"Who's Paul Palmer?"

The question was posed to a young Bernard Pierce in the locker room at Lincoln Financial Field a couple of weeks ago.

"Dude, do you realize you have a chance to break Paul Palmer's records?"
"Who's Paul Palmer?" Pierce said.
What some longtime Temple fans might see as blasphemy was really an innocent remark that illustrated, more than anything else, how young Bernard Pierce is.
The true freshman wasn't even born yet when the kid known as Boo-Boo was in a heated battle with Vinny Testaverde for the 1986 Heisman Trophy.

On Halloween, Bernard Pierce came dressed up as Paul Palmer.
Chances are, Pierce will get to know Boo-Boo well in the coming months and years as each record Palmer set falls.
Temple beats Villanova by AT LEAST 20 points with this sure-handed young superstar getting 20 or more carries, rather than the six he had in the opener.
You'd have to be Stevie Wonder not to see that.
Today, Pierce rushed for 267 yards and two spectacular touchdowns as the Owls overcame an anemic passing attack to beat Navy, 27-24, otherwise known as the best team on their schedule not named Penn State. He did a good impersonation of Paul Palmer on Halloween, becoming the first Owl runner since Boo-Boo to rush for over 200 yards in consecutive games.

Numbers don't lie
Bernard Pierce:
29 carries
267 yards
2 touchdowns
Vaughn Charlton:
5 for 17
37 yards
0 touchdowns
2 interceptions

The fact that the Owls could not throw the ball and hit open receivers (check the film, they were running open through the Navy secondary all day) only makes what Pierce did all that more impressive.
As the game went on, Navy's defense loaded up in the box to stop Pierce.
Didn't matter.
He was too quick, too strong, too fast.
The Owls' offensive line, which averages 310 pounds across the front, also deserves a lot of credit. They knocked Navy off the ball like bowling pins. There is a photo accompanying this story that shows Pierce running through a hole and the Temple line knocking Navy off the ball in the background.
There is still much work to be done for this Owls' team to reach its potential.
The passing game, which really has alternated between bad and worse (today was worse), needs to be fixed.
I've been saying that for eight weeks, but no one wants to fix it.
It's tempting to say leave well enough alone, but I won't join that crowd.
Why not make something real good better, if you can? Why not play off Pierce's runs by throwing touchdown passes to James Nixon, Michael Campbell, Steve Manieri and Evan Rodriguez?
Those guys are doing their jobs by getting open, just like Pierce does his job by punishing linebackers and running past safeties.
You've got to be able to get someone in there who can throw the ball effectively.
Some hard decisions about personnel are going to have to be made at that position.
To win the championship, the Owls need to make Pierce more of a weapon by fixing the firing mechanism.
Who's Paul Palmer, yes, but another question could be:
Where's Matty Baker?

Maimed in Maine

Well, four interceptions and two fumbles just about settled the 2009 season for UMass. The Maine game should also settle the QB controversy as neither UMass QB played well.

The defense put in a workman-like effort, but did not give the offense any short fields to work with.

Still felt strange not being at the game.

UMass writeup here.

Matty Vautour had a live Blog here.

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Lets have a big turnout for the Northeastern game next week. If we settle down and play we could still have a decent season.

Go UMass!

Game Day Maine--10/31/09

Today's game against Maine will be the first game of the season I will not be watching in person.

Feels kinda strange not to be getting ready for the game. Hopefully, the UMass defense will continue the intensity they showed against Richmond. The Minutemen held the Spiders to 2 of 14 third downs , 1 of 5 fourth downs and a total of 236 yards---surely good enough to win most games. And remember that was against the the #1 team in the nation.

The offense needs to get its mistakes under control. Just throw it to the guys in white shirts. Taking the sack or throwing it out of bounds is a lesser evil than turning the ball over. Run Nelson and Hernandez behind our very good OL. Let's beat the Black Bears and keep this season going.

Go UMass!

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Matty Vautour says the pressure is on UMass.

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The Kennebeck Journal has an article on Black Bear LB Donte Dennis.

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The CAA's Game Day page has all the details on the League's games this Saturday.

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CSN's Chuck Burton has his weekly "The CSN Way: Rewriting the scripts' article up.

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Chuck Coulson has his weekly "Around FCS" column up.

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Creeping Fascism Alert: It's going to be illegal in Boulder, CO this Halloween to run naked with a Jack-0-Lantern on your head.

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Friday before the Maine Game--10/30/09

An image of the new scoreboard lifted from the UMass website.


Happy Eve of All Saints Day!

Matty Vautour has more on the UMass QB drama.

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The Sports Network's Brett Kahn previews this week's Top-25 games including UMass-Maine.

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Tomorrow's game between the Minutemen and the Black Bears will be televised on Comcast Sports New England. That's Channel 435 on Dish Network.

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Recruiting 2010--Brandon Sparrow

UMass has offered a scholarship to Brandon Sparrow a 6-4 250 DT from Bedford, VA.

His Rivals page is here.

This article features him. His HS team's name is the Minutemen.

Mentioned as one of the top players in Virginia.

Besides UMass, Sparrow holds offers from Ohio, Liberty and Marshall. Drawing interest from a host of I-A schools including Duke, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Thursday before the Maine Game--10/29/09

Maine has their game notes up here (html). Still no pdf.

The Maine Campus has a Black Bear-Minutemen game article here.

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The UMass Daily Collegian says the UMass team still has Kyle Havens back.

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New Hampshire senior DT Jordan Long has been dismissed from the team.

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CSN's Terrance Thomas has this week's "CAA Today" column posted.

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The CAA has an article on the current national standings of the various league teams. UMass ranks 7th in the Lambert Cup.

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Mids give whole new meaning to term whistle-blower

Mike Gerardi (14), the QB phenom of spring ball, cheers on Peanut Joseph during TD run.
By Mike Gibson
Nothing could be more fitting this year than Temple playing at Navy on Halloween.
Navy played a dirty trick on Temple and it could turn out to be an unexpected treat for the Owls come Saturday.
This year would have been the fourth year of a home-and-home contract with Temple.
Navy and Temple, both in good faith, signed a contract to honor two home and two away games.
Temple honored the final part of its road commitment with a trip to Navy last season.
Then the Owls threw a scare into Navy last season, leading, 27-7, in the fourth quarter before losing, 33-27, in overtime.
Navy's brass thought for a minute about the possibility of playing Temple in hostile Philadelphia in 2009, then placed a phone call to Temple.
"Err, you know that game we promised you? We're not coming."
Navy tore up the contract and would have paid Temple a $200,000 fee for breaking it, but that left the Owls in a bind. They had no team to replace Navy.
So Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw did the only thing he could do with an 18-inch battleship gun pointed squarely at his head:
Offer to play the game in Annapolis.
"Yeah, that's the ticket," Navy said.
Navy has a distinct advantage at home. The Middies have a fan who blows whistles when Navy ballcarriers are seemingly stopped, yet the fan never gets kicked out of the stadium and game officials feign deafness around him. He's the guy who blew a whistle three times while Temple defenders stopped a ballcarrier on fourth and goal, only to see the guy get off the ground and run into the end zone with the officials signaling touchdown and Temple coaches yelling, "what the fu*k?" The whistle caused Al Golden to run onto the field and scream to officials after the bogus score. Temple players stopped tackling the Navy guy for fear of being called for a penalty, only to see the Navy guy score after the whistle. He's the guy talked about in a response to this well-written post, page down to an answer by Navy72, on a Navy fan website. (He's a skinny guy with brown hair and a moustache, and last year parked his backside across the aisle from a group of Temple fans in the end zone. If you see him blow one whistle, please point him out to security this Saturday.)
Yet there is irony in this situation this year.

Getting the Owls out of here at this time can only help them do what they need to do, focus on the task at hand

The irony is that Navy might have done Temple an inadvertent favor.
I mean, did Navy know the World Series would be played in Philadelphia that day?
No.
The Phillies are playing that day in Philadelphia and the city is crazed right now.
Everything else in sports is an afterthought, even the Eagles.
All of the parking lots around both stadiums will be all Phillies red all day long.
Getting the Owls out of here at this time can only help them do what they need to do, focus on the task at hand. This is an important game between two teams who have won five straight games. The winner, especially if it's Temple, will get sorely needed recognition on a national scale.
It's was a dirty trick Navy played, no doubt.
If the Owls get a win, though, it will be a delicious treat.

Web Album for the the UMass-Richmond game

Brandon London greets old friends.

I have an abbreviated Picassa Web Album from the UMass-Richmond game posted here.

From about the middle of the second quarter, it rained on and off for remainder of the game. Some of the rain was really heavy, so coverage of the game is pretty spotty. The low light caused a lot of blur and I had to discard most of the action shots.

I didn't even get a end-of-the-game scoreboard shot. Back in 2007 after the hurricane during the UMass-Rhode Island game, I got back to my truck and water was running out of my point-and-shoot camera. It eventually recovered but I wasn't willing to take the chance with my Canon DSLR.

Wednesday before the Maine Game--10/28/09

Memo to UMass Equipment Wizard Paul Bys: Take the black pants to Orono. We played well against Kansas State and we need to change something to blow the stink off the last two road games...

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UMass game notes for the Black Bears html here and pdf here.

No Maine games notes online yet.

The Springfield Republican says UMass football looks to turn it around.

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Josh Buchanan has a revised Payton and Buchanan Award outlook.

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Eastern Washington's post season ban has been lifted.

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The CAA's weekly press release with team capsules and details of this Saturday's games here.

BTW, Richmond's DB Justin Rogers was CAA defensive player of the week.

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Update on the UConn stabbing.

Recruiting 2010-- Vince Gallo

I've blogged before about UMass recruiting Vince Gallo a RB/LB and now option QB from Rotterdam NY.

This article about him updates some information and says he's playing well for a coach named Whipple.

Now being recruited by Temple, Bucknell, Brown and UNH.

Tuesday before the Maine Game--10/27/09

Matty Vautour reports that Kyle Havens will start against Maine.

Coach Morris' weekly CAA telephone transcript.

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The Gridiron Poweer Index has UMass at #14

Keepers College Football ratings has UMass by 13+ over the Black Bears.

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David Coulson of The Sports Network looks at last Saturday's games as sees a Weekend of Surprises.

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The Altoona Mirror has a story about Black Bear CB Troy Harris.

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Monday before the Maine game-10/26/09

Well, Mrs blog and I are home safe after driving 630+ miles from Virginia. On the way home, we stopped at an old haunt of mine from UMass days: Joe's Pizza in Northampton. The place was packed.I hope to work on an abbreviated Web album of the Richmond game this evening. I had to cover my camera for much of the game because of the downpour.

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I spent a little time with the UMass press guide and tried to figure out if the six interceptions was a UMass opponent record. We threw five interceptions against Hofstra at McGuirk in 1997 (that's listed as the stadium opponent record). The guide does not list an all-time single game opponent interceptions record.

The CAA press guide has the league record for interceptions as 7, which occurred four times, last by Villanova vs. Penn on 9/22/07.

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Matty Vautour has another article on the Richmond game here. He mentions UMass LB Tyler Holmes has 17 tackles. Tyler had a big contingent of fans at the game. UMass had a pretty decent crowd at Richmond and we were making a lot of noise--at least until the downpour sent a lot of people to the exits.

Vautour's Top-25 vote this week.

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The Bangor Daily News has a story about UMaine and the current and future status of CAA football.

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Josh Buchanan has a mid-year FCS top players watch list posted.

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If you follow New England college football, you probably will be pleased that Dartmouth broke a seventeen game losing streak Saturday.

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Wrecked in Richmond--10/25/09

First let me say how well the defense played. They held the Spiders to 13 first downs and 236 total yards. Richmond scored 10 points on long drives and one of those was in the fourth quarter when the defense had to be getting tired

The offense however, was a train wreck. Six interceptions and one of those for a touchdown. We also muffed a punt. The offense gave up the ball on the UMass 20, 27, 17, 28 and on and on. Tony Nelson DNP and Jonathan Hernandez DNP in the second half. The Spiders are good, but not that good. Their sportsmanship could use some work also.

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UMass write-up here.

Richmond writeup here.

Boston Globe says we threw away the game.

The Richmond Times says Richmond romped.

The Springfield Republican said UMass fell hard.

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All this week's FCS scores here.

Kansas State beat Colorado 20-6 to run their record to 5-3. They remain at the top of the Big 12 North standings. Two more wins should put the Wildcats in a bowl game.

Albany won its sixth consecutive game.

Stony Brook moved to 3-0 in the Big South.

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Mrs Blog and I are driving back to New Hampshire today. It was a good trip abet with a wet, disappointing end.

Again congrats to the UMass defense in an effort that you would not see from the stats unless you were there.

Go UMass!

The Best Thing on TV: Bernie's MAC Show

"Give the ball to The Franchise, that's what I've been telling coach all along," Steve Manieri seems to be saying to Bernard Pierce.

Photo by Ryan Porter, Porterhouse Productions

By Mike Gibson

Mark Beier and the Toledo radio broadcast team threw some many bouquets in Temple's direction Saturday night, you didn't know which ones to catch and which ones to send to the niece's wedding.
Beier talked about the size and the fierceness of Temple's offensive line and the overall speed of the Temple defense.
Something Beier said in the fourth quarter of Temple's 40-24 win at Toledo really caught my ear, though.
"I haven't seen a running back of this caliber in the Mid-American Conference in a long, long time," said Beier, whose radio call also streams worldwide on a MAC access channel with video.
Color man Tom Duncan agreed.
Beier was, of course, talking about Temple freshman Bernard Pierce, whose amazing recovery from being carried off in a stretcher last week in the Army game is nothing more than Lourdes-like.

BP's numbers:
40 carries=game
212 yards=game
3 touchdowns=game
766 yards=season
9 TDs=season

Pierce rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns and now has 766 yards on 135 carries, despite getting only six carries against Villanova. Pierce now has a team-high nine touchdowns and already has bettered Paul Palmer's records for touchdowns (6) and yards (628) by a freshman.
Oh.
Did we mention Palmer finished as a runnerup to Vinny Testaverde for the 1986 Heisman?
Thought I'd mention that.
Temple has now won five straight games for the first time since 1979. The Owls (5-2, 4-0) are also in the MAC East driver's seat, affirming predictions by both the New York Times and CBS Sportsline prior to the season.
Meanwhile, the Toledo game was a tale of two stars with bum shoulders.
One could play. One didn't.
"It's doubtful," Temple coach Al Golden said when asked if Pierce would play Wednesday.
Five minutes later, in the same presser, Golden said: "I don't have any doubt, Aaron Opelt will be playing quarterback on Saturday night for Toledo."
Well, guess what happened?
Pierce's broken shoulder was fixed and Golden's doubt-meter was broken.
Or maybe Al was just playing possum.
Whatever, I don't think Toledo wins that game with Opelt AND Pierce playing.
Then again, I don't think Temple wins that game without Pierce.
That's how good Pierce was.
When you have a running back like Pierce, you can manage the game off him and that's what Temple quarterback Vaughn Charlton did so well on Saturday night.
Vaughn threw a nice touchdown pass that Michael Campbell caught, another ball that Michael Campbell probably should have caught for six (it would have been a really good catch, though) and another flair that went for another touchdown to Jason Harper, who only makes positive things happen every time his number is called.
Pierce went out for a blow late in the fourth quarter and they handed the ball to Lamar McPherson, who promptly went down on the same kind of play Pierce was falling forward for eight yards a pop.
"You can see the difference between Pierce and everybody else," Beier said.
Whatever they rubbed on his shoulders this week, must've worked.
I wonder if they got the bottle overnighted from France.
Whatever, it was the Elixer the Owls needed and one they will have to keep in the medicine shelf the rest of the way.

Game Day Richmond--10/24/09

Images from yesterday's beach walk.


A Coast Guard boat plays sheep dog to the 40,000 ton USS Boxer

A gift from the Sea.

Dolphins swam 50 yards out.


Plovers get to play in the surf every day.

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

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The Boston Herald says Richmond is UMass' #1 priority.

The Springfield Republican says UMass will have to be error free against Richmond.

The Boston Globe says Vladimir Ducasse is headed to the NFL.

The Richmond Times says the Spiders seek a quick start against UMass.

Matty Vautour says UMass is still looking for its first road win.

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David Coulson of the Sports Network says the playoff field looks crowded this year.

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CSN's Terrance Thomas looks at the CAA at mid-season.

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Chuck Burton looks at FCS's "Shoe-ins" for the playoffs.

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Toledo: Heart tells me win; gut tells me, err, win

The best pass defense is putting Opelt on his ass all night long.
By Mike Gibson
I got one of those campus-wides alerts from Temple University security the other day.
It warned students "not to get too rowdy" in their celebrations after big wins.
For a second, maybe even a minute, I thought they were talking about the Temple University football team's four-game winning streak and some anticipated poll-climbing by exhuberant students after win No. 5.
Then I thought about the Phillies.

Temple vs. Toledo
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: The Glass Bowl
Records: Temple 4-2, Toledo 4-3
Line: Toledo favored by 2 1/2
TV: MAC All-Access
Radio: WPHT-AM, 1210

Oh, never mind, I thought.
We've got a long way to go. I'd love to see Temple students identify with their fellow Temple students (playing for them, by the way) than with a group of 25 professionals playing for an entire region.
Maybe that's just me.
But it will take more than a four-game winning streak, or even a fiver, for that to happen.
The worse part is that I don't see a five-game winning streak in this team.
I've got this nasty feeling in my gut and have had it for a few days.
The streak ends at No. 4, I fear.
It's part gut (I've been taking Pepto-Bismol for it, but to no avail) and part based on these realities as I see them:

• Despite having great receivers all over the place, we've not been able to develop a passing game anyone fears or has reason to fear for six games;
  
• We went 0 for 9 on third downs in the final three quarters against an EMU team that got torched for 56 the next week. Not good. Not good at all.
  
• We have tight ends lining up in the backfield, when they should be where Pop Warner designed them to be _ on the line of scrimmage;
  
• We have no fullback, either to serve as a lead blocker for the tailback or to protect our quarterback on blindside blitzes. We need a fullback and that's painfully obvious.
  
• We face a quarterback, Aaron Opelt, whose specialty is picking secondaries apart if he has time.
  
• We have not shown the gonads to pressure the quarterback on every down. We play a more bend-but-don't-break defense that plays into the hands of quarterbacks who have time to throw. The best pass defense is putting the QB on his backside. You can't see open receivers if you are running for your life.
  
• The best running back we've had since Paul Palmer is hurt. He may be cleared to play, but he's still hurt.
  
  

This could be a 35-20 Toledo win, unless Temple fixes a non-existent passing game or blitzes from the opening toss.
That's what my gut tells me.
Of course, my hope is that Vaughn Charlton throws for 350, four touchdowns, no picks and that Bernard Pierce plays and picks up his usual buck twenty-five.
My gut has been wrong before, as recently as a couple of days ago.
Jimmy Rollins came to the plate.
"Game's over," I told a crowded newsroom, mostly due to my gut but thinking a little reverse Black Cat. "I've never seen this guy come up with a real big clutch hit in the playoffs."
Next pitch, gapper.
Let's hope the Owls prove my gut wrong again.
Now excuse me while I take two more Pepto-Bismols.

Friday before the Richmond Game--10/23/09

Several images from the Virginia Beach area. Click on the image and Blogger displays a much larger view. The image of the Cape Henry light house is from the top of the old Cape Henry light.

The weather is not looking good for the game Saturday. Not sure if that will help UMass or not.

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The Washington Examiner has an article on Tony Nelson.

The Worcester Telegram has a mention of Jonathan Hernandez.

Matty Vautour on the Minutemen's preparation for the Spiders.

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The Sports Network previews this week's Top-25 FCS games.

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Villanova HC Andy Talley is approaching a coaching milestone.

The Seacost Online says UNH needs to rebound against Hofstra.

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Has anyone seen the new scoreboard?

Thursday before the Richmond game--10/22/09

WWLP has a preview of the UMass-Richmond game.

The Springfield Republican has an article on UMass' running back tandem of Hernandez and Nelson.

Matty Vautour has an article on Armando Cuko's super senior season.

The NCAA has an article on Richmond's Eric Ward.

The Richmond student paper has a mid-season report on the Spiders' season by HC Mike London.

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More articles on Ihedigbo's suspension here and here.

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CBS 6 reports twenty NFL teams have looked at UNH's Scott Sicko. He had 10 catches/145 yards/2 TD's against UMass.

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The CAA has its weekly press release on all the league teams up.

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New Hampshire game web album

I have a Picassa web album posted for the New Hampshire game. Again, nothing special, but it should give you a feeling for the day.

Wednesday before the Richmond Game--10/21/09

UMass has its game notes for the the Richmond game up. Html here and pdf here.

Richmond's game notes html here and pdf here.

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The Richmond Times has a mention of Ke'Mon Bailey, who is from Virginia.

Matty Vautour on the contributions of Darren Thellen and Stephane Milhim to the Minutemen's 2009 season.

He also said there has been no decision yet on the return of the four players suspended because of a drug arrest.

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The Gridiron Power Index has Richmond remaining in the #1 spot and UMass is up to #11.

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Thanks to one of the UMass Football Blog's vast army of reporters sent me a link on James Ihedigbo's being ejected from last Sunday's game against Buffalo.

I can receive e-mail, but I can't send to thank him. Sending requires me to remember my fairpoint.net password and there are just to many in my memory right now.
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Tuesday before the Richmond Game 10/20/10

Well, after a struggle, I've got the wireless connection working. Good morning from Virginia Beach.

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Good news! Miles and Nelson will be available to play for the Richmond Game.

More from Matty Vautour on the return of Miles and Nelson.

Jonathan Hernandez was the CAA's Offensive Player-of-the-Week and Richmond's Derek Hatcher was the CAA's Special Teams Player-of-the-Week. Story here.

Coach Morris' weekly CAA teleconference transcription here.

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The New Hampshire win bought UMass up to the 14th to 16th slots in various polls.

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Dave Coulson reviews last Saturday's FCS action.

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Keepers College Football Ratings has the Spiders by 3.59 over the Minutemen.

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Now that I have a working internet connection, I'll try to post a web album of Saturday's big win over UNH this evening or by tomorrow morning.

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Monday before the Richmond Game--10/19/09

Good Morning from Fredericksburg, VA. Today Mrs Blog and I will finish our trip down to Virginia Beach. The wireless connection here at the motel is running around 10%, so this morning's blog may be abbreviated.

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The Boston Herald says the Minutemen are walking on air after the UNH win.

Foster's Daily Democrat says the Wildcats look to rebound.

Matty Vautour has three stars against UNH. Honored were Jonathan Hernandez, Eric Dickson and Armando Cuko.

Kudos also from the Blog to Kumar Davis and Stephine Milhim who also played well filling in for injured starters.

He also says defense and heart was the difference against the Wildcats.

The Springfield Republican looks at the UMass injuries.

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Six Top-25 FCS teams lost Saturday.

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Blog News----Road Trip part III

Mrs Blog and I will be spending a week in Virginia Beach prior to taking in the Spiders-UMass game in Richmond.

As always, I will try to update the Blog if I have an Internet connection. I'll post a UNH game album hopefully this evening.

Hope everyone has a nice Sunday.

The Day after the UNH Game--10/18/09

The Boston Herald says Hernandez led the way.

Seacoast Online said UMass hands UNH their first loss.

Concord Monitor said no Mass appeal.

The Springfield Republican said it was a thriller. Ron Chimelis has an article on how UMass overcame a bunch of injuries.

Matty Vautour says UMass held on.

UMass Athletic Dept write-up with notes, quotes and video here.

New Hampshire write-up here.

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All of Saturday's CAA game news here. Maine led at the half, but Richmond scored four straight TD's in the second half to beat the Black Bears 38-21.

David Coulson of the The Sports Network covers the Villanova-JMU game.

Albany set a conference record with a win over Bryant.

Stony Brook beat VMI

Kansas State crushed Texas A&M 62-14.

Six ranked FCS teams lost yesterday.

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We've waited 24 years for a 4-game win streak

Nice job on that sack, Big Mo (Muhammad Wilkerson).

By Mike Gibson
The year was 1985.
The top-rated television program was "The Cosby Show."
A gallon of gas was 69 cents.
The No. 1 song in the country on Oct. 17 was by a group from Norway, Ah-a, "Take on Me."
That day, the Temple University football team was coming off its fourth win in a row, a 45-16 thumping of William and Mary. That was after wins on the road against East Carolina (21-7) and Cincinnati (28-16) and a 14-13 win at home against Rutgers.
Temple has not won four straight.
Until now.
I was struck by something Al Golden said before all this winning stuff started happening four weeks ago.
"Once we start winning, it's going to continue for a long time," Golden said. "That's the way this thing is built."
It was a telling quote and an unforgettable one.
Four straight wins have now followed and this latest one probably is the most impressive from where I stand.
I'm getting used to this winning, but it doesn't mean I'm taking it for granted.
I saw a couple of people leaving on Saturday and I mentioned to my friend, "I'm not leaving early. I want to go over and sing the fight song with the team. I want to savor every last drop of this."

"Once we start winning, it's going to continue for a long time. That's the way this thing is built."

He understood where I was coming from.
I tasted the sewer water of losing for too long. Now I want to taste the sweet nectar of winning.
If Golden is right, and I have no reason to doubt him, I'm going to be hanging around for a lot of fight songs and I can't think of anything better.
Saturday Temple beat an Army team that beat an SEC team, Vanderbilt, last week.
Army is very well-coached by Rich Ellerson (although you couldn't tell it at times on Saturday) and the Cadets are going to beat a lot of teams.
In fact, I would not be surprised if the Cadets don't beat Rutgers at beautiful Michie Stadium on Friday night because they play a style of defense that all teams should play.
Blitz, blitz and more blitz.
They put eight in the box and they come after the quarterback, hoping the reward (turnovers) outweighs any risk.
I can't see Rutgers' quarterback Tom Savage, a true freshman, thriving against that defense at all.
I like the philosophy and the scheme.
I also like the fact that these wonderful kids who play football for Temple University perserved against it.
Was it a masterpiece?
No.

Post of The Week
Occassionally, we will see a post that blows us over with its logic and perception and we'll use it here. I found this one under a "Matt Rhule" thread on Owlscoop.com and I'm using it in its entirety.
First off, absolutely thrilled we won again. I have never seen 4 straight wins as a Temple fan, at least any that I can remember.
That said, Im going to temper my complaints and hope the future doesn't place so much pressure on our defense. I do not understand our offensive philosophy, if we even have one. I havent identified it other than we are absolutely terrific on short yardage. How many times have we seen Temple stalled on 4th and one/goal in our lifetimes. Not this year.

But what is up with the passing attack? There are simply too many athletes on this team to have such an anemic aerial attack. Particularly our 2nd half offense. Army thought so much of it they went for it on 4th and inches from their 25w 9 mins left? Wow, insanity imo.

I went back and looked at the drive chart. Temple didnt complete a single pass on 1st down yesterday. Why cant we incorporate more simple passes like slip screens and outs? Once again, we threw two deep balls, one was caught for a touchdown and one was missed for a wide open touchdown. Maybe a couple sacks were intended to be deep balls?

I also noticed there were at least two occassions when James Nixon was in single coverage and Army called a timeout. Teams fear that guy but guess how many balls he caught yesterday? Im also happy to see our RS'd highly touted WR recruit Vaughn Carraway makes such an excellent decoy. Maybe Rhule has a thing about two guys with the same name handling the ball. I'd sure hate to see this wonderful season derailed...

Go Owls
MH55

The Owls have to get better on offense. They have to get better protection for Vaughn Charlton. They have to have somebody (whether it be Joey Jones, Lamar McPherson, Kee-ayre Griffin or even Ahkeem Smith) step up and do a reasonable impersonation of Bernard Pierce for a game or two.
They have to get a clutch player like Jason Harper more involved and team leaders like him and Steve Manieri are going to have to keep making great plays like they did on Saturday. (Man, I was sooooooo happy to see Jason Harper reach the end zone for the first of what I hope is many times this season.)
Still, they can't be leaving plays on the field like they have been during this four-game winning streak.
They get so few opportunities to make plays, they've got to cash in when they have them. They can't be dropping long bombs from Chester Stewart or Vaughn Charlton anymore.
The Owls are coming up against a stretch of teams with quarterbacks, like Aaron Opelt of Toledo, who can make plays and put up a whole lot of points.
They are going to get into a track meet (think EMU last year) with one of these teams and the offense must be ready to win a game or two, like the defense has won these last four.
Nobody knows that more than Al Golden and company so while you and I can just hope the offense comes around, that'll be the focus this week. Tinkering with these great weapons, putting the gunpowder in and fiddling with the trigger.
It's a process, Golden likes to say, and it's all about getting better every day and having fun, too.
Like Wayne Hardin used to say, the only way to have fun in football is to win.
I'm having fun right now. It looked like the kids on the field were having fun, too.
I don't know where this road leads, but let's concentrate on both enjoying the journey and getting better every step of the way.
The quality of the journey is directly correlated to the getting better.

Redemption! UMass 23-17!

Wow, what a game! UMass, missing a ton of starters, beat the #4 team in a pulsating game under the lights at McGuirk.

The UMass defense was immense. They kept pounding on Tolman and he finally threw the deciding interception. The defense also shut down the Wildcat rushing attack.

Even the first UNH score was close. Two UMass defenders went for the interception and it went right through their hands. After that, the UMass defense battled UNH on every play.

With Tony Nelson out again, Jonathan Hernandez was a step away during the first half of breaking a long run. Finally he dominated in the fourth quarter. Hernandez was named the winer of the Bill Knight MVP Trophy.

A great, gutsy win by a depleted UMass squad.

Go UMass!

Game Day New Hampshire--10/17/09

The Boston Globe says Zero Hour is upon the Minutemen.

The Springfield Republican says UMass sorely needs a victory today.

The Laconia Citizen says UNH is geared up for a clash with the Minutemen.

Matty Vautour has a game-day preview of the game here. He also looks at the expanded role of Soph. H-back Emile Igwenagu .

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Remember the game is on Comcast Sports New England if you want to set your DVR.

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David Coulson has a full column on the competition to host the National Championship game. The better the venue, the better it will be for Division.

It would be wonderful if the National Championship game picked up a corporate sponsor. That would the cash-strapped FCS some money to compete for in addition to the glory.

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The CAA game day page is here. The page has media links and information about all of today's CAA games.

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The weather looks to be cloudy with temperatures in the high 40's for game time.

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Go UMass!

Friday before the UNH Game--10/19/09

It is snowing briskly here in Jaffrey, NH.

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From the UMass Website:

"The new video scoreboard will not be installed at McGuirk Stadium in time for this Saturday's football game as originally planned. The production has been delayed. Look for it to be installed in the coming weeks. The athletic department apologizes it will not be ready for Homecoming."

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Ron Chimelis ruminates on the return of the Foolish Four.

The Boston Herald says UMass hopes to be in Cruz control.

Matty Vautour says it's a must win game.

Matty also says the starting UMass MLB Kurt Filler is gone for the season with a torn ACL suffered during the game with Stony Brook.

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Four articles from the New Hampshire perspective here and here and here and here.

Roger Brown of the New Hampshire Football Report picks the UMass-UNH game.

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

The revised Payton Watch and Buchanan Award watch list have been posted.

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Josh Buchanan has a mid-season FCS awards story with two UMass players on the first team.

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CSN's Terrance Thomas has his week "CAA Today" column entitled "Road Warriors".

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The word for Saturday: DEE-FENSE!

It's Homecoming, so weather be damned, show up and cheer.

Good for football, bad for tailgating.

By Mike Gibson
You can use a couple of words to describe Saturday.
Homecoming is one of them.
Luck is another one, as in bad luck because the Owls drew the short straw from the weatherman for their Homecoming Day game.
Rain and cold come to mind.
So does mud, if it rains enough.
So does the under, as in over/under, which is 39.
So while all of those words are descriptive ones, defense is the operative word on Saturday.

My 5 plays against an 8-man front guaranteed to move the ball:
1. Bernard Pierce left, right and up the middle _ Not on every down, mind you. If it's not working on first down, pass on second. Don't put yourself and 3d and longs.
2. The Chester Stewart Throwback Pass _ When Chester Stewart comes into the game, use his specialized talent to throw the ball deep to James Nixon, suckering that 8-man front up to him and leaving Nixon 40 yards open behind the defense.
3. Five, not one, cracks at Nixon _ All on play-action, all after significant gains by Bernard Pierce. That's when you sell play-action, not on 3d and longs. Throwing the deep ball only once a game to Nixon is borderline criminal. He's good for at least two touchdowns a game if you throw him 3 to 5 deep balls.
4. The jump pass to the tight end _ It works near the goal line, ala Chester Stewart to Steve Manieri last season at Miami. Fake to Pierce, jump pass to an open Manieri or an open Evan Rodriguez.
5. Screen passes to third-down back Kee-Ayre Griffin _ Give KAG some room to roam against the Army secondary and loosen up that eight-man front from time to time.

Defense, as in DEE-FENSE.
Both Army and Temple have good defenses and the one that dominates on Saturday will win the game.
Whatever advantage the Owls have with speed on the edges (James Nixon and Jason Harper in the passing game and Bernard Pierce in the running game) figures to be negated by the cold, windy and muddy conditions.
The latest forecast is for a high of 47 degrees with wind and light rain.
If the rain is light enough, then maybe the field conditions will be acceptable.
Maybe Bernard Pierce will finally be able to break that long run and show that world class speed of his in the 100-meter dash.
Whatever, I don't see the two teams combining for 39 points and I don't see anything outside of a 13-6, 14-7, 17-7 game.
I hope I'm wrong and the Owls break out and Vaughn Charlton finally hits more than his seemingly self-imposed quota of connecting on only one long bomb a game.
I hope the Owls win 44-11, but I don't see it.
This is one of those strap-it-in-games, with a high emphasis on ball security and good execution on things like punt protection that come as second nature to 99 percent of the Division I teams out there.
One external thing that would help the Owls is a whole bunch of their fans participating and yelling DEE-FENSE, DEE-FENSE, for a full three hours in real time.
That's the catchword for Saturday.
If you are a Temple fan and you sit on your hands and stay silent, you give away the homefield advantage and that might be the difference in the game. At the end of the year, if the Owls are at six wins and lose this game, this will be the difference between a bowl or no bowl so let's do all we can to win this one.
That means players, coaches AND fans.
Don't be afraid to get up and yell DEE-FENSE all day.
Unless Bernard Pierce and or Vaughn Charlton have the ball, of course.

Recruiting 2010- Brian Lucas

UMass is interested in Brian Lucas a 6-0 215 pd RB from Damascus, MD.

His Rivals page is here.

Lucas also has his own recruiting site here.

This article from 2008 features him.

Lucas has offers from Army and Monmouth. Drawing interest form Bryan, Cornell, Villanova and Virginia.

Image by Rivals.com

Thursday before the UNH Game--10/15/09

UMass reinstates the Foolish Four. Springfield Republican article here. Matty Vautour has more here.

Returning are Mike Mele, Bob McLaughlin, James Carven and starting Free Safety Shane Viveiros .

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UMass has its game notes for the UNH game here (html) and here (pdf)

New Hampshire has its game notes here (html) and here (pdf)

Note that the game will be available on CSNE

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The Daily Collegian says UMass hopes to make it four straight at home.

Roger Brown of the New Hampshire Football report says UNH QB R.J. Tolman is hurting. Tolman's Wilcat bio here.

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At least four cities have submitted bids for the FCS National Championship game in 2010. In the running are Fresno, TX, Missoula Montana, Spokane, WA and Little Rock, AK. Dallas News story about Fresno, TX bid here.

Chattanogna, TN is bidding to retain the game as well.
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Recruiting 2010-- Antoine Tharpe

UMass has offered a scholarship to Antoine Tharpe a 5-11 175 pd DB from Coral Springs, FL.

His Rivals page is here.

Nine minutes of highlights here.

This article mentions him.

Tharpe also has offers from Memphis, Illinois State and Tennessee State. Drawing interest from Florida State, Miami of Florida, Mississippi and UCF.

Wednesday before the UNH Game--10/14/09

The Springfield Repbulican says the loss to Delaware cost the Minutemen six spots in the latest polls.

David Coulson in his "Around FCS" column called it an upset weekend.

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The CAA has its weekly press release up with stats, notes and and other league news.

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Keepers College Football rankings has UMass at #12.

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Combined record of UMass' remaining opponents in 2009: 18-15

• 5-0 UNH
• 5-0 @Richmond
• 3-3 @Maine
• 0-6 Northeastern
• 2-3 JMU
• 3-3 @Hofstra

To make the playoffs, UMass will need to go 5-1 against these teams, which means beating at least one undefeated squad...

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Temple's offense runs on BP (Bernard Pierce)

Dickerson's high school film (above) and Pierce's high school film (below).

Pierce is a guy who was Pennsylvania state high school indoor champion in the 60-meter dash and then pulled the impressive double of of winning the state 100-meter dash ... that translates to one juke and plenty of 40-, 50- and 70-yard touchdown runs coming soon to a stadium near you

By Mike Gibson
As if Temple's football team didn't present the Mid-American Conference with enough problems early in the season, the league has looked up and found another unforseen one coming from Philadelphia.
Bernard Pierce, a 6-foot, 212-pound true freshman, has done something no other running back in the history of Temple football has done _ rush for over 100 yards in each of his first three full starts.
Before you dismiss that as a byproduct of history, that includes a Heisman Trophy runner-up in Paul Palmer, who was also an NFL first-round draft choice.
It includes a guy like Todd McNair, a pretty good running back in the NFL who is now an assistant coach at Southern Cal.
It includes a guy named Sherman Myers, from Coatesville, who scored four touchdowns on on the ground in a 1979 Temple 49-17 rout of Syracuse.
It also includes recent NFLers like Stacey Mack and Jason McKie.
There are plenty of good running backs who have played at the school.
None did what Bernard Pierce has done.
But then again none may be as good when all is said and done.
Pierce is a guy who was Pennsylvania state high school indoor champion in the 60-meter dash and then pulled the impressive double of of winning the state 100-meter dash in the spring season.That's scary enough against track guys.
Against football guys, it translates to one juke and plenty of 40-, 50- and 70-yard touchdown runs coming soon to a stadium near you.
"We thought he could be special," is the way Temple coach Al Golden describes it.
The Temple student rooting section, which sometimes numbers in the 10s of thousands, has taken to Pierce already.
"SAINT BERN-ARD," the students chant in unison.
So the inevitable question arises.
"Who does he remind you of?"
Not really any of the Temple backs, I thought.
Well, he really doesn't remind me all that much of Paul Palmer. Paul could break tackles, sure, but not as well as Bernard. What Bernard doesn't do as well as Paul is to make tacklers miss, with a little juke here and a jibe thbere, but it's still early.
Hmm. Who?
People who watched Temple practice in the summer came up with one name.
Eric Dickerson.
It's what I thought when I saw Pierce for the first time in the Villanova game.
Dickerson was the kind of guy who would approach the hole, take about a half-second to mull his options against the defense, then attack the weakest part of it.
So, I thought, that pretty much was Pierce, a modern-day Eric Dickerson.
I thought me and the other Temple fans were the only ones who thought that until I heard the Buffalo announcers.
"He kind of reminds you of Eric Dickerson," one of them said during the Owls' 37-13 win three weeks ago.
Then the Eastern Michigan announcer said the same thing.
"He runs like Eric Dickerson," he said.
That's all I needed to know.
We're all in agreement then.
There is a new Eric Dickerson and he runs the football for Temple University.
That has a nice ring (and a lot of truth) to it.

Web album for the Delaware Game

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

I don't suppose most UMass fans will want to be reminded of last Saturday's game against the Hens, but I do have a web gallery of images here.

If you've never been to Newark, it will give you a feeling of the place. Note the Hens video scoreboard and the TWO artificial surface practice fields.

Tuesday before the UNH Game--10/13/09

Coach Morris says we did not "Come to Play" against Delaware.

A transcription of Coach Morris' CAA teleconference call.

Matty Vautour looks at the playoff contenders in the CAA.

After the Delaware loss, the Minutemen dropped to 19th and 20th in the major FCS polls.

The NCAA FCS playoff selection committee will again use the CSN Gridiron Power Index in their playoff selection calculations.

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UNH is riding high after beating Villanova last Saturday.

UNH's Terrance Klein was the CAA's defensive Player-of-the-Week.

The Wildcats got the Tolman to Sicko connection working.

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Keepers' College football rankings has UMass by 3 over New Hampshire.

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Misery-loves-company Dept: Boston College QB Dave Shinskie had the lowest efficiency rating (-22.20) in the last five years of college football against Virginia Tech.

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One of of the UMass football Blog's many reporters e-mailed me to say that Troy Offensive Coordinator Neil Brown's UMass connections received lots of mentions in last Saturday's televised win over Middle Tennessee State.

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Monday before the UNH game--10/12/09

UMass has added WBIX 1060 AM to the Minutemen radio network. WBIX website here.

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More from the Delaware side on the Hens win over UMass.

Matty Vautour picks three players who had good performances against Delaware: Victor Cruz, Tyler Holmes, and Emil Igwenagu.

He also looks at the road to the playoffs after the Delaware defeat.

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Starting a new week, Matty says that UNH will be a stiff challenge for the Minutemen.

UNH player Terrence Klein says that the Wildcats big win over Villanova won't matter if they lose to UMass

More on UNH's win here .

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All of Saturday's FCS scores here .

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One positive from the Delaware game was that the UMass defense played well in spurts. We had two take-aways in the first half, but the offense did not convert on either of them.

Then in the fourth quarter, UMass had three on-side kicks (the first almost worked, the other two were not close) giving the Hens excellent field position. The UMass defense only gave up two field goals.

From the UMass game notes:

"Armando Cuko kicked a career-long 51-yard field goal near the end of the first quarter. It was tied for third-longest in UMass history with Chris Koepplin (2007). The record of 52 is held by Denis Gagnon (1971) and Sandro Vitiello (1978). Cuko did attempt a 52-yarder in the second quarter, which came up short. "

It should also be noted that Cuko's kick was not wind aided. The streamers on the goalposts were not moving.

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I'll be back, maybe this evening, with a web gallery of images from the Delaware game.

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