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| Photo Credit: J. Anthony Roberts |
It wasn't pretty and at times it was downright ugly but the 2014 UMass Minutemen football season kicked off on Saturday afternoon with the "Battle of the Bay State" and there were signs that things are moving in the right direction. In front of more than 30,000 people at Gillette Stadium, Mark Whipple began his second stint at the helm of the Minutemen football program and though I know he's disappointed, I think there is reason to be optimistic moving forward.
After two years I continue to be positive about this program and I head into games like the one on Saturday not looking or expecting a win but just hoping to see improvement. Anyone who spent the past two years watching the Charley Molnar offense die on the vine has to admit that there were signs that Whipple's impact on the offensive side of the ball will be dramatic. It's tough to get a grasp on exactly how much influence Whipple has had on the "new look" offense because the team held the ball for less than 18 minutes total. But, it was obvious that Blake Frohnapfel was going to try and throw the ball vertically down the field, something that you saw almost none of last year with AJ Doyle under center for Molnar.
I also thought the running game showed some nice flashes, even though they accounted for only 55 total yards of offense (86 positive rushing yards, 21 negative). I'm going to give the ground attack a little leeway because again the team was playing from behind and obviously tried to get back into the game through the air. A positive running attack is going to be imperative for this team because the defense isn't going to be able to play 45 minutes a game, they couldn't hold all day on Saturday and if they're asked to do that much moving forward by the time MAC games start their will be corpses in the front seven.
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| Photo Credit: J. Anthony Roberts |
On the other side of the ball -- I might be alone but the defense felt solid on first and third down but weak on second down. It's probably a strange distinction but I thought there were a lot of 2nd and long's but very few third and longs. Boston College was able to convert on a high percentage of third down plays, mainly because they were gaining so much ground on second down that those third down plays were layups.
Anyone who tuned into the game on Saturday, or showed up at Gillette Stadium had to walk away thinking Tyler Murphy was by far the best player on the field and it really wasn't close. Murphy diced the Minutemen up on the ground, running the run-option play to perfection. I counted at least four times where the Minutemen defense would tackle the option player, with the other player being the one carrying the ball. Murphy was basically unstoppable between the 20s throwing for 173 and rushing for another 118.
Although statistically it looks like Boston College dominated this game I can't be alone in looking through maroon colored glasses and feeling like the Minutemen had every chance to keep this thing competitive. When Randall Jette picked off Murphy late in the second half UMass started with the ball on the BC 19 with the score 6-0 Eagles. Frohnapfel then took an absolutely soul crushing intentional grounding call on first down, moving the ball back 15 yards and losing a down -- from there the Minutemen gained four yards and Blake Lucas pushed a 47-yard field goal attempt wide right. Basically everything that happened after the Frohnapfel intentional grounding penalty (save for one brilliant touchdown catch by Tajae Sharp) was brutal for the Minutemen.
I'm not saying that had UMass been able to score at the end of the half after the Jette turnover that things would've been different in the second half. But I think the way that drive ended really sucked the life out of the team and they just never got going again in the second half. Take nothing away from the Eagles, they shoved the ball down UMass throat all day long and there was nothing the Minutemen could do to stop them, but the momentum would've changed dramatically had UMass gone into half up 7-6 instead of down 6-0 and feeling deflated.
One final note, the crowd was great and the atmosphere in Gillette was wonderful for this game. I know that we can't do the "Battle of the Bay State" every year but I hope everyone in the administration saw that 30,000 plus number from Saturday afternoon and keeps that in mind while searching for a new conference. The Charley Molnar era began with a 45-6 drubbing at the hands of Indiana, I left the stadium that day thinking none of the students who were in the crowd would be back for the next home game. I wasn't far off, the attendance for the 2nd home game under Molnar was almost exactly half was the season opener was. I felt better leaving the stadium yesterday even in defeat. I thought the energy was there, and there was signs that this team was heading in the right direction. I can't wait to see what the turnout will be next Saturday when the Buffalo of Colorado come rolling into town.
As a side note -- I'm back. I'm in the process of redesigning things and wanted to have the new site launched with the open of the season. That didn't work so this will have to be the placeholder for now. I'll hand out helmet stickers for the UMass/BC game later on this week before we turn the page and start talking about the Buffalo.
