Game 1 (2017) Hawaii

[KahunaK]

Poor coaching and a muffed punt lost this game. Whipple seems to have caught Derek's disease-trying to run out the clock with too much time left. Went to running formations and didn't even try to pass- poor decision. The blitz was a bad idea since they already burned UMASS on that play before. And what was that last play???? Overall UMASS looked good but coaching lost this game.

[utterlyoptimistic]

Ugh...they continue to find ways to lose games under Whipple. This was tough to see. I want to say that I'm done with this team, but I'm sure I'll watch every game because I'm a glutton for punishment.

[eldonabe]

Why blitz, why?

That fucking blitz was fucking stipid.... they need way too many yards there ...... they give up a 45 yard play on an underneath route .... what a horrible horrible call.... WTF!!!!! Horrible call there.

As soon as they lined up on that play is was yelling at the tv Don't Bitz..... what a fucking terrible play call.....

[KahunaK]

Why blitz, why?

That fucking blitz was fucking stipid.... they need way too many yards there ...... they give up a 45 yard play on an underneath route .... what a horrible horrible call.... WTF!!!!! Horrible call there.

That was an all out blitz and the cornerback gave it away that he was coming- leaving a wide open pass to where he blitzed from. That qb saw it and unloaded before anyone could get there. Bad call.

[Jackman]

I can't believe they found a way to lose that game. The muffed punt was a killer. Very questionable playcalling by the coaches. The new DC needs to re-think this pass defense. If our guys aren't picking up their receivers before the snap, they're not picking them up at all. Every time we weren't playing straight man, we had Hawaii receivers running free with nobody else in the same frame. Knowing that made the late blitz an even bigger gamble than it was.

Positives: Breneman is obviously great. I like Ford as our QB. Once he got his pocket presence, he made consistently good decisions. I've liked Comis too, but Ford is the guy who needs to play. And the run defense was pretty solid. Didn't make every stand, but made a lot of them. I think we could have gotten a lot more done in our own running game if we were willing to straight pitch it outside instead of banging our heads into the wall up the middle. Pass defense as previously noted was terrible. And special teams continues to hurt us for the 7th consecutive year.

[78]

Another season and nothing has changed. The offensive line is far worse and the defense is just as bad or worse than last year. And they continue to lose games at the end. I originally said 4-5 wins. After watching this game, 3 is the max. This is far fucking worse than torture. It's getting to a point where the four hour round trip is becoming too much. Only thing good about these games is the tailgate.

[photoman]

For those who called this game the barometer for the season I suggest you brace yourself for some stormy weather.

[Rolling Ridge]

Another season and nothing has changed. The offensive line is far worse and the defense is just as bad or worse than last year. And they continue to lose games at the end. I originally said 4-5 wins. After watching this game, 3 is the max. This is far fucking worse than torture. It's getting to a point where the four hour round trip is becoming too much. Only thing good about these games is the tailgate.

Man I hate agreeing with you, but this is exactly how I feel. This team looked pathetic. Coaching was pathetic (way too conservative on offense with 4 minutes left, horrendous blitz call, etc. etc.).

Yeah, we have some talented players that scramble around and make some thing happen. But overall this team is awful, and I see zero improvement from last year. Yeah, game one, they'll get better, yadda yadda. By the time they improve it will be too late for this season, and it is just painful to watch, truly torture. I predicted three wins because I saw no reason to think this team is any better than last year until they PROVE it. After this game, I'm not sure I even see three wins. I'm utterly disgusted. Even if they had won I'd have been disappointed in this performance, but losing that game is pretty inexcusable, imo. I'm a die hard, but this is getting to be too much.

[DPBOS]

I'm utterly disgusted. Even if they had won I'd have been disappointed in this performance, but losing that game is pretty inexcusable, imo. I'm a die hard, but this is getting to be too much.

"pretty inexcusable", "getting to be too much"? A generous soul you are Rolling Ridge. Kudos on your "utterly disgusted", but continued support!

[Swampy]

Another season and nothing has changed. Only thing good about these games is the tailgate.

Agree on both counts. The consecutive running plays at the end were frustrating and losing again after scoring 30+ is really starting to wear on me. Admin did a good job setting things up before the game and they moved cars out after it ended. Kudos to them.

It was also good reading a zultr post. Hope he continues to give his opinion on these pages. It has been too long.

[TruBluMaroon]

503 total yards of offense for UH and 6.9 average play. MW sure knows how to build a defense!!

[econalum]

Buddies of mine, not of UMASS, smelled victory, and I smelled a Q4 meltdown. Too bad that I was right - seen it all before.

Defensive calls in late 4th were dumb. O runs often were dumb, as they could not move those H giants in the middle at all. Last attempt looked like they could not adjust to H's defense.

True full paid attendance was what, 11k? On a perfect late pm in Amherst. They did not even get the last minute 'nice day, let's go' bump. Sure, students not on campus, but they largely go for the tailgate, and/or leave at the half, when in session.

Another year of adventure in the FBS.

[Refuse2Lose83]

Most the positives and negatives have already been said. One big positive I saw which I don't think has been mentioned yet: Bryton Barr is a leader, tough as nails and a stud. Going be fun to watch him for the next 2 years.

[78]

Just got home and still pissed. Is it heresy to say the game has passed Whipple by and this program is going nowhere until someone new comes on board? 10-51 since moving to FBS and it gets less fun every week. Attendance officially listed as 12,145. I thought there would be a lot more youth football representation at the game. Extremely sparse. Need to shut down for the night. Really tired of the same old crap.

[Marshmont_63]

The most preventable problem tonight was the coaching decision with four or five minutes left in the game. YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME. YOU DON'T PLAY NOT TO LOSE. I get that they wanted to run time off the clock, but you knew exactly what was going to happen when they fully committed to that strategy. Honestly, Whipple needs to be fired. I know most people don't want to hear that, but this team has shown absolutely no ability to win close (one possession) games. The play-calling is infuriating. Overall, it's just a massive letdown every game. Every year, I deceive myself by thinking something is going to change. And in 5 years, nothing has changed.