Sunday--October 23, 2011

If UNH is a playoff team, and they certainly seem to be, then UMass is very close to being one.

Although UMass lost its second straight to UNH in the Colonial Classic there were still some good things going on.

First the good: UMass's defense that looked over matched against ODU, continued its Renaissance. Despite the two turnovers early, the UMass defense was fully competitive with UNH's high-powered offense. The Wildcats average 34 points a game, 444 yards/ game offense and 294 yards/game passing.

The UMass defense held UNH to 27 points, 334 total yards and 137 yards passing. In addition, the blitzing UMass defenders pushed Decker out of the pocket numerous times forcing him to run with the ball.

The defensive performance was even more impressive since the Wildcats had a good day on kick returns and had very good field position all game.

Also impressive was the UMMB, who sparkled with the half-time performance of jazz standard "Big Noise from Winnetka". Great show.

It came down to UMass mistakes. UMass turned the ball over on our first two possessions. UMass missed two extra points, causing the Minutemen to be down two scores in the last five minutes. UNH hit a 47 yard field goal into the wind, made a two point conversion and hit all their extra points. We were not playoff caliber on special teams.

The UMass offense was inconsistent. The Minutemen moved the ball, but went three-and-out with the ball on the UNH 48 yard line in the third quarter.

With the defensive improvement, I still think UMass can make a run in the rest of the season.

BTW, the announced crowd was 24,000. The parking lots were packed. Did some people not come in for the game?  It certainly looked like there were more than 24,000 people there.

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Matty V indicates UMass couldn't complete the comeback. He also said missed extra points plagued the Minutemen.

Boston.com says UNH bid adieu with a win.

The Boston Herald said UMass couldn't catch the Cats.

The Worcester Telegram said UMass was derailed by a poor start.

Jeff Thomas reports that UMass fell to the Wildcats.

CBS3 has a story on UMass falling short.

Foster Daily Democrat asserts Dontra Peters and the Wildcat rushing game did it for UNH.

The Nashua Telegram relates UNH stopped UMass.

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Maine scored 23 points in the fourth quarter to keep their 2011 run going.

Rhode Island had been losing games by close scores all season. They finally unleashed their frustration on Delaware.

All the CAA results and box scores here.

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