Revenge

We all know what happened on Saturday – now it’s time to play spoiler.

This weekend, the Minutemen will face UNH and have the chance to put a serious damper on the Wildcats’ playoff hopes. UNH is coming off a loss to Villanova, and need one more win to reach the eight victories needed to qualify for the FCS playoffs.

These will be desperate Minutemen. Their playoff hopes are fading and their only chance to revive them will be a win over UNH.

UMass has losses to Texas Tech, James Madison and Richmond to go with the loss to Maine and will try to get back into the playoff discussion against the Wildcats.

The Minutemen defense had improved in recent weeks, but Maine rolled up 296 yards rushing on them, For its part, the Maine defense held Massachusetts to 311 yards of total offense. Not only that, but the Black Bears intercepted four Liam Coen passes in the game.

If nothing else, I hope UMass plays for pride this weekend and takes down their CAA rivals. The loss to Maine stings a little, but a win over UNH always takes the bite out of a tough loss.

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Hidden somewhere between the pages of UMass athletics – the men’s soccer team won the A-10 regular season title.

Granted, this is a far-off cry from last year’s Final Four run, but it’s still very impressive for the boys to win the conference after a slow start to the season.

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The UMass women’s basketball team pounded Bishop’s University in its exhibition game.

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A little late on this: Gary Forbes was drafted No. 4 overall by the Sioux City Skyforce of the NBA’s Development League.

This is the second time in two years we’ve had a played in the D-League – Stephane Lasme played there last year.

Choas

Sorry, I have to bail out on any kind of writeup on the Maine game because I’m literally getting destroyed at work – damn you journalism.

As always, you can check out the UMass Football Blog for all information regarding the Maroon and White.

Go UMass! BEAT MAINE!

Rammed

Pure and complete domination.

The UMass football team completely dismantled Rhode Island on Saturday and set itself up for a huge game against the Maine Black Bears.

I think Darren Rizzi, head coach of the Rams, said it best.

“They completely outcoached, outperformed and outprepared us today.”

UMass scored on seven of its nine possessions and looked more like that 2006 team than the 2008 squad that has seen its fair share of ups and downs. Liam Coen left his mark on his home state – he had more touchdowns (3) than incompletions (2).

UMass is now No. 10 in  FCS and is No. 100 overall according to Saragrin’s ratings.

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Aimee Bourassa, a former varsity swimmer at UMass, has been hired as the assistant coach for Bryant.

A 2006 graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Bourassa was an assistant swim coach for Binghamton University for the past two seasons. While with the Bearcats, she was responsible for preparing and implementing a rigorous distance training program, as well as assisting in all recruiting, fundraising and community service duties.

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Apparently we lost Chris Pizzotti, a quarterback recruit, to Harvard a ways back. He spoke to Scout about the recruiting process.

I wanted to go to an I-A school, but Harvard was the only Ivy League school I looked at. I was looking at schools like BC [Boston College], UConn, Syracuse and Duke. But when BC told me they weren’t going to offer me a scholarship, I decided that if I wasn’t going to go to BC, I was going to Harvard. I had a lot of offers from I-AA schools like Northeastern and UMass, as well as other schools in that conference. But it was either BC or Harvard.

Another option

The Rhode Island Rams have (finally) bailed on the option offense under new coach Dan Rizzi.

In the past, the Maroon and White had an answer for the trick-and-flick offense (save for monsoon-like conditions), and were able to roll past its southern rivals. This year, the Rams will go to the air in Kingston Town – however, I’m still not worried about a ‘ting.

Derek Cassidy is captaining the ship for URI and has more than 2,000 yards through the air and 15 touchdown passes. However, Cassidy doesn’t have laser-point accuracy and has tossed 12 interceptions in nine games.

Take note: All of last season, Cassidy had five touchdown passes and 1,025 yards.

Even though the scheme has changed, the results are about the same. The Rams are scoring just over 20 points per game, very similar to the option-earned 20.7 from last year. The yards per game are down almost 20 – this year URI is averaging a total of 326.3 ypg, last year they had 347.9.

Without captain Sean Smalls, the Minutemen are going to have to stand strong against URI’s plethora of average at receiver. The Rams have six players with more than 10 catches, and only Shawn Leonard has more than two touchdowns.

URI’s resume is weak – at best. The Rams barely beat Monmouth, a good NEC team, and beat up on in-state rival Brown. Other than that, the Rams have lost to everyone … including an absolute beatdown by Villanova on 10/18.

UMass, on the other hand, has to win the rest of its games to be considered for the FCS playoffs and is coming off a dominating victory over Bryant. To boot, senior Liam Coen is playing his last college game in his home state – you better believe he’s going to be ready.

My prediction:

• UMass – 28
• URI – 10

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Draft Express had a nice writeup on Stephane Lasme.

Just a month or so off being cut by the Miami Heat, Lasme has adapted himself superbly to European basketball thus far, allowing him to produce impressive numbers in nearly every statistical category, in both the Euroleague and Adriatic Leagues. Lasme has given Partizan a huge boost with his activity on the glass and defensively in the paint, as well as in running the floor in transition and being a terrific target to catch and finish passes around the rim. He’s drawing tons of fouls, making a huge impact as an offensive rebounder, and possibly most surprisingly, is showing a very advanced understanding of his team’s half-court offense with the way he’s moving the ball around the court intelligently.

This could be a very important season in Lasme’s development as a player, and he’ll surely learn quite a bit more playing twice a week against a high level of competition than he would have warming an NBA bench. If he continues to perform the way he has early on, he’ll have quite a few options for himself this summer.

Happy new year’s game

The FCS national championship is all but moved to January.

As mentioned earlier this week, the Championship Subdivision has been looking to move its championship game to the day before the BCS title game. The 2010 championship game will be played on Jan. 5, 2011, according to Trading Markets, via the Chattanooga Times.

“It has been approved at this point, it’s set, and what’s happening tomorrow is just the presentation of the updated proposal,” Leech said.

Beginning in 2010, the playoffs will expand from 16 to 20 teams and thus require an extra round of games. They will begin as they do now, a week after the regular season ends. The semifinals will be played on that third weekend in December and then the title game will be played between Dec. 29 and the BCS title game, depending on ESPN’s schedule, Leech said.

This is huge for the FCS, but I’m not sure how much it’s going to help individual teams. Sure, there will be more exposure ONE day a year, but that will not change the image of the subdivision when the national championship game is still played in front of relatively tame crowds in Tennessee.

It appears that the powers that be in Chattanooga aren’t too happy about the move.

For the Greater Chattanooga Sports and Events Committee, which coordinates the event, the primary issue with expansion was keeping the game and game-week activities from taking place right around Christmas, which would create staffing problems and likely affect ticket sales.

“The thing that we absolutely wanted to avoid (playing around Christmas), we avoided,” Sports Committee president Merrill Eckstein said. “One of the advantages would be a ‘National Championship Week,’ if ESPN promoted it that way. It could end up giving us a heck of a national TV audience and we could do well at the gate as well.

If it doesn’t work out in Chattanooga, I say move the game somewhere else. Obviously it’s going to have to be in the South or a dome – Georgia Dome, perhaps? That might be a bit excessive considering the record national championship attendance in Chatty hasn’t been more than 30,000… just a thought though.

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Rivals has Anthony Gurley as one of its top 10 transfers.

This athletic wing was the only Wake Forest player to transfer following the death of former Wake coach Skip Prosser in July 2007. Gurley chose to move close to his home in Boston. The former four-star recruit had scholarship offers from a number of ACC schools coming out of high school. He’ll add some scoring punch – he averaged 6.4 ppg in 14.5 mpg in his lone year at Wake – and new Minutemen coach Derek Kellogg already has said he expects him to be one of the top defenders in the nation.

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The Boston Herald had an article on the UMass hockey team.

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Gary Parrish wants UMass to lose in the 2K Sports Classic.

There is no guarantee the Blue Devils and Bruins will meet in the championship of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer, but it’s clearly the game that would be the most interesting. Nothing against UMass, Michigan or Southern Illinois, but I’m sure the folks at the Gazelle Group will appreciate it if those schools all play well but fail to advance to the title game. It’s Duke-UCLA or bust!

James a finalist

Shannon James is a finalist for a 2008 Gibson’s Finest Canadian Football League Player Award.

James is in the running for the most outstanding defensive player.

The versatile strong-side linebacker leads or is tied for the team lead in the following categories: Tackles (66), pass knockdowns (10), forced fumbles (four). He’s among the leaders with four tackles for a loss, eight special-team tackles and two sacks, and he also returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown.

The awards will be announced Nov. 20 – good luck Shannon!

You’re killing me Smalls

Sean Smalls is done for the season.

As reported my several media outlets yesterday, the Minutemen’s senior captain will see his college career end early with a cracked hip bone. Smalls reportedly hurt it on a punt return during the Bryant game.

From the Republican:

“That was disappointing, and disappointing for him as well,” UMass coach Don Brown said. “It doesn’t look good. Obviously it’s a crack in the hip bone so it doesn’t matter how big it is, it’s significant.”

The worst part: He got injured by a damn punter.

“On the punt return I was basically jogging in and the punter clipped my ankles and I just came down on [my hip] wrong,” Smalls said.

Oh, and not just any punter: this punter.

Damn you Brian Donnelly.

Honestly though, why the hell has Smalls been returning punts anyway? Smalls is only averaging about four yards a return and has a long of 14. Why couldn’t UMass have left this up to one of the offensive skills player – like say Victor Cruz.

Now we get to see some of the depth for the Maroon and White’s secondary.

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On other football news: Georgia State has purchased land for its practice facility. GSU is joining the Colonial Athletic Conference in 2010.

The foundation bought the land and a building on the site for about $6.6 million, officials said in a news release.

The athletic association plans to construct an artificial turf football field, a 50-yard grass football field and a coach’s office and locker room complex. An existing structure on the site will be incorporated into Georgia State’s plans, officials said.

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Marnie Dacko spoke at the Atlantic 10 media day, and I guess she has been working with men’s assistant Vance Walberg. It appears she might use his dribble-drive offense next season.

I’ve got to take advantage of his expertise, so I’ve been sitting in all of the men’s practices and learning from Vance. He’s made me a believer in the dribble-drive offense, so we’ll see what happens this year.

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La Salle coach John Giannini is comparing Mississippi transfer Vernon Goodridge to Stephane Lasme.

“He would rank with the best players that I’ve seen in the Atlantic 10. He reminds me of Stephane Lasme [Massachusetts] who was a great player or Pops Mensah-Bonsu [George Washington].”

Preseason players

The Atlantic 10 made its preseason picks, and UMass’ guards are getting the respect they deserve.

Chris Lowe is listed on the preseason First Team All-Atlantic 10 and Defensive teams. Ricky Harris was a Second Team All-Atlantic 10 pick.

The Minutemen are picked to finish sixth in the conference.

The scariest thing about this list is the All-Rookie team, which is essentially Xavier’s recruiting class. As if the Musketeers haven’t been good enough during the past five years, it appears our friends from Ohio are going to remain atop the A-10 for years to come.

The X-men are also picked to finish first in the A-10 this coming season.

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Speaking of UMass hoops, Jack Leaman is having his number retired at Boston University on Nov. 14.

Previously, only six men’s basketball jerseys – No. 4 (Kevin Thomas ‘56), No. 11 (Drederick Irving ‘88), No. 12 (Tunji Awojobi ‘97), No. 33 (Steve Wright ‘80), No. 44 (Arturo Brown ‘83) and No. 54 (Jim Hayes ‘70) – have been retired and placed up in the rafters of Case Gymnasium.

“I know that Jack would be so humbled to think that his college alma mater would feel that he was deserving of such a great honor,” said Rita Leaman. “I will be forever grateful to Boston University for this tribute to Jack.”

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According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the FCS National Championship game could be moved to the night before the BCS Championship.

That would be amazing exposure for the division. CAA Commish Tom Yeager thinks so, too.

“We think it’s going to present a fairly unique opportunity for us,” Yeager said. Athletic directors at schools that play CAA football and their coaches enthusiastically support the proposal, he added.

“This way, it’s going to replicate kind of a bowl experience,” Yeager said. The missing piece so far is a venue. Yeager said the NCAA would study warm-weather and indoor possibilities.

The Times-Dispatch is also reporting that VCU might add football in the future.

“I think it will be difficult for us not to have a serious discussion about it because of [the size of the university],” he said. “We’re not the VCU of 15 years ago, where you have a lot of commuters and a lot of people who are transient. This is a destination school.”

A-10 champs!

The UMass football team romped, but the biggest news of the weekend comes from the field hockey team.

The Minutewomen, who are now No. 17 in the nation, won the Atlantic 10 regular season title with a 2-1 victory over Temple. It’s UMass’ first outright title since 2001.

Justine Sowry continues to build a winner in Amherst – it’s amazing that this is only her second season at the helm.

Here’s the writeup from UMassAthletics.

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Stephane Lasme, who was waived by the Heat, is now playing overseas for Partizan Belgrade. He also helped his team beat KK Zagreb in overtime.

Zagreb fell behind in the extra period when Stephane Lasme made one of two at the stripe for a 92-91 lead.

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Zach Greene, a defender for the Haverhill soccer team, has his eye on UMass and wants to continue playing soccer in college.

I’m planning on going to college and am looking at Roger Williams and UMass Amherst. I’m thinking about studying construction management and architecture. I’d definitely like to continue playing soccer, too.

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Looks like Todd Bankhead, the quarterback for the 1998 National Champion football team, was at the Richmond game. His wife posted some photos on her blog.

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Brandon London had his first NFL catch for the Dolphins on Sunday.

Doggin’ it

Will this be the cure for the hangover?

A week after a demoralizing loss to Richmond, the Minutemen have a chance to recharge against a Bryant team that shouldn’t pose much of a threat. The Bulldogs are in their first year of Division I football and haven’t exactly been playing top-notch teams this season.

Bryant and UMass both enter the game with 4-3 records, but you can expect the Minutemen to have a chip on their shoulder after watching the Spiders break a 16-game home winning streak at McGuirk.

The Bulldogs have a pretty balanced offensive attack, averaging around 160 yards on the ground and through the air. Leading the charge will likely be Bryant’s two-headed running game – Jerell Smith and Lindsey Gambel – who have more than 1,000 yards rushing this season.

On defense, Bryant has had some trouble in the secondary. The Bulldogs are giving up more than 238 yards per game through the air – as opposed to the 102 per game on the ground. Tomorrow should be a good opportunity for Liam Coen to get out of his funk … if his recent rash of injuries allow it.

If all goes well, we should get a good look at Scott Woodward and maybe even next year’s backup. I’m rooting for Octavious Hawkins – a Florida product with good size and speed.

UMass is the biggest game on Bryant’s schedule this year, and Saturday should be a good learning experience for the Bulldogs. It’s also Band Day in Amherst, so the crowd will be big despite the not-so-flashy opponent.

Bryant coach Marty Fine may have said it best to the Providence Journal.

“This week, I think we’re overmatched.”

My prediction:

• UMass: 45
• Bryant: 14