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There were referees, screaming coaches, cameras and a semblance of fans in the stands. Yet, the Massachusetts football team’s spring football game on Saturday couldn’t substitute for the kickoff of a new season for the Minutemen, as UMass and UMass finished with a 0-0 ‘tie.’

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The team scrimmage, played between the white (offense) and maroon (defense) teams, placed the Minutemen in a number of game situations as the team wrapped up spring practice with a quasi-game, giving fans a glimpse of next season.

‘ For new UMass coach Kevin Morris and his players, though, the game presented a chance for members of the team to step up and show how far they have progressed over the off-season.

‘We’ve come a long way,’ quarterback Scott Woodward said. ‘At the beginning of the spring, we couldn’t line up, we couldn’t do anything right. Now we put it all together today and it came out pretty well.’

Morris praised the performances of redshirt freshman center Quentin Sales as well as All-American senior tackle Vladimir Ducasse. Middle linebacker Tyler Holmes also stood out for Morris, making up for the absence of senior linebacker Josh Jennings, who did not dress for the game.

The biggest performance of the day, though, came from redshirt junior wide receiver Aaron Fears, who scored two touchdowns from 17 and 19 yards out. He also recorded what ended up as the biggest play of the day, a 38-yard reception that kick-started an 80-yard scoring drive.

Jonathan Hernandez also had a big showing behind incumbent starting halfback Tony Nelson, accumulating 42 yards on four carries. Hernandez was also the beneficiary of solid run blocking from the first-team offensive line that features two freshmen and a first-year transfer.

Spring quarterback battle

With the departure of the school’s all-time leading passer Liam Coen, the Minutemen and Morris have a big decision on their plate for this off-season: Who will replace one of the greatest passers in the program’s history?

The daunting task is not lost in the team’s suitors for the position: Woodward, junior transfer Kyle Havens and redshirt sophomores Octavious Hawkins, Spencer Whipple and Scott Wallace are all contenders.

‘You can’t fill Liam [Coen]’s shoes,’ said Woodward, who has served as Coen’s backup over the last three seasons. ‘He’s the best quarterback who’s ever walked on this field, and all I can do is learn from the past three years from being his backup.’

‘It’s a huge void in leadership. But we have other seniors that are stepping up,’ Havens, a transfer from Diablo Valley College in California, said. ‘Whoever comes in, they’re not going to replace him. No one’s going to be Liam. We’re all different quarterbacks.’

Out of all of the potential candidates, Woodward has the most in-game experience. Over his three years as a backup, Woodward is 26-for-50 on passing attempts for 291 yards and two interceptions. The other candidates have combined for 2-for-4 passing for 28 yards, two catches for 26 yards and one tackle.

The catches and tackles come from Hawkins, the most athletic of the bunch as he has seen some playing time as wide receiver and on special teams. On Saturday, though, Hawkins showed off his arm rather than his legs, going 5-for-9 for 79 yards, a touchdown and an interception deep into the UMass secondary.

‘He had a real good pass for the touchdown, a solid scrimmage I thought. Without looking at the tape, that’s what I saw,’ Morris said.‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘

Havens had the most reps of any of the signal callers, going 4-for-11 for 63 yards. For Havens, the only newcomer in the midst of the quarterback battle, the focus is mostly on individual play and the hopes that the best quarterback will win.

‘I try not to think about it too much. I just go out and play the best that I can. There are four other great quarterbacks; they’re all good. So I’m just trying to do the best that I can and just see how it turns out,’ he said. ‘So whoever comes in, they’re going to have their own style, their own play and I think whoever the starter ends up being, it’ll work out fine.’

Whipple tallied two scores for the offense, one through the air and one on the ground, performing well when he was placed into a redzone situation. Wallace, meanwhile, capped off his day when he hooked up with a tight end in the corner of the endzone for his lone score of the day.

‘We’re really going to get a frontrunner in the fall,’ M
orris said of the QB situation. ‘This spring was about getting guys out there, letting them run around, get a feel for the offense, get a feel for leading the offense.

‘Liam Coen, over the last four years, he’s the only one who has led the offense. This wasn’t about trying to find the guy. This spring was about trying to let guys find themselves and find their role in the offense.’

Nick O’Malley can be reached at [email protected].