It must be difficult knowing that there’s no hope of reaching the playoffs well before the regular season begins.
The Massachusetts football team found itself in this challenging situation when it was deemed ineligible for the Colonial Athletic Association playoffs after announcing its entrance into the Mid-American Conference beginning next year.
Despite the displeasing news, the Minutemen plan on maintaining focus on their goal for this year, which is to finish atop the CAA standings.
“We want to [win the CAA] for the seniors, being their last year, not being able to transition into the MAC and play against those schools and everything, we definitely want to go out on the right foot,” said senior receiver Julian Talley in an ABC 40 interview.
The quest began on Sept. 1, when UMass traveled to Worcester, Mass. to play the first-ever night game at Holy Cross. The Minutemen came up victorious, 24-16.
It was the second consecutive year that UMass defeated the non-conference Crusaders, as they won 31-7 in 2010 behind key contributions from this year’s senior class. Talley caught five passes for 64 yards, tailback Jon Hernandez rushed for 73 yards and linebacker Tyler Holmes had an interception and a team-leading seven tackles.
UMass coach Kevin Morris believes that those types of game-changing individual performances will be plentiful throughout the year as he looks to his senior class to lead by example.
“It’s going to be an exciting brand of football, guys are really geared up to play,” said Morris in a UMass Athletics interview. “Tyler Holmes is the highlight name on defense, he’s a two-time All American. We have a new defense with the 3-4 scheme going now so it’s going to be very blitz-oriented and pressure-packed in terms of stopping the run and getting to the quarterback. We have great speed on defense and we’re playing very well this preseason.
“We were young last year on defense but now were young again but with experience,” added Morris. “I’m real excited about their progress through the preseason as well as through the spring so I think they’re taking strides and now it’s time to play like veterans.”
On the offensive side of the ball, fans can expect to see more of the same from seniors Hernandez, Talley and tight end Emil Igwenagu. Much of the preseason focus was on the battle for the starting quarterback position, which included underclassmen Kellen Pagel and Brandon Hill.
The Minutemen will play their home and conference opener on Sept. 17, when they host Rhode Island in a game slated for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff.
The Rams represent a sour memory for UMass, as last year’s meeting ended in a 37-34 defeat for the Minutemen which halted their playoff chances.
As well as avenging the loss, Morris expects the stadium will be packed for the home-opener.
“We’re expecting a packed house to root the guys on and the guys have worked hard enough to deserve that but they also feed off that,” said Morris.
It’s impossible to gauge how many UMass students and locals will attend the games this year given the non-existent state of the playoffs. But nothing has changed for the Minutemen as they still plan on winning, a mindset created by the strong-willed seniors.
“Our senior leadership has done a great job,” said Morris “We’ve had a great camp so far, the seniors have done a great job keeping the young guys focused. [Everybody’s] really focused on 2011 and getting the CAA done.”
Steve Levine can be reached at [email protected].
