UCONN vs UMASS @ Gillette Stadium 2016

[Adios]

I am surprised Molnar is still alive.

 

[DrG]

I am surprised Molnar is still alive.

Supposedly Molnar is going to the University of Idaho (another 1-11 team) as wide receivers coach, although I have not seen any official confirmation. If true, good luck to them.

 

[UMass]

Supposedly Molnar is going to the University of Idaho (another 1-11 team) as wide receivers coach, although I have not seen any official confirmation. If true, good luck to them.

Not quite far enough away for my liking, but it's a start. He's toxic!

 

[uconndogs]

I think playing UMASS is fine. UCONN needs to be absolutely dominant so there is no question with regards to program superiority. The 2012 game when they failed to get the ball past their own 40 was fine......and we were coached by Moe, Larry and Curley.

 

[UMass]

I think playing UMASS is fine. UCONN needs to be absolutely dominant so there is no question with regards to program superiority. The 2012 game when they failed to get the ball past their own 40 was fine.and we were coached by Moe, Larry and Curley.

That was a dominant performance, I will give you that. But a few points I want to make for UMass. We had a kid recruited to play 1AA ball in his first ever start at QB. You guys had a defense that year with what, 4 or 5 guys headed to the NFL? The "deer in the headlight" look was going on all night. I was at that game and I thought our defense was adequate. UMass defense only gave up 23 points and they were on the field ALL night.

And by the way...we were coached by a staff that made your look like they came from the Mike Holmgren coaching tree

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

That was a dominant performance, I will give you that. But a few points I want to make for UMass. We had a kid recruited to play 1AA ball in his first ever start at QB. You guys had a defense that year with what, 4 or 5 guys headed to the NFL? The "deer in the headlight" look was going on all night. I was at that game and I thought our defense was adequate. UMass defense only gave up 23 points and they were on the field ALL night.

Despite the dominant defensive performance that night, I remember thinking we were in trouble. Our OL could not control the LOS. We call that being "PGDL'ed".

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Don't expect free beer from the Krafts.

Knowing the Krafts, he will sign a contract for UConn to play at Gillette why behind our backs, be negotiating for BC to play instead.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Um, did you look at UMass's attendance last year? Their largest home crowd was 21,000, and they averaged around 14,500. They had 2 games at 10,000 and 10,500 and were on the verge of D1A probation for failing to meet attendance requirements. How many UConn fans do you think are travelling to a lousy game? And even if its 10,000, a number I think is pretty generous, remember that this is football and this game will be played at a 70,000 seat venue.

No need exists to look at UMess' poor 2013 attendance nor what they'll likely experience in 2014, I simply respectfully disagree with an unenthusiastic viewpoint. When the game comes around in 2016, one option is to simply observe the actual attendance. Past facts don't need to be ignored to anticipate higher than 5K UCONN attendance locally, from CT, and elsewhere nor even 20K total attendance.

However, UMess was not on the verge of 1A probation for failing to meet attendance requirements. Those purported attendance requirements #s have not been enforced by the NCAA for any school to date. Perhaps they will at some future point, but facts are facts to date. We can agree to disagree, and time will tell. JC to Ken Krayeske, ...

 

[Adios]

One interesting thing I learned today, the UMass we knew is now known as UMass-Amherst. UMass-Lowell is aiming high. Another SUNY-Stony Brook in the making? Stony Brook is in the AAU. And so is SUNY-Buffalo.

 

[HartfordHank]

One interesting thing I learned today, the UMass we knew is now known as UMass-Amherst. UMass-Lowell is aiming high. Another SUNY-Stony Brook in the making? Stony Brook is in the AAU. And so is SUNY-Buffalo.

You also have UMass Boston and UMass Dartmouth. UMass Lowell is the only other playing any D1 sports, hockey.

You also have another grouping of schools like Worcester State, Fitchburg State, and Framingham State among others.

 

[Dooley]

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with those of you that don't like the idea of this game. You make very valid points and I completely understand. But I tend to agree with the folks that think it is better than you guys playing Buffalo or W. Michigan. I know from a UMass standpoint this will be a big game and I'm thinking (hoping) that UMass fans will surprise you guys with the turnout. We'll probably get a glimpse of this when we see the UMass turnout against BC this year. Last year we averaged about 15,600 (stop laughing!!!). That was under a coaching staff that no one liked or respected and there was some very negative vibes between the school and the alumni/ fans. I can tell you with certainty that all of that has changed. Whipple has brought some life and enthusiasm to what was a very apathetic and disgruntled fan base. Are we going to get 40,000 this year? Absolutely not! All I'm saying is that I wouldn't base all my expectations on attendance using the "Molnar era" figures

I agree with your agreement. I'd much rather play UMASS on a fairly regular schedule than Western Michigan. I hope that both fan bases can draw a very good crowd to the game and create a great atmosphere.

 

[Adios]

I agree with your agreement. I'd much rather play UMASS on a fairly regular schedule than Western Michigan. I hope that both fan bases can draw a very good crowd to the game and create a great atmosphere.

We need to beat Western Michigan a couple more times (at least) and THEN we can forget them.

Dumb@ss PP.

 

[UMass]

We need to beat Western Michigan a couple more times (at least) and THEN we can forget them.

Dumb@ss PP.

You are right.....those games were brutal and definitely not indicative of UConn football.....gotta give them a good pounding and then move on!

 

[dsturdy5]

You also have UMass Boston and UMass Dartmouth. UMass Lowell is the only other playing any D1 sports, hockey.

You also have another grouping of schools like Worcester State, Fitchburg State, and Framingham State among others.

UMass-Lowell is d-1 in most sports now.

 

[DrG]

UMass-Lowell is d-1 in most sports now.

They are now a member of America East for most sports. Of course, they are a Hockey East member for their primary revenue sport. America East does not sponsor football; I think UML had a D2 team some years ago but dropped football, and I don't think Marty Meehan has any designs on going down that road again.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

They are now a member of America East for most sports. Of course, they are a Hockey East member for their primary revenue sport. America East does not sponsor football; I think UML had a D2 team some years ago but dropped football, and I don't think Marty Meehan has any designs on going down that road again.

A good summary on UMass - Lowell...

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/...to-division/TKKX5oaGVj2j5C7kujUTDO/story.html

 

[HartfordHank]

UMass-Lowell is d-1 in most sports now.

I learned something. They certainly aren't doing a lot to promote themselves!

 

[dsturdy5]

I learned something. They certainly aren't doing a lot to promote themselves!

This season was their first and it was pretty rough going, as one would expect, in many sports. They probably don't want to draw too much attention to themselves if they are failing. Not to totally derail the thread but their move may open the door for Merrimack to make a similar jump.

Back to the regularly scheduled programming.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

This season was their first and it was pretty rough going, as one would expect, in many sports. They probably don't want to draw too much attention to themselves if they are failing. Not to totally derail the thread but their move may open the door for Merrimack to make a similar jump.

Back to the regularly scheduled programming.

Merrimack was a power in DII hockey (is there still DII hockey) in the 1970’s and 1980’s before upgrading in 1984 and then joined Hockey East in 1989. Merrimack was the first school added after Hockey East was formed in 1984. Currently, they are a DII school except for men’s hockey and soon to be women’s hockey in 2015.

As I lived in the Merrimack Valley for a few years, I know a lot of folks who are amazed that Merrimack is in Hockey East and even a few alumni who are critical of the decision as they have not been that successful in Hockey East in the last 24 or so years, though they have been playing better the last 3 or 4 years. Merrimack is the smallest college in Hockey East with only 2,500 students while the second smallest, Providence, has 4,600, and the average student body in Hockey East is 16,400. UConn will be the second largest in Hockey East after BU. Also, Merrimack’s on-campus arena only holds 3,000, which is the second smallest in the league (UConn is smallest with 2,000) which averages 5,200 seats (UMass Amherst is largest). Also, Merrimack ranked 36 of 59 D1 hockey teams in attendance with an average of 2,350 per game (though 92% of capacity is very good) while Hockey East averaged 4,000 in 2013/4. UMass Lowell was #12 by the way, second in Hockey East behind BC.

Merrimack on paper appears to be better suited for the ECAC, which are all private schools and have an average student population of 8,000 (heavily inflated by Cornell and Harvard 20K populations) and average arena size of 3,250, and average attendance of 2,500.

As a FYI, UConn ranked #52 with average attendance of 1,080. UConn has potential; but a lot of work to do.

 

[huskypantz]

There's a difference between winnable games in a season with no hope vs. a season with at least a glimmer. Also, while both Buffalo and Philadelphia are drivable, 3-5 hour trips (Gillette is an hour and a half from Hartford), UConn had not won a game up to either point and it wasn't looking good leading into Temple (or for the 1st half of Temple for that matter). You would have had to pay me a substantial amount of money (above and beyond the cost of a ticket and gas money) to make either one...especially where the environment/stadiums have no discernible quality to write home about (i.e. it's not Michie Stadium or even the Yale Bowl for that matter). Not when the alternative is my couch during a lost season. Home games are obviously different. I bought season tickets, I was going to use them.

With Gillette being so close to the footprint of Connecticut, I could see UConn matching or even outdrawing UMass. That is where my 30-40k number comes from, but honestly, there is really no use in predicting UConn representation at Gillette in 2016 until after Nov. 8. Presumably there will be something to play for going forward that was even remotely present in 2013.

Temple is a great road trip. 3-4 hours from CT. Wide open tailgate environment. NFL stadium with first class amenities. Visitor seats around the 50 yard line. And plenty of stuff to do on the side for a weekend trip - cheesesteaks, south st, manayunk etc. I braved the 2008 game with Hurricane Hanna pumping rain and wind at us for most of the game (but we had sun for the tailgate!).

 

[Husky25]

The Linc at 30% capacity is not what I'd consider a discernible college football environment.

 

[Waquoit]

Temple is a great road trip. 3-4 hours from CT. Wide open tailgate environment. NFL stadium with first class amenities. Visitor seats around the 50 yard line. And plenty of stuff to do on the side for a weekend trip - cheesesteaks, south st, manayunk etc. .

The Barnes Collection, unreal.

 

[BryanJ24]

Was just at the UMass/Colorado game, the crowd was about half Colorado fans....UConn should easily be able to swamp UMass in terms of attendance.

 

[ktuck911]

UMASS will not be playing in the MAC in 2016. They want in to the AAC but that isn't happening any day soon. The Sun Belt turned them down. I wonder where UMASS will end up? Independent, FCS, who knows? We need some local rivalry's and games. On the plus side the UMASS game will be good for MA recruiting for UCONN.

Check out UMASS's 2016 first 3 games in 2016. I thought our BYU opening this year was tough!
UMASS also plays Notre Dame in South Bend in 2015. The 2014 OOC schedule is Kamikaze like!


2016
Saturday
Sept. 3
at Florida Gators
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, FLTBA---
Saturday
Sept. 10
Connecticut Huskies
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MATBA---
Saturday
Sept. 17
at Boston College Eagles
Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, MATBA---
Saturday
Sept. 24
Rhode Island Rams
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MATBA---

2015

Saturday
Sept. 12
at Colorado Buffaloes
Folsom Field, Boulder, COTBA---
Saturday
Sept. 19
Temple Owls
Amherst, MA or Foxborough, MATBA---
Saturday
Sept. 26
at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, INTime TBA
NBC---
Saturday
Oct. 3
FIU Golden Panthers
McGuirk Alumni Stadium, Amherst, MATBA---

2014

Saturday
Aug. 30
Boston College Eagles
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA3:00 p.m. ET
ESPN3---
Saturday
Sept. 6
Colorado Buffaloes
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA3:00 p.m. ET
ESPN3---
Saturday
Sept. 13
at Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville, TN12:00 p.m. ET
FSNBuy
Tickets
Saturday
Sept. 20
at Penn State Nittany Lions
Beaver Stadium, University Park, PATBA

I like their plan of attack... It seems like we're stuck in limbo.. unless we win winnable games...

 

[freescooter]

I like their plan of attack... It seems like we're stuck in limbo.. unless we win winnable games...

There "plan of attack" is get as many payday games a possible and play before crickets at home. You like that?