles would be on edge. They're in a big media market, but don't have much fan interest. Boston College has usually finished  at or below .500 in league wins in the ACC.  I think it would be close.

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UMass Football News--August 25th, 2021

 Kyle Grabowski reports Tyler Lytle will start for the Minutemen. This makes sense. 2021 is Lytle's fourth year in college football. It's now or never. Hopefully, the Minutemen will be better at all aspects of the offense. Better OL play and a better run game will go a long way to make Lytle look good. Opening against two Power Five schools is a tough way to start the season, but after that we should be competitive against many of the teams on the rest of the schedule.

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The UMass website has a podcast featuring assistant coach Luke Paschall who coaches the wide receivers.

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The UConn Blog (good name) previews the Huskies game against UMass and predicts a 36-24 UConn victory.

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247Sports predicts both Pitt and BC will be 4-0 at the end of September.

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Charting plays has made the Pitt wide receivers better.

Pitt HC Pat narduzzi names his two starting OT's.

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UMass football News--August 24th, 2021

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a 2021 position review of the UMass wide receivers.

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BC Round Table considers which Eagle position will improve the most in 2021.

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College Football News predicts the winner of Eastern Michigan's opening game against FCS St. Francis. 

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College Football News says the Big 10, Pac 12, ACC alliance could have a media advantage over the SEC.

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New College football rules for 2021.

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UMass Football News--August 23rd, 2021

 UMass news has been sparse the last two days.

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BC interruption previews common opponent Florida State.

BC Interruption also looks into the implications of a Big 10, ACC, Pac 12 alliance on the Eagles athletic program.

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Army is about where Coach Jeff Monken expected.

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ESPN chronicles the rise of Liberty's QB Malik Willis. Good story.

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UMass Football News--August 22nd, 2022

 Sports Illustrated wonders what Coastal Carolina will do for an encore.

The Myrtle Beach Sun wonders if the Chants have more fun than any other football team.

Coastal in ranked #22 in the AP preseason poll.

The over/under for the Chants is 11.

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Meanwhile, UConn is tired of losing.

Like UMass, UConn is looking to solidify their offensive line. 

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Athlon Sports has game-by-game predictions for Florida State.

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Liberty has a wealth of riches at quarterback. 

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Maine wraps up its final preseason scrimmage.

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New Mexico State copes with COVID and other challenges.

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