Game 2: Southern Illinois - 9/7/2019

[dennisdent]

I blame some of what I saw on Whipple for being a poor recruiter. How could he not have groomed some qbs to play when he knew he would lose both his starters.

To be fair, Coach Whipple was grooming Mike Curtis as the next UMASS QB and Mike Curtis looked pretty competent when he was in games last season - Not Joe Montana - but he definitely showed that he could run the offense and lead the team. But Mike Curtis is a Pro Style QB and Coach Bell is committed to running the Spread Offense and consequently Mike Curtis is I believe currently 3rd on Coach Bell's Depth Chart ...

West is even more a pro style QB then Curtis so it has to some other reason he has fallen on the depth chart. This is one of the reasons that I'm wondering about Bell already.

[McKinney]

Wait, are you saying it was quiet yesterday? I hope not. And the points about the band being complete drowned out are spot on. Dreadful team and dreadful game day experience.

I didn't think the volume was ridiculous. Everybody's different I guess.

[78]

Wait, are you saying it was quiet yesterday? I hope not. And the points about the band being complete drowned out are spot on. Dreadful team and dreadful game day experience.

I didn't think the volume was ridiculous. Everybody's different I guess.

Just curious, did you spend any time in the Minutemen club? Impossible to have a conversation. Also, several times in my seat, section 5 near the top, I had to stop a conversation because people could not hear each other. As you said though, different strokes for different folks.

[McKinney]

Just curious, did you spend any time in the Minutemen club? Impossible to have a conversation. Also, several times in my seat, section 5 near the top, I had to stop a conversation because people could not hear each other. As you said though, different strokes for different folks.

Nope, I didn't buy tickets to the club. Just my seats in section 6. But I can totally understand the issue in the endzone. The speakers are right behind the videoboard I think. Maybe they'd be better off with lots of smaller quieter speakers all around the stadium? Idk.

[DrG]

There's got to be some kind of happy medium. I remember when the PA system was barely audible and the stadium was a morgue. However, after one game, I can honestly say I wouldn't have bought tickets to the Commonwealth Club if I had known I'd be inviting deafness. Maybe part of it is the absurdity of loud canned noise while the team is stinking out the joint against an FCS team.

[Jack]

I didn't think the volume was ridiculous. Everybody's different I guess.

Everybody is different - Children in particular tend to be far more sensitive to loud music or loud events like concerts or fireworks. However loud decibels can be damaging and harmful to everybody. For example pete townsend is essentially stone deaf as a result of self inflicted decibels. I saw numerous people yesterday who were covering their ears, had to put in earplugs and a few people plugging their ears w/fingers and leaving. So its different for different people for sure.

[KahunaK]

I didn't think the volume was ridiculous. Everybody's different I guess.

Everybody is different - Children in particular tend to be far more sensitive to loud music or loud events like concerts or fireworks. However loud decibels can be damaging and harmful to everybody. For example pete townsend is essentially stone deaf as a result of self inflicted decibels. I saw numerous people yesterday who were covering their ears, had to put in earplugs and a few people plugging their ears w/fingers and leaving. So its different for different people for sure.

Ridiculouly loud. You couldn't speak to anyone while the music played. Also the echo was bouncing off the performance center so you heard it twice. Whoever came up with that idea needs to revisit it. Jack is right that if I go to a game in the future, I will be bringing earplugs.

[KahunaK]

I blame some of what I saw on Whipple for being a poor recruiter. How could he not have groomed some qbs to play when he knew he would lose both his starters.

To be fair, Coach Whipple was grooming Mike Curtis as the next UMASS QB and Mike Curtis looked pretty competent when he was in games last season - Not Joe Montana - but he definitely showed that he could run the offense and lead the team. But Mike Curtis is a Pro Style QB and Coach Bell is committed to running the Spread Offense and consequently Mike Curtis is I believe currently 3rd on Coach Bell's Depth Chart ...

West is even more a pro style QB then Curtis so it has to some other reason he has fallen on the depth chart. This is one of the reasons that I'm wondering about Bell already.

My point was not just focused on qb. Thinking about last year, if Barr was not granted a sixth year and averaged 40 tackles per game, how many games would UMASS have won???? Who was being brought up behind him? I think Bell needs to get about 15 players from the transfer portal to get some experience on the field.

[Rolling Ridge]

My point was not just focused on qb. Thinking about last year, if Barr was not granted a sixth year and averaged 40 tackles per game, how many games would UMASS have won???? Who was being brought up behind him? I think Bell needs to get about 15 players from the transfer portal to get some experience on the field.

I think your point is spot on when you look at the overall team. Also agreed about transfers/JuCo/whatever. We need help and we need it fast. Can't languish like this for three years. Well, I guess we can but it will suck big time. We'll see what happens.

As far as the in-game sound issues, I'm in section 6, about 1/4 of the way up, and there were times I couldn't hear a person sitting three seats away from me who is yelling to try and be heard. Not all the time, but enough that it was annoying. I'm in a freaking rock band, I get loud music and love it! But this is not a rock concert and this is not why I got to UMass football games. There is a disconnect here, and I'm going to start making my feelings known in as constructive a way as possible.

Go U!

[TruBluMaroon]

My point was not just focused on qb. Thinking about last year, if Barr was not granted a sixth year and averaged 40 tackles per game, how many games would UMASS have won???? Who was being brought up behind him? I think Bell needs to get about 15 players from the transfer portal to get some experience on the field.

I think your point is spot on when you look at the overall team. Also agreed about transfers/JuCo/whatever. We need help and we need it fast. Can't languish like this for three years. Well, I guess we can but it will suck big time. We'll see what happens.

As far as the in-game sound issues, I'm in section 6, about 1/4 of the way up, and there were times I couldn't hear a person sitting three seats away from me who is yelling to try and be heard. Not all the time, but enough that it was annoying. I'm in a freaking rock band, I get loud music and love it! But this is not a rock concert and this is not why I got to UMass football games. There is a disconnect here, and I'm going to start making my feelings known in as constructive a way as possible.

Go U!

Very quiet on the old home side, sunny and plenty of available seats too!

[jjmc85]

People in my section were chanting "We want Molnar and Bring back Charlie".

As if the game wasn’t bad enough, that has to be the stupidest thing chanted at any game at any level.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

I wasn't there so I can't speak to the volume on Saturday, but it's always been ridiculously loud at McGuirk. That's nothing new.



Side note: That game sucked to watch.

[69MG]

This is from my post after the Rutgers game. It's worse than I thought.

Exactly. Our 3 starting D linemen are 280, 290 and 260. They can't be expected to hold their own against 300+ O linemen from any Big 10 school. Speed on the D line is not a factor, size is. I looked at SIU's roster and even though they are FCS they are much bigger than we are. Maybe the talent difference will make up for it against SIU.

Well, the talent level wasn't a factor. We got abused on both sides of the ball. We need more size on the D line.

My last comment on FB is about the QB. As a BB STH I love Randall, we all do. However, he isn't the answer. It doesn't matter how many games we win this year, and we know it won't be many. We need to look to the future and see what we have. Give Brito and at least one of the other young guys a shot and see if we have anyone that we can count on for next year and the year after.

[MajBugman]

I have to speculate that one of the reasons West won the job is because of his character. The team is young and Bell knew this was going to be a tough year. West at the helm can help keep the locker room up.

[inthescoop]

I have to speculate that one of the reasons West won the job is because of his character. The team is young and Bell knew this was going to be a tough year. West at the helm can help keep the locker room up.

It is 100% character. UMass coaches praise the hell out of this guy for being the ultimate team player and gym rat. Which is probably true, I am not going to argue that, but talent should come first. And it is the coaches job to mentally prepare all players to their fullest capabilities. Maybe Bell hasn’t learned the best way to do that yet, not capturing that unique coaching skill yet. He knows he doesn’t have to do it in West; he doesn’t need to be coached up, he has the “right” attitude that is a coaches dream. Bell is still new to being a head coach, so he’s taking the safe route now, which in my opinion should not be the case since there is no safe route for UMass football.