It’s rare that a football team faces potential trap games in consecutive weeks, but that very well may be the case for the Massachusetts football team.
After watching his team come out flat in practice following an emotional win over Villanova on Oct. 25, UMass coach Mark Whipple gave his team a thorough tongue-lashing prior to facing intra-state rival Northeastern last Saturday, and then watched the Minutemen come back from a lackluster start to slip past the Huskies 28-24.
Now, with a colossal showdown at second-ranked Delaware on the docket for a week from Saturday, the Maroon and White (8-1 6-0 Atlantic 10) could be poised for yet another letdown when Richmond (2-6 1-5 A-10) invades McGuirk Alumni Stadium Saturday at noon.
However, Whipple has let his team know that with a win, the Minutemen will all but secure a birth in the Division I-AA Playoffs; he feels a new week has brought new emotion and life to his team.
“I’m more happy with the level of practice this week, because the emotion has been there,” Whipple said. “I told them that nine wins gets us a shot to play for a National Championship, and we need only look to last year to see that eight wins won’t get it done.
“If we have a letdown, then we’ll lose the game, or it’ll be right down to the wire. It’ll probably be right down the wire anyways.”
While the Spiders are considered one of the weaker teams in the A-10, they do have one of the leagues best playmakers in quarterback Bryson Spinner, a transfer from Virginia, who has rushed for 332 yards in Richmond’s spread offense, and has also thrown for over 200 yards in each of his last six games.
However, late word Wednesday morning out of Richmond has Spinner unable to play due to a rib injury sustained in the first quarter of a 42-13 loss to Villanova on Saturday. Ron Spinner, Bryson Spinner’s father, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that his son “has a terribly bruised rib area,” and that “chances are he won’t play Saturday.” Spinner did not practice with the team on Tuesday.
The Dispatch also reported that it is not known at this time whether Spinner will be available again this season – his only season of eligibility with the Spiders – and that sophomore Stacy Tutt, a receiver who started the last nine games of last season under center for RU, will get the call in his place.
“We haven’t looked into [Spinner not playing] that much because it just came up,” Whipple said. “Tutt is a really good athlete, so I don’t know if their game plan will change. And if their game plan doesn’t change then ours won’t either.
“We have to go back and look at when Tute played, and see what they do with him. But him and Spinner are so similar that it shouldn’t change much for them.”
Making the task of containing Spinner or Tutt even more daunting is the fact that the Minutemen will be playing without defensive lineman Doran Davis, who is out for the next two weeks with a high ankle sprain.
“We can’t afford to lose Doran, because he’s a great leader who’s having a super year,” Whipple said. “But if there’s one place we can afford to lose someone it’s on the defensive line. [Noseguard] Ian Dyche is close to being back, and we have six guys we can plug in up front to try and contain either of their mobile quarterbacks, because that will obviously be important.”
The talent on the offensive side of the ball, however, is mostly focused at receiver, where the Spiders boast one of the conferences best athletes in wide receiver Boyd Ouden, who has caught balls for yards and touchdowns on the season.
And as far as Whipple is concerned, with current Richmond boss and former UMass coach Jim Reid having adapted the Spiders’ offense from a traditional wishbone-style attack to more of a spread, Ouden becomes even more dangerous.
“They’ve always been a big play action team, and now they’ve gone to more spread and they’ve never done that,” Whipple said. “I think trying to get their athletes in space is scary because they make everybody miss and have really good skill.
“Ouden’s a guy who’s made plays for years, and he’s the one guy you try not to let get over the top and beat you. He’s really outstanding. He’s talented and fast – fast enough for all the crossing routes and play action that they do.”
The Minutemen, who have been susceptible to the pass at times this season, will also face a more daunting task in containing Ouden, as they could possibly be without top cover corner Steve Costello, who suffered an abdominal strain but could possibly play if needed.
Strong safety Anton McKenzie and cornerback Bobby Boyer may be able to return from a torn hamstring and a thigh contusion, respectively, to shore up what may be a depleted secondary, but Whipple has confidence in some of his younger players when and if they are forced into action.
“Shannon [James] has been out there, and Tracy Belton’s played pretty good,” he said. “Leroy Brooks has been out there too, and the one thing is that we’re probably a little better because Ryan McHugh did some good things last week at safety.”
“Hopefully Anton [McKenzie] can get some reps, and it’ll help if Bobby [Boyer’s] back because then we can hold Steve [Costello] out.”
On the offensive side of the ball for UMass, sophomore tailback and leading rusher Steve Baylark is banged up again, and may only see limited action, while junior Rich Demers is approaching 100 percent, and will likely share the bulk of the load with a healthy Raunny Rosario.
“Demers is better; Baylark didn’t practice [Tuesday]. He’s a slow starter, and it seems that the first carry every single game someone has twisted his knee or his ankle, Whipple said. “So Raunny [Rosario] has been better this week, so maybe we can plug him in place of Baylark.”
