Game 3: Vanderbilt

InnervisionsUMASS · Post by **InnervisionsUMASS** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 10:27 am

Tough one yesterday.

UMass1927 · Post by **UMass1927** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 11:40 am

I'm very proud of their effort yesterday. I thought Whipple called a very good game.

Fundamentally the team is just a lot better than they were last year. Yes, they don't always make plays but at least now theyre in POSITION to make plays. I'm very impressed with the widespread competence on both offense and defense now. Theyre organised, theyre playing with a purpose, they know where theyre supposed to be.

Play calling on offense was tremendous yesterday. There were a couple of times Whip called a screen at the PERFECT time to take advantage of a blitz by the D.

On the final series, i really liked the run on 1st down. The play they drew up on 2nd down worked out great Fronahpel just over threw the receiver.

You could argue, still having a time out and 6 seconds left, that they shouldve ran a play to center the ball between the hashes before kicking the field goal... but i think thats really nit picking. Have to rely on your kicker to be able to bang a 22 yarder in regardless of left hash or right hash.

Personally i wouldve just gone for it anyhow but if you are committed to kicking it thats my two cents.

Im very proud of the team's progress. Hopefully theyre competitive for stretches next week, I'm looking forward to MAC play. I don't think 3 wins is out of the question.

jpatsfan · Post by **jpatsfan** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 12:05 pm

UMass1927 wrote:I'm very proud of their effort yesterday. I thought Whipple called a very good game.

Fundamentally the team is just a lot better than they were last year. Yes, they don't always make plays but at least now theyre in POSITION to make plays. I'm very impressed with the widespread competence on both offense and defense now. Theyre organised, theyre playing with a purpose, they know where theyre supposed to be.

Play calling on offense was tremendous yesterday. There were a couple of times Whip called a screen at the PERFECT time to take advantage of a blitz by the D.

On the final series, i really liked the run on 1st down. The play they drew up on 2nd down worked out great Fronahpel just over threw the receiver.

You could argue, still having a time out and 6 seconds left, that they shouldve ran a play to center the ball between the hashes before kicking the field goal... but i think thats really nit picking. Have to rely on your kicker to be able to bang a 22 yarder in regardless of left hash or right hash.

Personally i wouldve just gone for it anyhow but if you are committed to kicking it thats my two cents.

Im very proud of the team's progress. Hopefully theyre competitive for stretches next week, I'm looking forward to MAC play. I don't think 3 wins is out of the question.

I think this team is capable of more than 3 wins this year once they hit conference play. As Coach Whipple said "they still don't know how to win" and that is what its going to come down to. Miami, Kent State and Eastern Michigan are games we should win. Ball State, Bowling Green, Akron and Buffalo are toss up games. Toledo will be tough although, their defense looked vanilla against Cincinnati.

Like I said, once we hit MAC play, I think this team will be at another level and will be a tough out. UMass is not going to be an easy game for MAC teams this year. Whipple has us in the right direction and I think there will be some broken MAC hearts late in the year when they play us. In 2015 I believe this team will be capable of competing for the east division.

Chris20 · Post by **Chris20** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 12:16 pm

I think getting wins is of supreme importance, in terms of gaining respect and slowly increasing the interest.

But that being said, it certainly does "feel" different this year. Someone used the word "competence", and I think it fits. Even with a couple of mistakes and bad breaks that have kept us from winning this year, I don't have the dreadful feeling that I've had in years past....that there was little question in my mind that something would go very wrong, just a question of at what point it would go wrong in a given game. That feeling is pretty much gone.

69MG · Post by **69MG** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 12:42 pm

Yes, we are 0-3, but the difference between this year and last year is huge. Last year we got pushed around by Maine and were uncompetitive in most of our games. While Colorado and Vandy are bottom feeders in their conferences, they are power conference teams. BC is a much better team than we thought they would be.

Do we need some wins to instill confidence and get more people interested, YES. But we are on the right track. If we can hang with Penn State at their place, win or lose, I will be satisfied. I think we are one good recruiting class away from being a 6 win team.

78 · Post by 78 » Sun Sep 14, 2014 3:58 pm

Again, such a shame that we suffered through 2 years of CM almost burying the program forever. This team would be competing for the MAC championship this year if Whip was at the helm from day 1 of FBS. I know he did not want the job at the time -- at least that is what I am told -- but it is still a shame. He probably is the best coach in the MAC. I think 3-4 wins is a good bet for MAC play this year. The reason why I do not say more, is I do not have confidence that the defense will be able to step it up every game. Just not enough quality players.

Marty Peretz · Post by **Marty Peretz** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 7:14 pm

Will probably post on the heartbreak more later, but for now, here's a small slimmer of optimism: this thread has eight more pages of posts than the BC game. And that's in addition to the fact that a lot of the football diehards have Maroon Musket to get their UM FB fix.

Progress..

ScottieB · Post by **ScottieB** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 8:11 pm

Even though we haven't won, to my eyes this team is MUCH better. They're improving every game, which I never saw under Molnar, and they are entertaining to watch for the most part. Much more than last year certainly. Of course I'm biased because I was at UMass in '98 and at that championship game in Tennessee, so Whipple is the MAN in my eyes. Even though we aren't a major football school that's still one of my best college experiences, certainly when it comes to sports.

As for special teams, overall a wash, yes, but the kicking game is hurting bad. Returns are pretty good, but damn do we need both a place kicker and punter bad. Anyone remember that movie "Necessary Roughness"? Maybe we can find our version of Kathy Ireland on campus somewhere?

lane one · Post by **lane one** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 8:30 pm

Who wasn't looking for their version of Kathy Ireland on campus?

xlgman · Post by **xlgman** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 8:40 pm

I thought it was a very entertaining game with yet more progress and positive signs on numerous fronts. Too many mistakes but in between the mistakes, they looked legit and competitive.

eldonabe · Post by **eldonabe** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:48 am

Chris20 wrote: But that being said, it certainly does "feel" different this year.

Yup

That sucked - noit because they sucked but because I felt horrible for them whn they played "good enough" to win. They had them by the balls and could not make a couple first downs to kill enough clock.

Their kicking/punting game is very Divison II.

Someone else said it - they need to learn how to win.

I am still encouraged - it "feels" different...

jjmc85 · Post by **jjmc85** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 10:03 am

Ok, now that I've calmed down a bit, here are my thoughts.

The defense played a hell of a game and this is not their fault. Special teams, outside of kick returns and the fake punt, sucked. The punting was terrible, especially the blocked punt. The missed field goal obviously sucked. Add in the fumbled pitch recovered by Vandy for a TD, and that's a net of 17 points the defense had nothing to do with in a three point game. The D played well enough to win. Why anyone questioning it right now is beyond me.

Also, if I'm Vanderbilt, I'm firing my head coach today and trying to get Whipple tomorrow. This program is to the point now where we can be pissed off that they blew two games to Power 5 conferences. With Molnar, the team barely belonged on the same field as Maine. Imagine how that game would have went had the schools traded head coaches.

The biggest concern I have is that none of the players have had a winning season here outside of the red shirt seniors. There's now a culture of losing surrounding this program, and that has to be snapped immediately.

photoman · Post by **photoman** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 10:12 am

@jjmc- It's hard to snap the culture of losing when you start the season with 4 P-5 teams in a row. Scheduling didn't help here at all.

tdmass · Post by **tdmass** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 10:34 am

It's too bad this next game wasn't against a winnable team because the "culture of losing" will take another hit! It is Whip's job to keep them focused and I'm optimistic he can do that!

Sharksrule04 · Post by **Sharksrule04** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 2:34 pm

UmAstudent wrote:Froh was horrible in the second half. Whipple needs to find a real QB in the offseason. Froh has not impressed me over the first 3 games vs bad teams. He misses on nearly every deep ball and misses wide open guys. He missed at least 2/3 tds on open WRs or TEs.

This is just a stupid post. The guy has played 3 games in FBS football and our offense. He has looked very good at times and actually dominant in others. Yes he has over thrown some players and that last pass needed to be completed but Froh has been a huge part of this improved offense. He runs the plays well and has been completing some very nice passes. I love how you don't mention his late game scramble play where he passed to Sharpe.

Froh has been the star of our offense so far along w/ Sharpe. He is hardly the problem right now for UMass, if anything he's one of the bright spots.