UConn @ UMass Minutemen (Saturday 11/30/24 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium @Noon) Game on ESPN+. Audio on UConn Varsity Network & FOX Sports 97.9 F

[FfldCntyFan]

If you're going to do it, wouldn't you include the scores for every game to date?

Yeah, but then you have to pay an engraver, which would blow the entire budget.

 

[RSTuthill]

So they just created a trophy out of nowhere for a rivalry? Who does that?!?

People who wear red pants do that, don't they?

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Skiblets]

Far too many stats. Suggest he lock into the ones that matter

 

[huskymedic]

Far too many stats. Suggest he lock into the ones that matter

Feel feee to drop him a note

College Football Insiders

www.collegefootballinsiders.com

 

[freescooter]

Yeah, and (to show my age) a mood ring made more sense than pet rock.

Did it, though? Did it really?

 

[huskymedic]

Short but sweet - worth the listen to hear Mora's thoughts on "coming close"

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

nm

 

[UConn Dan]

UMass Scouting Report

View attachment 105000

We are 37-38-2 against UMass. They are one of our oldest rivals with the first matchup in 1897. They started the series 8-0 against us. Note their two wins this year came against FCS schools. Only one of those wins counts toward bowl eligibility.

Ratings:

Team	Massey	Sagarin	ESPN
UConn	97	96	81
Syracuse	51	53	60
UAB	118	119	117
UMass	133 (2nd to last place)	171	126
Georgia	3	4	5
Liberty	87	90	96

Rankings:

Stat	UConn	Syracuse	UMass	Liberty
Total Offense	71	13	106	17
Rushing	29	126	67	2
Passing	103	2	116	126
Total Defense	53	62	90	49
Rushing	41	84	117	70
Passing	77	44	24	30

Team Notes:
UMess fired their previous head coach, Don Brown, the week before their Georgia game, continuing their free fall into obscurity. OC Shane Montgomery was shoved into the unenviable task of steering the ship into oblivion.

The receiver that killed us last year, #8 ANTHONY SIMPSON, senior from Bloomfield, CT by way of Arizona, is no longer with the program. He was injured after game two and a couple weeks later entered the transfer portal. Has one more year of eligibility. Someone we should look at for next year.

This is senior day for UMass. 54 seniors will graduate from the team, though not without a bit of controversy.

Key Players Offense:

• QB #8 AJ HAIRSTON, true freshmen, 3-star. 2 GP: 20/36 for 225 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT.
• QB #5 ADMAD HASTON, RS FR, 3-star. 2 GP: 7/8 for 35 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT.
• RB #21 JALEN JOHN, RS JR, 3-star, Ariz transfer. 8 GP: 84 att, 398 yards, 3 TD
• RB #33 CJ HESTER, SO, 3-star, transfer from Western Michigan. 9 GP: 92 att, 407 yards, 2 TD
• RB #23 BRANDON CAMPBELL, RS JR, 4-star, transfer from Houston/USC. 8 GP: 59 att, 225 yards, 3 TD
• WR #11 JACOBY KEENIE-JAMES, grad transfer from FCS Eastern Washington. 11 GP: 78 Targ. 46 Rec. 802 Yards, 5 TD

Key Players Defense:

• DE #94 KOFI ASARE, RS SO. 10 GP: 16 Tack; 10 Hurr; 3 Sack; 15 Stop; 0 PBU; 0 INT
• LB #23 JALEN STEWARD, SR, JUCO transfer. 10 GP: 40 Tack; 5 Hurr; 4 Sack; 25 Stop; 1 PBU; 0 INT
• LB #22 GERREL JOHNSON, SR, 3-star. 10 GP: 39 Tack; 8 Hurr; 0 Sack; 17 Stop; 0 PBU; 0 INT
• LB #15 DERRION CRAIG, JR, 3-star. 8 GP: 25 Tack; 2 Hurr; 0 Sack; 17 Stop; 1 PBU; 0 INT
• DB #21 TE'RAI POWELL, SR, 3-star. 10 GP: 8 Tack; 0 Hurr; 0 Sack; 8 Stop; 0 PBU; 2 INT

Offense:

• The oline has one of the worst sack rates in the game (9.85%). It's no wonder that 1st string QB, #3 TAISUN PHOMMACHANH, was injured. The poor Connecticut native was sacked 24 times year in 7.5 games. Is the oline good/bad? Well they have size. The smallest member of the unit is RT #79 RYAN MOSESSO at 6'5", 290 lbs. They're pretty bad at pass blocking, average in run blocking.
• Ever since the injury to Taisun, UMass has used a two-QB system with Hairston and Haston. It's kinda confusing if you don't follow the team regularly. When Haston is in, they will run 80% of the time. With Hairston, it's like 60%. Either way, cheat, cheat run. Both QBs can and will run, especially Haston who seems allergic to throwing.
• This is a run heavy team, rushing 57% of the time, 40 rushes per game. UMass employs a RB by committee system and when QB Haston is behind center, it's almost a certainty that it's a run play.
• You'll see a lot of run reads, RPOs, and QB scrambles. Most of their runs will be between the tackles though.
• You'll also see a lot of inaccurate passes if they do throw and receivers dropping catchable balls.
• Their kicker, #29 JACOB LURIE, grad-transfer from Vandy, is only accurate to about 35 yards. So you'll see UMass going for 4th down a lot in that area of the field.

Defense:

• The passing yards per/game (23.2) and total passing yards stats (191.7) may suggest that UMass has an average to very good passing defense. This is a case where stats don't tell the whole story. Teams rush so much against UMass (60.36%) because the rush defense is not very good and because they want to drain the clock and end the game quicker.
• UMass employs a 4-3 base. It's a pretty vanilla defense. What you see if what you get with little disguise. You'll often see them stack the box against run heavy teams. Opposing teams still run against them in this setup. Georgia had 208 rush yards. Liberty had 309.
• Another passing defense anomaly: even though the DBs are weakest unit on defense, teams will still run on UMass.

Predictions:
It's clear that UMess is not very good this year. But it is a rivalry game and a senior day game for them. It looked like both Georgia and Liberty came out unprepared against what UMass is trying to do with the dual-QB attack. There should be enough film for the coaches to build a defensive game plan. I would stack the box and dare them to throw. On offense, it almost doesn't matter how we play. Just don't turn the ball over.

At the same time, part of me wonders if the Liberty/Georgia games are part of a 4D chess setup where they show one thing only to play completely different in the UConn game -- the only game they really care about. This is pretty much their superbowl. (Lots of paranoia among high school fb coaches which is obviously rubbing off on me.)

Well, as long as we play to our abilities and don't shoot ourselves in the foot, it should be an easy victory. 35-21 good guys.

Always appreciate your write-ups but I have an attention span of a 3 year old. I put your post into the ol' UConnDanGPT and got the below summary. Would you concur that about sums it up?

UConn vs. UMass Scouting Report Summary​

UConn faces longtime rival UMass, leading the series 37-38-2 since 1897. UMass, ranked near the bottom across major ratings, struggles with a run-heavy offense featuring a weak O-line and a two-QB system. Their defense is porous, particularly against the run, despite stacking the box. UMass has won only against FCS teams this year and enters senior day with little momentum. UConn’s strategy should focus on stopping the run and exploiting their weak pass defense. The game is pivotal for UMass but winnable for UConn if they avoid turnovers. Prediction: UConn wins 35-21.

 

[huskymedic]

Always appreciate your write-ups but I have an attention span of a 3 year old. I put your post into the ol' UConnDanGPT and got the below summary. Would you concur that about sums it up?

UConn vs. UMass Scouting Report Summary​

UConn faces longtime rival UMass, leading the series 37-38-2 since 1897. UMass, ranked near the bottom across major ratings, struggles with a run-heavy offense featuring a weak O-line and a two-QB system. Their defense is porous, particularly against the run, despite stacking the box. UMass has won only against FCS teams this year and enters senior day with little momentum. UConn’s strategy should focus on stopping the run and exploiting their weak pass defense. The game is pivotal for UMass but winnable for UConn if they avoid turnovers. Prediction: UConn wins 35-21.

Works for me …

 

[businesslawyer]

Always appreciate your write-ups but I have an attention span of a 3 year old. I put your post into the ol' UConnDanGPT and got the below summary. Would you concur that about sums it up?

UConn vs. UMass Scouting Report Summary​

UConn faces longtime rival UMass, leading the series 37-38-2 since 1897. UMass, ranked near the bottom across major ratings, struggles with a run-heavy offense featuring a weak O-line and a two-QB system. Their defense is porous, particularly against the run, despite stacking the box. UMass has won only against FCS teams this year and enters senior day with little momentum. UConn’s strategy should focus on stopping the run and exploiting their weak pass defense. The game is pivotal for UMass but winnable for UConn if they avoid turnovers. Prediction: UConn wins 35-21.

Pivotal to UMass? Where do they pivot to if they win?

 

[huskymedic]

-> But recent UConn players know UMass as the other independent FBS program in the area, and know losing to the Minutemen, as UConn did in 2021, would splatter paint all over a shiny 2024 season. The Huskies go to Amherst to play UMass on Saturday at noon.

“We definitely approach it like a rivalry,” said Lundt, who is finishing his sixth and final year at UConn. “They’re only an hour and a half up north, so we definitely take it like it’s a rivalry every time we’ve played them. For us, there is a lot more at stake, to get that eighth win, so we’re going to go back and treat it like they’re the best opponent on our schedule.” <-

-> “We feel like we came a long way from the start of the season,” said defensive back Jordan Wright. “We just want to finish strong, we don’t want to let everything we’ve worked for be squandered with the last game. It’s really important to the locals, and they’ve emphasized it. Guys from this surrounding area are telling us how important this game is, so we just want to give our all for them.” <-

 

[gopher2]

Their 2 QBs that replaced Puma are probably more effective than ours. Just sayin.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[RSTuthill]

UConn vs. UMass Scouting Report Summary
UConn faces longtime rival UMass, leading the series 37-38-2 since 1897. UMass, ranked near the bottom across major ratings, struggles with a run-heavy offense featuring a weak O-line and a two-QB system. Their defense is porous, particularly against the run, despite stacking the box. UMass has won only against FCS teams this year and enters senior day with little momentum. UConn’s strategy should focus on stopping the run and exploiting their weak pass defense. The game is pivotal for UMass but winnable for UConn if they avoid turnovers. Prediction: UConn wins 35-21.

It starts by saying that UConn is "leading the series 37-38-2 since 1897." Say what? And I can't help focusing on it's saying how poor the UMass run defense is "despite stacking the box" and then goes on to say that UConn should focus on exploiting their weak pass defense. So that is a bit of a disconnect. With UConn's QB's, why would they pass if the run is working well? Answer: to keep the secondary honest and nothing else as long as the run is working. Guessing no more that 15 pass attempts.

I like what UConn Dan said better. "On offense, it almost doesn't matter how we play. Just don't turn the ball over."

 

[huskymedic]

Short but sweet - worth the listen to hear Mora's thoughts on "coming close"

Besides Coach Mora there are interview within from WR Skyler Bell, OL Chase Lundt, LB Jayden McDonald and DB Jordan Wright.

UConn Football Media Availability 11/26

Coach Jim Mora, WR Skyler Bell, LB Jayden McDonald, DB Jordan Wright and OL Chase Lundt spoke to the media following Tuesday's practice.

storrscentral.com

 

[RSTuthill]

Their 2 QBs that replaced Puma are probably more effective than ours. Just sayin.

In what way? They do not pass much and their pass protection is weak. So are the QB's a run threat?

 

[Hskies4Ever]

So they just created a trophy out of nowhere for a rivalry? Who does that?!?

Literally every rivalry trophy was “made out of nowhere for the rivalry.”

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

Ummmm… “the gift that keeps on giving”??