Temple could try to get to D.C. the long way

Is Temple headed to the Eagle Bank Bowl through Toronto?
It's not a straight shot down I-95, but the long way could be the only way for Temple to get what to many of its fans is the more preferable bowl venue.
Right now, it looks as if the only way Temple gets a slot in the Eagle Bank Bowl in Washington, D.C. is if the Owls take Army's slot.
That leaves them holding the bag without a bowl if Army pulls off the improbable upset of Navy on Dec. 12 _ one week after bowl bids are officially extended.
After 30 years of going without a bowl bid, Temple is just not willing to take that chance so that's why many are speculating that the Owls will be going to Canada to take the MAC's spot in the International Bowl.
There is a roundabout way of getting to D.C., though.
Something tells me it makes a whole lot of sense for Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw to be working on a three-way deal with either Northern Illinois or Bowling Green, getting one of those seven-win teams to accept the risk for a nine-win team.
Bradshaw is getting on a conference call with Mid-American honchos today at 3:30 p.m.
The subject on the table is bowl scenarios.
Bradshaw (to either Northern Illinois or Bowling Green): "Work with us, here."
NIU/BG: "How?"
"One of you go to Toronto if Navy wins (lead-pipe cinch) and we go to D.C. However, if Navy loses, one of you is out and we'll go to Toronto. Who wants in on this with us?"
It's a win/win for everbody because Navy isn't losing, folks.
Temple gets an attractive foe, possibly East Carolina in a best-case scenario, and brings a large fan base to D.C.
Northern Illinois or Bowling Green gets the shorter trip to Canada and assumes only a slight risk.
When the bids are announced, they'll be announced on an either/or basis.
If Bradshaw pulls this off, he's a genius.
We'll see.
Let the dialing begin.

LOS ANGELES TIMES TOP 25

2010 Recruiting -- Matt Stokes

UMass is interested in Matt Stokes a 6-3 245 pd DL from St. Thomas Aquinas HS in Florida.

His Rivals page here.

This article mentions him.

He has offers from Arkansas and Liberty. Interested are Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

Image from the St. Thomas Aquinas web site.

Monday News--- 11/30/09

Former UMass DE Keron Williams has a video interview about his role in the Gray Cup.

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College Sporting News has a web gallery from the William & Mary-Weber State playoff game.

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UNH football is on solid footing.

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Keepers College Football Ratings has Villanova, Richmond and William & Mary as favorites in the next round of the FCS playoffs.

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Jeff Monken was named HC at Georgia Southern.

FCS lost another HC when Stacy Adams stepped down as HC at Valparaiso.

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Sunday News----11/29/09

Northeastern players try to find a way to move on.

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Recaps and box scores on the CAA squads who went 4-0 yesterday.

Three links from the New Hampshire Football Report on UNH's big win over McNeese State here.

Brett Kahn of The Sports Network has a long article on the Villanova-Holy Cross game.

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All the FCS playoff scores here.

Game capsules for all the FCS playoff games here.

At one time the Montana Grizzlies were down 41-14 to South Dakota State. This article covers their astonishing comeback.

The Citizen-Times looks at Appalachian State's struggle to win over South Carolina State.

Temple football asked to leave the country

By Mike Gibson
It seems there aren't a whole lot of people out there who can deal with any success Temple football has.
A few weeks after Temple beat then fellow Big East conference member Rutgers for the fourth-straight season, the Owls were asked to leave the Big East for being "non-competitive."
Conveniently, Rutgers being non-competitive with the non-competitive team wasn't an issue then.
Now, after the first season in which Temple won nine straight games in its history, the Owls are being asked to leave the country.
Don't worry.
This time, unlike the last, it's a good thing, not a bad one.
Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw appeared late Saturday afternoon on the Bob Rovner radio program on a Philadelphia station for a two-hour guest stint (WWDB-AM) and much of the talk centered on Temple football.
In it, he hinted strongly that Temple will be asked to leave the country only because it will be extended an offer to the International Bowl in Canada shortly.

Bill Cosby talks Temple football with John Kincade on ESPN radio (97.5 in Philly) Sunday morning, Nov. 29th at exactly 9:25.

The delicious irony in this:
One of the three possible opponents Bradshaw mentioned was Rutgers.
(The other two were South Florida and West Virginia.)
"You might think WIP and 950 are the sports radio stations in town, but we talk more Temple sports here on my show than anywhere else," said Rovner, a former state senator and Temple grad.
Although the show is ostensibly a political one, Rovner wasn't kidding. Co-host Frank Rizzo Jr. was away, so Rovner got to play sports talk show host for a day.
The show talked Temple sports, mostly football, for two hours.
Bob Bernardo, a former Owl linebacker who played for the last Temple team to win nine in a row, was a call-in guest.
The meat of the show centered on bowl scenarios.
Bradshaw also hinted (strongly) that the university might be forced to turn down an Eagle Bank Bowl Invitation for that International Bowl berth.
He speculated that Central Michigan would go to the GMAC in Mobile and Ohio to the Little Caesars Bowl in Detroit, leaving Toronto and a Big East foe on the table for the Owls.
There was another option, he said.
He noted the Eagle Bank Bowl was tricky because it would be the last invitation extended and it would be contingent upon Navy beating Army.
But that Army-Navy game is set for Dec. 12, a week after all the bowls are offered.
Should Army pull off the unlikely upset, the team accepting that contingency bid would be left outside of the bowl picture.
That's why Temple is likely to accept a bowl invitation, probably Toronto, when the initial offers are extended on Dec. 6.
"We might have that kind of choice," he said. "I should know more around 3:30 on Monday afternoon after we have a conference call with the MAC."
The Eagle Bank Bowl would be tempting in that considerably more Owl fans would be able to make the trip.
Despite forecasts to the contrary in 1979, Temple traveled very well to its last bowl game, drawing over 55,000 its 28-17 win over California in the second Garden State Bowl.
Temple could travel very well to D.C., not nearly as well to Toronto.
The allure of Toronto, though, could be playing a team from a conference that kicked the Owls out.
The interview between Rovner and Bradshaw will be rebroadcast on WWDB in one week.
By then, though, the Owls and their fans will probably be applying for passports.

First Round of the Playoffs--11/28/09

Tom Gilmore says the Villanova Wildcats are better than the 2007 and 2008 Minutemen.

The fan who hit a promotional field goal during the UMass-Red Raiders game in 2007 is now the first team kicker for Texas Tech.

Former UMass assistant coach Bob Shoop is thriving at William & Mary.

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Terrance Thomas Sr. reviews the CAA's playoff games in his "CAA Today" essay here.

Chuck Burton looks at the FCS playoff games here.

David Coulson critiques the FCS playoffs committee's choices.

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The CAA "Game Day" page for all the CAA teams in action today here.

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For my picks:

South Dakota State's jack have played the tougher schedule and that leads them to a first round upset of Montana.

Eastern Washington in a close game over Stephen F.Austin.

Richmond's tough defense is the difference in a win over Elon.

Appalachian State should ring up big numbers against South Carolina State.

Wish I could see the Villanova-Holy Cross game. It should be a good one. The Crusaders have an excellent offense, but the Wildcats have strength on both sides of the ball.

UNH is on the road to McNeese. The Wildcats have been in some shootouts recently. Their defense will have to play better to beat the Cowboys at home. UNH loses it's first round game.

William & Mary is usually know for a good offense, but the the Tribe's defense has been stellar this year (see the Bob Shoop post above). The Tribe's "D" will give them a win at home.

BTW, the NCAA didn't bother to do a FCS Championship graphic this year.

Owl Golden is going nowhere and here's why ...

By Mike Gibson
After Temple's 35-17 loss to Ohio in what was the MAC East Championship game, I've reached one inescapable conclusion:
Al Golden is going nowhere.
Or make that Owl Golden.
Let's get this out of the way first: Owl Golden did a fantastic job as head coach at Temple in 2009, the best job since Bruce Arians went 6-5 against the No. 10-ranked schedule in the country back in 1986.
Let's have a little perspective, though. Arians did it against the 10th-best schedule. Golden did it against the 112th best schedule (out of 119).
Golden's work was much more impressive than Jerry Berndt's seven-win season in 1990, but slightly short of Arians' two six-win seasons against a couple of suicide schedules.
From a pure football coaching standpoint, to me, six wins against the 10th-best schedule in the country is a little more impressive than nine wins against a No. 112 schedule.
No doubt, though, Golden has proven he is the best man for the job.
He's had a lot more to do than being a full-time football coach. He's had to be a full-time babysitter, a full-time disciplinarian and a full-time public relations' man. That's just for starters. He's done much more than his job description for the university and the institution can't thank him or compensate him enough.
From academics to community involvement to character issues, he righted a ship that was listing badly and about to go down.
It's a Herculean effort even Arians could not have mustered.
But there is much more to be done and my hunch is that Golden will stay to do it.
He sweat a lot of blood and tears building this program and now that it's built and all he has to do is coach, does he want to wear all those hats and sweat all that blood again for four more years?
I think not.
Golden won't leave for another reclamation project and, other than Cincinnati or Notre Dame, every single offer he gets will involve years of building again.
Nothing Owl Golden has said has convinced me he'll be around for the 2010 season.
It's what he's done.
Or not done in this case.
All season long, I've gotten multiple reports from reliable sources both inside and outside the program that Chris Coyer was ... by far ... the best quarterback on team.
He was making the most plays in practice every day.
He was turning the most heads.
Yet he wasn't on the field.
Think about it.
I've said for 12 months between the end of last season and now, the only thing that separated Temple from a contender and a champion was the lack of a playmaking quarterback.
I urged the Owls to go get one, even going as far as pleading for Al to sign a big-time JUCO quarterback in the mold of Adam DiMichele.
That the Owls have won nine games without a playmaking quarterback is a tribute to Owl Golden and Matt Rhule.
They got this far on two "game managers" in Vaughn Charlton and Chester Stewart.
Neither one of them can be describe as a playmaker, someone who can win the game on his own, ala Adam DiMichele vs. Eastern Michigan last season.
If Owl Golden cared about himself more than he cared about the program, he would have burned the Chris Coyer redshirt at about the time Chester Stewart succeeded Vaughn Charlton as the Owls' starting quarterback.
What would he have cared if Temple only had three Coyer years left?
He sent a very loud message that he cared very much by protecting the redshirt.
We've all seen the chasm between Stewart and Charlton since.
It is large and it is stark.
That's about the difference between Coyer and Stewart.
You don't need me to tell you about it.
Coyer will win the starting quarterback's job in a three-way battle in spring ball.
Remember, if it happens, you read it here first.
In between now and then, Temple will make it to a bowl game.
It's a lock not because of what I write here but because of the NCAA rule that states you cannot take an eight-win team ahead of a nine-win team for an at-large bowl berth.
That's why the Owls will report to practice on Monday knowing they have another game left to play. They will complement perhaps the best running back in the nation next year, Bernard Pierce, with a playmaking quarterback in Chris Coyer.
With a solid defense in place back, that's an impossible formula to beat.
That's why Owl Golden will report to work the offseason on North Broad Street, knowing that the Owls will be better equipped to shock the world next year, not this one.
Then he can have his choice of moves, should he chose to go anywhere.

Thursday News-- 11/27/09

UMass had been interested in Seth Sheridan a 6-1 185 pd RB from Oakmont, MA. He tore an ACL and will likely spend a year in prep school. More on Sheridan here. He was drawing interest from Boston College and UNH as well as UMass. Hope he has a speedy recovery.

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BTW, a big congratulations to Holy Cross for making the FCS/I-AA playoffs. The Crusaders have painfully climbed back to respectability after the infamous Fr. Brooks blew up the Holy Cross athletic program (a case study on why one-man rule is bad). The NFL is taking a serious look at Crusader QB Dominic Randolph.

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Updated information about the 2009 FCS playoff brackets.

The Sports Network's Brett Kahn previews the 2009 playoffs.

A couple of stories about UNH-McNeese state here and here.

Villanova has a fan blog I haven't seen before. It bills itself as the "most tasteless and disrespectful" Villanova blog on the net.

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Next year's FBS opponent Michigan is still having problems.

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Thanksgiving Day --11/26/09

I would like to wish all the Blog community a big "Happy Thanksgiving". Hope all is well with you and yours.

I'm thankful for having the opportunity to run the Blog and meet all the UMass fans.

I'm thankful for Mrs Blog. She flew, drove and walked with me a lot of miles this season. Without complaint, she sat through a frog-drowning downpour at Richmond. She's the greatest.

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Matty V has two stories about the UMass All-Decade Team from the 2000's. Here is the story and here is the fan vote. Lots of great UMass players. I am grateful I got to see them play.

Random thought. Has Detroit ever won a Thanksgiving Day game?

Wednesday News--11/28/09

Another story about the sad end of Northeastern Football.

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West Roxbury captains Tony Bland and Garrett Fitzgerald are interested in UMass.

Bland is a Scout.com one-star recruit.

Fitzgerald is also being recruited by UConn.

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Apponequet's Joe Bianchini is also interested in UMass.

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Barnstable's 6-5 285 pd OL Dalton Gifford has been offered a scholarship by UMass.

Highlight film for Gifford here.

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Maryland's Ralph Friedgen is on the hot seat in Maryland. That could mean trouble for Don Brown.

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The CAA's weekly news and notes for all the league teams here.

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Keepers College football ratings has Villanova and William & Mary as favorites and UNH and Richmond as close underdogs in the FCS playoff first round.

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I fixed the javascript for the countdown clock. It now has the correct day count.

Black Friday Game Plan

Owl Golden explains why he sang Zombie Nation in video above.

John Haley

For the MAC East
Day: Friday
Time: 11 a.m.
Place: Athens, Ohio
TV: ESPNU
Radio: WHAT 1340

By Mike Gibson
There are three ways to watch the Temple at Ohio game for the MAC East title.
One, the most preferable from my point of view, is to be there in Athens, Ohio, giving support the Temple team playing perhaps the most important game in school history.
That might prove problematic for a great majority of Owl fans who have neither the cash nor the time to get there and back. For example, the cheapest fare we could find was $577 roundtrip. You have to have some pretty steep pockets for that kind of coin.
I don't count myself among that group, unfortunately, and that leaves options Nos. 2 and 3.
So I have to settle for a different Black Friday Game Plan.
(All I'll say about the real game plan is this: Rush the quarterback relentlessly (blitz, you can count on John Haley in a big spot) on defense to force turnovers and use the run to set up the play-action pass on offense, spreading the big plays around evenly to Delano Green, Evan Rodriguez, Joey Jones, Matt Brown, Michael Campbell, James Nixon and Jason Harper. Do that and Frank Solich's head will be spinning like Linda Blair's in the Exorcist. It's that simple, but I trust Al Golden, Matt Rhule and Mark D'Onofrio have already figured that out.)

Chester Stewart has more weapons than the NYPD's swat team.
Photo by Ryan Porter

The "real" game plan:
All I'll say about the real game plan is this: Rush the quarterback relentlessly (blitz, if necessary) on defense to force turnovers and use the run to set up the play-action pass on offense, spreading the big plays around evenly to Delano Green, Evan Rodriguez, Joey Jones, Matt Brown, Michael Campbell, James Nixon and Jason Harper. Do that and Frank Solich's head will be spinning like Linda Blair's in the Exorcist. It's that simple, but I trust Al Golden, Matt Rhule and Mark D'Onofrio have already figured that out

So that's the game plan for the team in a TFF nutshell. I'll expand on the game plan for us fans below.
I thought about watching from home, but pacing the floor and screaming at the television alone is not my idea of having fun.
So I'm leaning toward the third and final option:
Finding a place to hopefully celebrate the Owls' first football championship of any kind in my lifetime with my fellow Owl fans.
Ideally, the best place would be on campus but that's shut down tighter than a drum when the kids are on break.
Fortunately, there are plenty of Temple-friendly establishments around where you can find Temple people at 11 a.m. on a Friday morning.
Forget shopping on Black Friday.
I'm spending a large chunk of it Owl-watching.
I'm leaning toward one these establishments:
FOX AND HOUND, Center City _ Plenty of TVs, cheap beer, good food and a real good shot at getting the professionals who work around that intersection to leave work early and catch a long lunch hour. A large room for plenty of fans.
KELLIANN'S, 16th and Spring Garden _ Without question, the best quality 56-inch HDTV I've ever seen and the bartender, Scott, is a good guy who will put the sound up for you if you ask nicely. There's a Temple helmet in the corner of the room. Only drawback is that it's the world's smallest men's room. (I haven't been in the women's room, but I don't think that's much larger.)
APPLEBEE'S (Roxborough) _ It opens at 11 a.m., so it opens just in time for kickoff. The bartender, Maureen (Mo), has a son who goes to Temple, so she's very Temple-friendly and good at her job as well. Get the Oriental Chicken Salad. I highly recommend it.
WINNER'S CIRCLE (Exton) _ A hangout for Temple fans in that area of Southeastern Pennsylvania, it comes highly recommended. I haven't been in there, but I've heard lots of Temple fans go there.
CALLOWAY's (Huntingdon Valley) _ Also superb TVs, good bargain on the beer and the best Caesar Chicken Salad you'll ever have. A lot of good sports fans who know their stuff in that bar.
Those are my picks.
I'd like to hear some of yours in the comment section below.
I'll follow the biggest Owl crowd.

Tuesday News---11/24/09

Matty V. has some thoughts about Northeastern dropping football (worth reading).

Matty has quotes from both Don Brown and Kevin Morris on the demise of Northeastern football.

This article relates the feelings of Northeastern OL Brian Palangi.


Matty also has an interview with Coach Morris about the gains and pains of the 2009 season.

Ron Chemlis has an interview with UMass AD John McCutcheon about the end of Northeastern Football.

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The CAA has announced their All-Conference teams yesterday. Vladimir Ducasse, Chris Zardas, Jeromy Miles and and Victor Cruz were first team All-CAA. Tyler Holmes, Kyle C. Harrington and Tony Nelson were second team. Brandon Collier and Armando Cuko were named third team. Two guys were better than Cuko? Armando was third in the nation in kicking stats.

Examiner.com has a story on the nine UMass players honored.

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Josh Buchanan projects the "small school' players who will be invited to the NFL Combine and Vladimir Ducasse is one of them.

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UMass ended up #24 in the final regular season GridIron Power Index.

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Chuck Burton has his "CSN Way" column here.

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Jeromy Miles is on the 2009 Buchanan Award ballot.

No UMass players on the Payton Award Ballot.

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Sam Houston State, Bethune-Cookman and Youngstown State all fired their head coaches.

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Can we finally put this attendance thing to rest?

A crowd of 21,046 watches Kee-Ayre Griffin (above) and James Nixon (below).
Photos by Ryan Porter



If you haven't seen it, I direct your attention to Mike Jensen's fabulous piece in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer on Temple's wonderful long-time football fans.
I've said this for years and not just because he's a colleague of mine and a good guy, Mike Jensen is the best college writer in this town and he has been for years.
He's really really a terrific wordsmith, a craftsman whose effort is to be admired the way you'd look at a beautiful painting.

Bill Bradshaw's answer to my question
Mike.....although in the Franklin field and Vet days, Temple(I'm told)
use to eyeball the crowd and throw out a number, we've come a long way
in announcing accurate #'s for attendance.
As you know, there is the
actual # at the game, sold tickets, people in suites that
sportswriters don't see, people who stay at a tailgate(with a paid
ticket), comp tickets, and hundreds of fans, at any one time in the
hallways,concession stands and lavatories.
For a sportswriter who
comes to one game, and says the crowd is slightly less than what was
announced, I would question his "eyeball count", since we have the
real data that supports our #, and he does not, nor did he ask us for
it.
And for him to suggest that, because Temple always embellished
attendance, as a rationale for his conclusion, is quite frustrating to
all of us. Its when you always announce the same crowd, with eyeball
evidence to the contrary, that someone should be suspicious of your #.
As you know, we've announced much less in attendance for other games
this year, but we did not think anyone would question yesterday's #,
at least those who had attended other games
......hope this
helps.....BB

After reading "Temple of Boom" _ a terrific headline, by the way, played off a quote in the story about the bemoaning of 'Temple of Doom' headlines _ I looked at Jensen's Mona Lisa and saw a scratch mark.
I felt as though I had eaten a terrific Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad and gotten indigestion afterward after staring at the scratch mark in the Mona Lisa.
This line bothered me:
The announced attendance of 21,046 seemed slightly high - maybe old habits die hard.
Geez, I thought, when will this shit ever stop?
First of all, Temple hasn't "made up" attendance figures since the old Al Shrier days at Temple Stadium.
A writer would eyeball the crowd, and turn to look at Shrier, who was always standing with his briefcase in hand, behind the back of the press box.
"How many would you say are here, Al?" the guy would ask.
"Ten thousand," Shrier would say.
Then that figure would appear next at the bottom of the box score.
A-10,000.

The MAC: Week 12

Central Michigan 35 @ Ball State 3 -- Att: 5,736

Buffalo 42 @ Miami 17 -- Att: 7,983

Bowling Green 36 @ Akron 20 -- Att: 9,163

Toledo 47 @ Eastern Michigan 21 -- Att: 9,967

NIU 31 @ Ohio 38 -- Att: 14,756

Kent State 13 @ Temple 47 -- Att: 21,046
Source: Supertaco, scout.com (thanks, ST)

The next week the same routine would happen and the same figure would appear under the boxscore.
It hasn't been that way since the day of the scanner and they've had them since the stadium was opened in 2003.
My ticket is scanned, your ticket is scanned and that goes into a computer.
The figure generated by the computer, not the Temple AD or SID, is used at the bottom of the boxscore.
Nobody's hacking into the computer.
There's no conspiracy theory.
Bill Bradshaw isn't running up to the press box and making his guy change the numbers.
It's just not happening.
I asked Bradshaw how this figure was generated yesterday and his response is posted here.
I ran into a few folks in the parking lot postgame and I mentioned I thought the crowd was "about 25,000." One guy said 27,000. Another guy said 26,000. Another guy said 23,000. My friend, Mark, said he didn't know what the crowd was but it "wasn't (as high as) 25,000."
Nobody said as low as 21,046 and none of them were named Al Shrier.
To me, after 30 years of losing, eight straight games isn't going to full the house.
That's just not realistic to expect.
But Saturday was a HUGE step in the right direction and I was very impressed with our fans and it only bodes well for future attendance.
It takes time to lose a fan base and it will take time to rebuild one.

Monday Morning News--11/23/09

Northeastern cancels its Football Program. Wow! I am very sorry for Northeastern fans.

More from ESPN and from the Boston Globe here and here. The Boston Herald here.

R.I.P. Huskies football. A loss for New England football.

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UNH faces McNeese State in the first round of the playoffs.

All of Saturday's FCS scores here.

Chuck Burton looks at the 2009 playoff field.

More information about the 2009 FCS Championship tournament here.

Humbled in Hempstead--11/22/09

Mrs Blog and I listened to the game while traveling in eastern New England. WCRN 830 AM in Worcester puts out a monster signal. It was a tough game to listen to, as a mediocre Hofstra team set a all-time passing record against the the Minutemen. It was a disappointing end to a disappointing season.

This one is going to take a while to get over.

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UMass write-up here.

Matty Vautour's story here.

Newday says Hofstra rolled it up.

Ron Chimelis on Scott Woodward's first career start. He also has a game article here.

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The CAA received two seeds and four total teams in the 2009 playoffs. Printable pdf bracket schedule here.

The Sports Network has a playoff article here.

Dave Coulson has a long article reviewing the last regular season games this Saturday.

Both Princeton and former FCS power Georgia Southern fired their head coaches.

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A big day for Owls and their fans

The sheer joy on fans' faces is evident after AR's INT.
Photo by Ryan Porter

A wall of Cherry and White watches Matt Brown run.
Owlsports.com photo

Plenty of credit to be passed around at Lincoln Financial Field yesterday.
First off, I can't say enough about the fans.
At least 21,000 showed up. I thought the actual figure was closer to 25K.
They were loud, proud and wore cherry (and some white).
It takes awhile to lose a fan base, like 30 years, so it's going to take awhile to build one but Lot K was full two hours before the game and there was a long line at the ticket windows when I walked into the stadium a few minutes prior to kickoff.
"YO, ADRIAN" _ Happy Birthday to Adrian Robinson. On his 20th birthday, AR got the play of his life, rushing the quarterback, getting a near sack, then doing one better by tipping the ball and picking off a pass. Then he showed some good old running back skills in moving the field position by about 30 on the plus side.
"NO FAIR CATCHES, DELANO" _ That's what I always yell from the stands at Delano on every enemy punt. I do that for a reason. He's a one-man terrific offensive play. He proved me right yesterday. Twice.
HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS _ Al Golden said that's the most overrated notion in football. Yet I've got to like the fact that Temple was unscored upon in the second half the last two weeks in the second half and finished the last two games 49-0 and 38-0. So I like the halftime adjustments Mark D'Onofrio makes. Notice what happens when you rush the passer.
ESPN HELMET STICKER _ Believe it or not, they gave one to Travis Shelton, even though he's been gone from the program for awhile. That guy running the ball wearing No. 22 only looked like Travis. Gotta wonder if ESPN.com has copy editors.
GREAT JOB BY THE BAND _ I usually spend the halftimes in the hallways behind the concessions. I had to stay in my seat yesterday because people have been telling me how great the band has been all season. Geez, they were right. Great job and I loved the "Don't Stop Believing" Theme.
ALL THE MARBLES _ Temple is facing a one-game, winner-take-all, shot for a trip to Detroit and a chance to carry the MAC Trophy around the field on what would be one delicious victory lap. That's what this game at Ohio, 11 a.m. Friday, is for. A lot of guys never get this opportunity. Let's hope the Owls make the most out of theirs.

Last week's Los Angeles Times' Top 25:

Game Day-- Hofstra 11/21/09

Hofstra finally has its game notes for UMass here.

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CAA Game Day page here.

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Ron Chimelis says UMass needs this game.

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Matty V. says the last game is important to the UMass Seniors.

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Chuck Burton has his weekly "CSN Way" column here.

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Terrance Thomas has his weekly "CAA Today" essay here.

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I totally missed Amherst College having an undefeated season.

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BLOG NOTE:

Because of a commitment, I will not be able to up-date the blog tonight or tomorrow morning. So--- until then-----GO UMASS!

Friday Before the Hofstra Game--11/20/09

The UMass Daily Collegian has a UMass-Hofstra game preview here.

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Current CAA standings here. If UMass beats Hofstra and UNH beats Maine, UMass would finish alone in second place in the CAA North.

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The Sprots Network's Brett Kanh previews the this week's Top-25 FCS games.

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Another FCS coach resigned last night as Tennessee State's James Weber stepped down last night after upsetting #13 Eastern Illinois.

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UMass' 2009 FBS/I-A opponent Kansas State needs a win at #25 Nebraska to be bowl eligible.

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The end of this article discusses the CAA after Old Dominion joins the league in 2011 and Georgia State enters in 2012.

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Web Album for the UMass-JMU game

Click on the image and blogger displays a much larger view.

I've posted a Picassa Web Album of the UMass-James Madison game here. Not a great day for photography or the Minutemen.

Can you count the number of holds in the image #14?

Thursday Before the Hofstra Game--11/19/09

The University of Richmond student newspaper takes a look back at UR Stadium (mentions UMass).

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The CAA has its weekly conference notes and news here.

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I read a source that the FCS playoff selection show will be on ESPN News at 3:00 PM Sunday, but it does not appear on the ESPN online schedule.

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You remember that many CAA teams, including UMass have participated in the the bone marrow registration drive began by Villanova HC Andy Talley? Villanova WR Matt Szczur is a match for a one year old girl with leukema.

Bradshaw: 'Most important Temple home game in 30 years'

A good way to send the team off would be for a crowd like this.
The sun is setting on the Owls' home season on Saturday afternoon.
By the time it goes down, if the team plays like (focused) crazed men and takes care of business against Kent State, the Owls could be celebrating a MAC East championship on the field.
A home season which kicked off in the sunset of a late-summer night against Villanova (see photo above) will end pretty close to sunset on a late November Saturday afternoon.
A terrific, fitting (and really only) way to send these exceptional young men off would be for a crowd approaching the opening-game crowd of 27,000 fans.
Don't ask for stadiums and the like if you can't get yourself and 29,999 other fans into this one.
In many ways, this is a referendum on Temple football.
If you want a perennial winner, a top 25 program that you can be proud of and the nation will respect, you will vote for it on Saturday.
But you won't be using your right arm to pull the lever.
You'll be using your two feet, making your way to the stadium for the 1 p.m. start.
Like we said, though, in an earlier post, hoping for it to happen won't make it happen.
If you live in California or Colorado or Florida, you are excused.
If you are one of the 150,000 alumni and 33,000 full-time students living in this area, you are not.
We can't count on disaffected Eagles' fans to fill our stadium.
We must do it with Temple people proudly wearing Cherry sweatshirts and game jerseys and screaming their heads off when the Owls are on defense.

"This may be the most significant home football game Temple has hosted in 30 seasons. I cannot say this more clearly: GET TO THE GAME! Bring your families, friends, Temple classmates, and all the people who said to you, 'When Temple starts winning, I�ll be there.' Now is the time: we�d love to see a 30,000+ crowd to push the Owls to victory."
_ Bill Bradshaw, AD, Temple

Be proactive the next few days in getting the crowd out:
Some ideas:

• If you have Facebook or MySpace pages, prominently mention the game as The Event of the weekend on it;
  
• Search for any EVENT page on similar social networking websites and sign up pledging that you will attend;
  
• Call radio stations talking up the leading freshman runner in the country and the program in general. (Hint: Don't tell the producer you are calling about Temple football. Tell them you are calling about the Eagles then ease the call into talking about Temple. "I'm so upset with the Eagles, I can't watch them anymore," you say. "I have more fun going to the Temple games. At least they win."
  
• Sign onto Eagles' blogs and message boards with a similar take. When someone says "no one gives a bleep about Temple football" you come back wtih "it's a lot more exciting than watching McNabb choke" or a similar comeback.
  
• Keep telling them where you will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, Lincoln Financial Field.
  
• Mention how fun the tailgates are in school and at your place of work.
  
• Tell people "you've got to see this Bernard Pierce" and "this is your last chance" and "he's electric when he touches the ball."
  
• Put a sign out on your lawn. "Temple vs. Kent State, 1 p.m., Lincoln Financial Field, for the MAC title."

All true and just ideas for starters. We'd welcome yours in the comment box below. Forty-eight hours to honor these terrific seniors and this team that has made us so proud.
It might be sunset for the home season, but the sun is just beginning to rise on Temple football with hopefully the best part of the season just ahead.

Wednesday before the Hofstra Game--11/18/09

UMass has its game notes for Hofstra up here (html) and here (pdf).

No game notes from Hofstra as yet.

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UMass still makes the the GridIron Power Index's Top-25 list at #25 and seventh in the CAA.

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The CAA has its weekly press release with league notes and news as well as this week's game capsules here.

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Former NFL coach Jerry Glanville has resigned as HC of the Portland State Vikings after going 9-24 over three years.

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The Sports Network's David Coulson discusses the lastest FCS news here.

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The Richmond Times-Dispatch states Richmond's Mike London could probably triple his financial package if he became a head coach at a FBS school.

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Week 12 MAC bloggers' roundtable

By Mike Gibson
It's my week to host the MAC Bloggers' Roundtable and this week is interesting in that we have a pick 'em game on Saturday, Northern Illinois at Ohio, that could determine whether Temple clinches the MAC East on Saturday or not.
The questions to my fellow bloggers are as follows:
1) Do you like the MAC's current bowl setup in which the bowls get to pick, rather than a 1 goes to A, 2 to B, etc? Would you change that, if you could?

2) Recognizing that probably no one will probably be fired this year, who do you think will be the NEXT coach in the MAC to get a pink slip?
3) What do you think can be done, if anything, to get the MAC more bowl tie-ins?
4) Who do you like in the MAC's only pick-'em game of this week, NIU at Ohio, and why?


I will post the answers of my fellow MAC bloggers as I get them below:

Tuesday before the Hofstra Game-- 11/17/09

The four UMass Football players who were arrested in October have had their cases continued. Their charges will be dropped on March 15, 2010 if there are no further problems.

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Matty V. looks at the status of the CAA one week before the playoffs.

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How the FCS Championship series works by CSN.

Chuck Burton of CSN looks at who's in.

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Next year's FBS/I-A opponent Michigan failed to file players practice logs as required by the NCAA-----for the whole year.

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The Sports Network looks at the latest FCS poll and finds the Salukis are still #1.

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Keepers College football ratings has UMass by less than a field goal over Hofstra.

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Remember when you were in High School and you kinda thought the teachers would have to be crazy, because after all, they were serving a life sentence in the educational system? A Massachusetts principal banned students from using the word "Meep!" (from the Muppets character "Beaker").

UPDATE: a lawyer, in solidarity with the students, sent the principal a one-word e-mail saying "Meep". The school system called the police on her.

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I'll try to be back later today with a Web Album from the JMU game.

And you meeping meepers better behave yourselves in the meeping comments section.

Temple Fans: Cherry Out The Linc Saturday

Loyal Temple fans need to bring at least one other fan to the game.

Weather, SEPTA, Phillies ... no excuses on Saturday. Be there.

By Mike Gibson
A quick search of Ticketmaster's data base revealed some very good news yesterday.
At least 10 rows of end zone tickets were sold in a matter of hours on Monday morning alone.
That's more tickets on one day that any other day this fall and it came on what usually is the slowest day of the week.
Who knows what moved that many tickets in one day?
Let's hope the trend continues to go upward the rest of the week.
Maybe it's the winning, maybe it's the head coach's tireless efforts promoting the program.
Probably a little bit of both.
I've always been a strong proponent that word-of-mouth is the best advertising.
It's been that way since the caveman found out that rubbing two sticks together could start a fire.
So Al Golden's radio appearance combined that word-of-mouth advertising with mass media.

Honor the Seniors:

Longest winning streaks
Florida 20
Texas 14
TCU 12
Cincinnati 10
Alabama 10
Boise State 10
Temple 8
Georgia Tech 8

Golden's 20-minute appearance on an Eagles' pre-game radio show (97.5, The Fan) certainly didn't hurt and may have helped a lot. Give coach a lot of credit for making his way across the bridge and into South Jersey to do that for Temple football and the university.
He didn't have to and could have easily begged out.
The show, hosted by Temple grad Harry Mayes, has upwards of 200,000 listeners every Sunday so Golden spreading the Temple gospel had to have an impact.
We should all follow the Temple head coach's lead. Not all of us can get on the radio, but every single one of us can use word-of-mouth advertising.
If every one of Temple's core base could bring just one other fan, we'd have a crowd approaching 30,000 on Saturday.
If every Temple fan who has been attending all year can bring two or more other fans, all the better. If the students spread the word around campus and on Facebook and Twitter and MySpace, that will help immeasurably.
The pre-game tailgates have been great and the games have been even better.
It's a fun event that won't be duplicated in this town until next year's Mayor's Cup.
All indications are that a large crowd will be seeing off Temple's remarkable senior class for Saturday's 1 p.m. kickoff against Kent State at Lincoln Financial Field.
But it won't be the happening it should unless YOU do YOUR part.
Don't wait for someone else to do it or hope somebody else does it.
Temple has a football team that has won eight straight games for the first time since 1973.
It has a team that needs to beat Kent State in order to move a step closer to clinching a championship.
It has gotten positive mentions in Sports Illustrated and ESPN in recent weeks.
All of that coverage would pale in comparison to what might happen if Lincoln Financial Field was sold out Saturday.
I know and you know it's not going to happen, but bear with me for a second.
Temple has 260,000 alumni, 5,000 full-time employees and 33,000 full-time students.
Do the math. That's 298,000 people still living who are being directly represented by the young men wearing Cherry and White.
Subtract 70,000 from that figure.
In a perfect world, 228,000 fans would be turned away at windows on Saturday, trying to get tickets.
I realize it's not a perfect world, but we can all do a lot in the next few days to get as many of those seats filled with Temple fans on Saturday.
We can and we should.
Let's make Lincoln Financial Field a solid wall of Cherry on Saturday.

Monday before the Hofstra Game--11/16/09

The JMU student newspaper tell about the first win at UMass since 1987.

Matty V. has his three stars from the James Madison game: Tyler Holmes, Perry McIntyre and Josh Maurer.

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Walpole's Ryan Izzo broke the state scoring record Saturday. He'll be playing lacrosse for UMass next year. Wonder if he'd be interested in joining Travis Tripucka in playing two sports?

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Next year's BCS/I-A opponent Michigan is having a real long season.

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Armanti Edwards and the ASU Mountaineers are back.

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Sunday after James Madison--11/15/09

The Boston Globe said UMass dropped the ball.

The Boston Herald said UMass was charitable.

The Springfield Republican said too many turnovers.

Matty V. said UMass could not overcome turnovers.

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From the JMU side:

The Richmond Times-Dispatch said JMU made use of turnovers.

The Augusta Free Press said JMU won their third straight.

The Baltimore Sun said James Madison's defense and TB Noble won the game.

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The CAA has recaps of all the CAA games here. It also includes a discussion of CAA Championship scenarios and who get the league auto bid.

UNH lost to William & Mary, which puts the Wildcats out of the league championship and very possibly on a road playoff game.

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All the FCS scores and a list of teams who cliched league championships (including Holy Cross) here.

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Kansas State fell to Missouri on Senior Day and must beat Nebraska next week to be bowl eligible.

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A Rainy Day at McGuirk

It started raining torrents as I slogged back to my truck. A soggy end of a disappointing day. I had a feeling this was going to be a close game. Both teams had very good defenses. Both teams have had inconsistent offenses.

Once again, the UMass defense played well enough to win. They only gave up 10 points. JMU had a fair amount of yards, but they had to punt seven times. The Dukes had the ball on the UMass six yard line and the defense held them to a field goal. No JMU points in the second half.

The UMass offense again struggled. However, the JMU defense is very good. I watched the Dukes defense on a TV game destroy a Delaware offense that ran all over us. This game was going to be tough going offensively no matter what the situation. We needed to play error free football, and then turned over the ball on the first three offensive series. That was the game right there.

Mrs Blog didn't like the punt on the four and four, and neither did the crowd, but I can see the coaches point. If we went for it and failed---and four and four is a long shot ---the game was over. We had three time outs and the Dukes punter was only averaging 26 yards a punt. The UMass defense was holding , but then JMU hit their only long pass of the game . I was reminded of another loss in the rain at Rhode Island, when the Rams completed what felt like their only pass of the game, to win.

We need to play for pride at the Pride next week and end with a winning record.

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UMass write-up with notes, quotes and more here.

An abbreviated story from JMU here.

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Game Day James Madison--11/14/09

Well, it looks like a rainy send off for the seniors. The UMass defense played very well in torrents down in Richmond. If the offense can hold on to the ball, it could be trouble for the Dukes.

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Ron Chimelis says it's the final home game for the UMass Seniors.

Matty V. previews the UMass-JMU game and says there is plenty at stake for the Minutemen.

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Bruce Dowd is back with a issue of his FCS column "Dowd's Den".

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The CAA has their "Game Day" with information about all of today's CAA games including JMU@ UMass. The game will be on Comcast Sports New England. That's channel 435 on Dish Network.

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I'll be getting my rain gear together for the game shortly. Come on out to the game. You won't melt!

Go UMass!

Temple 56, Akron 17: Owls unleash nuclear-type weapons

By Mike Gibson
The 2008 edition of the Princeton Review ranked Temple as the most diverse undergraduate student population in the nation.
There is much to like about that.
Last night, in a 56-17 win at Akron the Owls proved that there is even more to like about diversity in an offense.
In what was Matt Rhule's finest hour as an offensive coordinator, the Owls found every conceivable way to diversify their offense.
They scored on a reverse (twice, one was called back on a penalty), they scored on a long bomb, they scored on an intermediate pass, they scored on running plays.
They established their quarterback, Chester Stewart, as a dual threat.
They even scored on special teams, a terrific punt return by the steady (and now spectacular) Delano Green.
For almost all of the seven wins prior to this one, Bernard Pierce has been carrying the Owls on his broad shoulders.
While it had been fun to watch, you kind of knew that his back would break somewhere along the way if things didn't change.
That would have been an OK plan if the Owls had no other weapons but you and I and Al Golden and Rhule all know that Edberg-Olson Hall if filled with extremely talented players who can do great things with the ball.

''Personally, I really think Temple has the best D-line I have played against since I have been at Akron and I have played against Wisconsin, Ohio State and Penn State.''
_ Senior guard Zack Anderson

Pierce is a good one, the best, but he's not the only one.
I've been saying all year that Temple's No. 1 priority on offense should be feature the talents of Pierce, sure, but to also play off the fear of him by throwing the ball to their edge weapons downfield.
They did that on a long touchdown pass from Stewart to Michael Campbell. They did it on long reverse by Jason Harper and 4.3-40 sprinter James Nixon.
Now the Owls have planted a needed seed in the minds of their future foes: Load up and try to take away Pierce at your own peril.
It was a great night for Temple and proof that this team is getting better as crunch time approaches. The defense was great (49-0 over the last three quarters), but it's been that way all season.
The No. 1 concern was a lack of diversity on offense and it appears that the Owls have now found a pretty good formula going forward.
Last night, they showed that diversity can be a beautiful thing.

Friday before the James Madison Game--11/13/09

The UMass Daily Collegian has a story about the UMass Seniors.

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PressConnects.com has a story about UMass FR TB Jamar Smith.

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James Madison gets some reinforcements for the game against UMass.

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Terrance Thomas, Sr. has his weekly "CAA Today" column here.

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The CAA has notes and news about the five CAA squads in the FCS Top-25.

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The Sports Network's Brett Kahn previews the the Top-25 games in FCS this week.

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David Coulson reviews the status of FCS and wonders if 20 teams in the playoffs are an option this year.

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New Hampshire plays William & Mary for a possible top four seed in the playoffs and a first round home game.

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2009 UMass Football Seniors

Click on the image and Blogger displays a much larger view.

Saturday is the last home game for the 2009 Seniors:

• Jared Chivers OL
• Brandon Collier DL
• Victor Cruz WR
• Armando Cuko K
• Cory Davis DB
• Eric Dickson LB
• Vladimir Ducasse OL
• Kurt Filler LB
• Bryan Fisher OL
• Rob Getek OL
• Michael Hanson DL
• Kyle C. Harrington DL
• Jeremy Horne WR
• Josh Jennings LB
• Jeromy Miles DB
• Anthony Monette DL
• Tony Nelson TB
• Joe Sanford WR
• Matt Silver TE
• Scott Woodward QB
• Chris Zardas FB

That's a lot of starters or players who would have started except for injuries. This class went 34-14 over the last four years. They need wins tomorrow and at Hofstra to tie the 2006 and 2007 classes for most career wins.

Thursday before the James Madison Game--11/12/09

Nice article about Armando Cuko from Masslive.com.

Matty V. has a blog post on three stars from the Northeastern game. Hard to argue with Tony Nelson, Mike Mele and Armando Cuko.

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The Eagle-Tribune has a story about Zack Tulley a 6-1 190 LB for Pinkerton Academy. He's the son of three-time All Yankee Conference UMass LB Matt Tulley.

Matt led the UMass defense in tackles in 1991 with 44 UT 29 AT 80TT. He also led the Minutemen in sacks in 1988 and 1999 with 6 and 9 respectively. Matt is 12th in UMass career tackles (325) and 5th in career sacks (26).

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Attention John McCutcheon---Boise State is selling stock in the Athletic Dept for $100 a share.

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Wednesday before James Madison--11/11/09

UMass has its JMU game notes in html here and pdf here.

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The win over Northeastern moved UMass back into the FCS top-25 in the Gridiron Power Index.

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The CAA's weekly press release with notes about the league and each individual team here.

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David Coulson of The Sprots Network has his weekly "Around FCS" column entitled "Ripples of a Victory".

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Kansas State controls their own fate in a bid for a bowl game.

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Fired HC Tommy West said James Madison and William & Mary have better football facilities than Memphis.

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Idaho State coached by former UMass coaches John Zamberlin and Joe Cullen almost upset unbeaten Montana Saturday.

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Jasper Howard, the UConn football player stabbed to death in a campus fight, threw the first punch according to this report.

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Tuesday before the JMU Game--11/10/09

Ron Chimelis says UMass is fighting to keep a flicker of hope for the playoffs alive.

Transcript of Coach Morris' weekly CAA teleconference remarks.

Audio link to Mickey Matthews teleconference remarks.

Matty V. says the FCS playoff picture is emerging.

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James Madison's UMass game notes here (html) and here (pdf).

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Armando Cuko was named UMass' Athlete-of-the-week.

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James Madison's QB Justin Thorpe was named the CAA Rookie-of-the-Week.

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Current FCS polls here. With Richmond's loss Saturday, the Southern Illinois Salukis jumped to #1.

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Keepers College Football Ratings has UMass over James Madison by less than a touchdown. He also has William & Mary by almost two TD's over New Hampshire.
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