A football season is more of a marathon than a sprint. A matter of survival, it is almost primal in nature as it tests a team’s ability to persevere over the course of time.
Because of this, “one game does not a season make” has become an increasingly popular sports adage among coaches wishing to downplay the significance of any single contest.
However, in more cases than not, there is one game that defines a team; a game that serves as a turning point in the road each team begins on, yet only few will travel until its end. One game that, if won, can propel a team to greatness and allow it to reach the goals it so desperately hopes to attain and, if lost, can ruin the hard work and sacrifices of so many.
For the Massachusetts football team, that game is Saturday. With unblemished conference records and Top 5 national rankings on the line, the No. 5 Minutemen (6-1 4-0 Atlantic 10) will travel to Philadelphia to battle the No. 2 Villanova Wildcats (6-0 4-0 A-10) for a continued share of first place in the A-10, in a place where they haven’t won since 1962.
“This is obviously as big as they come at this point in the season,” coach Mark Whipple said. “Every player on this team knows how big this game is, and how important it is for us, and they’re going to be ready to play, because we’re going to have to go out there and play as well as we can on the football field.
“[The fact that we haven’t won at Villanova] in so long isn’t going to be a factor,” he added. “This game is about our current team and theirs; history has nothing to do with it. We just need to go out and play our best as a football team, and whatever’s happened in the past won’t matter.”
What will matter for UMass is finding a way to stop ‘Nova quarterback Joe Casamento, who is having a brilliant season in his first as a starter.
Filling rather large shoes in taking over for the graduated Brett Gordon, Casamento has completed 143-of-191 passes for 1,481 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The sophomore has also complemented his gaudy passing numbers with 155 yards and four TD’s on the ground, including the game-winning one-yard plunge with under a minute to go in the Wildcats last game – a 21-17 victory over URI in which the signal caller completed a 23-yard pass on 4th-and-17 to set up his winning score.
“He’s a good quarterback and a good football player in their system,” Whipple said. “He does a very good job of running their offense and creating chances for them to score, and he’s going to be someone we need to contain.”
One of the major reasons behind Casamento’s success has been the plethora of talent around him on offense. The ‘Cats boast six different players who have all caught at least 10 balls, including three – sophomore receiver J.J. Outlaw as well as junior fullback Phil DiGiacomo and junior reciever Noble Champen – who have caught over 30.
Villanova’s wide array of firepower does not stop there, as the ‘Cats employ a two-headed rushing attack of sophomore Martin Gibson and junior Terry Butler that has netted them 814 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground this season, including an average of 199.5 yards per game.
“They have a lot of talented players that can do a lot of things for them offensively,” Whipple said. “It’s on us to go out there and stop them.”
Defensively, the Wildcats are spearheaded by sophomore middle linebacker Brian Hulea, who leads the team with 77 tackles, including more solo stops (52) than ‘Nova’s second-most prolific tackler, freshman strong safety Allyn Bacchus, has total tackles.
Fellow safety Raymond Ventrone is third on the team with 49 tackles, while veteran cornerbacks senior Clarence Curry and junior Jeremy Morgan give the ‘Cats a season, experienced secondary.
Junior defensive end Jamil Butler is the leader up front, recording 26 tackles and 2 sacks, including six tackles for a loss.
For the Minutemen, Whipple plans on starting tailback Steve Baylark being able to return from a high-ankle sprain that kept him out of all but one play of UMass 27-22 win over Hofstra. The sophomore rookie who has rushed for 638 yards and seven touchdowns will split carries with Rich Demers, who has carried 66 times for 402 yards and four scores on the year, while sophomore Raunny Rosario will be in uniform for the second straight week, and could see some action if needed.
In other injury news, leading receiver Jason Peebler should be out again after practicing only sparingly on an injured hamstring. Junior Dominique Stewart, who has caught a touchdown in each of the last two games, will start in his place.
Defensively, freshman and Amherst Regional product James Ihedigbo will again get the nod as the starting free safety, as sophomore Shannon James will again slide over to cornerback in place of the injured Bobby Boyer.
