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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UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Dan Villari

Peter Frutkoff image

Dan Villari, a 6-3 205 pound dual-threat QB from Massapequa, NY has a UMass offer.

247Sports page.

Hudl.com has video.

Rushed for 209 yards and 5 TD's in October.

Villari is currently a Fordham commit, but the UMass offer happened in October. He also has an FBS offer from Buffalo.

UMass Football News--November 14th, 2019

Inside the new UMass practice bubble. It'll give UMass baseball a winter practice space too.

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The UMass Daily Collegian says UMass-Northwestern is a collision between two really struggling offenses.

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Inside NU has a Q &A with Bennet Karoll.

Inside NU also reports Saturday will be the Wildcats Senior Day.

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The Daily Caller reports Northwestern coach Pat Fitzpatrick "just wants to win by one".

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The Salt Lake Tribuen says the answer my friends about BYU football is blowing in the wind.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Chance Nolan

Twitter image

Chance Nolan, a 6-2 186 pound dual-threat QB from Saddleback, C.C. has a UMass offer.

247 page here.

Saddleback stats here. 68.3% completion average, 2,613 total yards, 290 yards/game, 30 TD's.

Saddleback bio here.

Hudl.com has video.

This article covers his offer from Oregon State.

Nolan has offers from Oregon State, New Mexico State, South Alabama and Troy.

UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Daylin McLemore

Glen Cody image

Daylin McLemore, a 6-3 200 pound dual-threat QB from San Mateo, CA has a UMass offer.

247Sports three-star player.

MaxPreps has stats.

Had a season ending injury in October.

Besides UMass, McLemore has offers from San Diego and San Jose State. Drawing interest from UCLA and Cal.

UMass Football News--November 12th, 2019

The UMass Daily Collegian says UMass was steamrolled by Army.

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Inside NU has UMass game notes, injury report and more.

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Meanwhile, BYU coaches have another interesting QB choice to make.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports BYU shares a lot with faith-based Liberty.

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UConn is still searching for a QB.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Onuma Dieke

Dieke #2/ Ben Ennis image

Onuma Dieke, a 6-5 185 pound WR from Atlanta, GA has a UMass offer.

247Sports Page here.

Senior highlights here.

This article features Dieke.

Besides UMass, Dieke has an FBS offer from Southern Alabama.

UMass Football News--November 11, 2019

Northwestern is a 39 point favorite over UMass as per Vegas.

Keepers College Football Rankings has the Wildcats by 51.5

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The Chicago Tribune has Northwestern second-to-last (Rutgers) in the Big 10 power ratings. Just to make things worse, the Wildcats hoops team lost to Merrimack.

Against Purdue, Northwestern scored a touchdown, the first in a month.

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Meanwhile in Provo, BYU looks for bowl eligibility against a weak November schedule.

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UMass Football News--November 10th, 2019

First off my apologies to the UMass defense. The opponent rushing record did not fall and Army only broke loose once. The score does not reflect the effort the Minutemen defense made. Army could have taken a knee on its last possession. Coach Bell went for a trick play inside the UMass 15 yards line (and it should have worked). Two more scores were the result of really bad INT's thrown by Brito and West. The defense battled all game. They forced a turnover and generally were competitive with Army.

The offense was horrid. Brito was 6 of 16. The UMass running game averaged 1.0 yards/carry. We really do not have a QB on this team. Not a lot to say about a performance that bad.

Besides Brady Martin, we could also use a QB transfer or a JUCO in the 2020 class.

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UMass write-up here.

Army coverage here.

The Hampshire Gazette has a story on the game here.

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UConn lost to Cincinnati 48-3.

Southern Illinois won their fourth straight.

Charlotte rallied past UTEP.

Coastal Carolina was run over by Louisiana on Thursday.

FIU was run over by FAU.

Louisiana Tech crushed North Texas for its eighth straight victory.

Liberty gave BYU all it could handle but lost 31-24.

And the misery continued for Northwestern as a late field goal sent them to 1-8.

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Game Day Army---2020

UMass will meet Army on a cold, but sunny day in West Point. Wish I was there. As Independents, an annual game between the schools would be awesome. West Point on the Hudson is just a great place to watch college football. The Corps of Cadets and Michie Stadium makes a wonderful venue.

As I have noted this week, Army is not a good matchup for us this year. What the Black Knights are good at (running the ball) is what we are terrible at (defending the run).  UMass needs more offense to make the game even moderately interesting. I sincerely hope future trips to West Point will be more fun.

I'll be watching today and cheering for the Minutemen.

Go UMass!

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Josh Wlafish reports on the rise of Gilberto Torres in the UMass RB rotation. Torres UMass bio. Torres ran well against Liberty when he got some blocking. He ran 12 times for 52 yards most of it coming during his first series.

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CBS Sports has how to watch or listen to Army vs UMass. Here in Milford, NH my Comcast sports package shows the Minutemen game.

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Army's game notes for UMass.

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Northwestern sports a patriotic look for the Wildcats game against Purdue.

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The Herald predicts a BYU victory over Liberty..

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UConn faces a big challenge against #20 Cincinnati.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Krishon Merriweather

Twitter image

Krishon Merriweather, a 6-0 230 pound ILB from Garden City C.C. has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Garden City bio here.

Hudl.com has video.

Currently leading JUCO football in tackles.

Merriweather currently has six offers including UTEP and Toledo from FBS.

UMass Football News--November 8th, 2019

It looks like it will be another tough afternoon for UMass tomorrow. Army comes into the game #13 in the nation in rushing offense. The Black Knights average 4.75 yards a rush and 252.1 rushing yards/game. UMass is dead last in FBS giving up 6.43 yards/rush.

The Army offense is designed to be a grind-it-out clock control game. It probably won't work out that way Saturday as the Black Knights will be ripping off  a likely 15 yards/play. Unlike Liberty, who abandoned their high-octane passing offense to run between the tackles, Army has no real way to take their foot off the gas. The current UMass opponent rushing record is by BC with 518 yards in 1973. That record should fall early.

One thing that could help is to get more production on offense. UMass is #118 in total offense in 2019. Some clock-control of our own could help keep the Army offense off the field.

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CBS Sports looks at the UMass-Army game.

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Against the Odds looks at the Minutemen-Cadets point spread and more.

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The Boston Herald reports UMass tries to right the ship against Army.

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The San Diego Tribune says Army looks to halt a five game losing skid against struggling UMass.

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Athlon Sports thinks Purdue will score 21 points against Northwestern and that will be enough.

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BYU's latest QB Baylor Romney is described as "unflappable".

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UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Rodney Mathews

Hutchinson C.C. image

Rodney Mathews, a 6-2 278 pound DT from Hutchinson C.C. has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Blue Dragons bio here.

Besides UMass Mathews has FBS offers from South Alabama and Central Michigan.

UMass Football News--November 7th, 2019

UMass has their game notes for Army up.

Army has their notes up for UMass.

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The Daily Collegian reports UMass prepares for run-heavy Army.

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Fan Duel previews the Minutemen-Army game.

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Hammer & Rails previews the Purdue-Northwestern game.

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Fan Sided has Northwestern and Rutgers in the bottom four for Power Five teams.

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The Daily Herald reports the BYU defensive linemen are embracing rush-3 challenges.

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IF YOU DRIVEN ROUTE 9, THEN YOU'VE PROBABLY MET HER.

Northampton driver  crashes into trailer.

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