Game Five: EMU

[Cahoonaville]

fire the oc please and ryan bamford while at it

Let Bamford stay until he sees his beloved "Pride Day" next Saturday. As for Casula, my 5 year old nephew could call a better game....and he is more into dressing up like a girl!

[TheInsider]

We have improved on D.. we have improved on special trams.. now it's the offenses turn. Open it up and get a little more variety.. really today it was the dumb penalties and dropped passes that did us in.. clean those up and win some games.. well maybe not this week, but there are a few coming up.

[Floyd]

^ agree Insider. Definitely saw the improvement in the D, kicking game, and OLine. Losing Sullivan-Brown hurt for sure, he's been the most dependable receiver so far. As someone else (Camby4Life) posted, that sack by Mackie was nice, he had a pretty good game.

If they can get this offense opened up a little more with more passing, we win a game like this. The fact that they have any success running the ball when everyone knows they will is a testament to the backs and OLine. It sucked they got the loss, but they showed improvement in several aspects

[stevemaz]

In 2024 we will start the season 6-0 heading into the biggest game in UMass history vs Mizzou.. at least it will feel that way.

[LouMass]

I can’t believe the amount of negativity on this board after seeing the best overall game for a Umass football team in years. Did most of you guys not actually watch this game today?

I watched the game. Was frustrated by some of the offensive play calling, the PI on Mahoney when he nearly caught the ball, the last two offensive play calls, DB’s getting beat on long balls, lack of production from the rb’s.

I liked the play of the overall play of the defense, the special teams is much improved (that 47 yd fg looked like it would have been good for another 5-8 yards easily), the throw fake on the screen and the long throw and catch.

I’m not optimistic against Liberty, but there are winnable games in the schedule.

[minutefanjsf]

I can’t believe the amount of negativity on this board after seeing the best overall game for a Umass football team in years. Did most of you guys not actually watch this game today?

I watched the game. Was frustrated by some of the offensive play calling, the PI on Mahoney when he nearly caught the ball, the last two offensive play calls, DB’s getting beat on long balls, lack of production from the rb’s.

I liked the play of the overall play of the defense, the special teams is much improved (that 47 yd fg looked like it would have been good for another 5-8 yards easily), the throw fake on the screen and the long throw and catch.

I’m not optimistic against Liberty, but there are winnable games in the schedule.

The first and second string RBs did not play.

[kdogg8173]

If they were just below average on offense yesterday, they win by 2 scores but they weren’t even that, they were bottom of the barrel bad. 255 yards at under 4 yards per play against a team that was giving up well over 400 yards and 6 yards per play per game. This could go down as the worst offense in FBS history.

[dennisdent]

This is the lowest scoring offense in FBS and there is no way that Casula's comes back next season if they don't improve for the last half of the season. They have about five plays that they run over and over.

Watched UConn yesterday and they are down so many players on offense but look so much better coached!

[TheInsider]

I agree.. if its more of the same the rest of the year and maybe we reach scoring 20 points a game Casula has to go. If DB knows he has the defense to win but the Casula offense will never score points in FBS no matter who the QB is he has to go find someone else.

[minutefanjsf]

I agree.. if its more of the same the rest of the year and maybe we reach scoring 20 points a game Casula has to go. If DB knows he has the defense to win but the Casula offense will never score points in FBS no matter who the QB is he has to go find someone else.

I don’t think it is just QB play. Penalties and dropping the ball at the worst times contributed to the score yesterday. The TD called back and at least three drops on third down. The dumb two yard pass on third and 7 also didn’t help.

[TheInsider]

I agree.. many say we lose because we don't have an FBS QB.. I disagree.. like you said, it's because penalties, drops, and lack of imagination on offense. Gino can throw the ball.

[km109]

Stark and frightening statistics. Through 5 games we've scored 36 points and given up 148. Last year, with a tougher schedule, it was 73 points scored and 236 given up. The offense didn't lose much from last year and the players brought in should have meant at least modest improvement. Casula's got this thing in reverse.

UMass has scored 53 points this season. They scored 56 of those 73 at home last season. This is up from the 12 they scored in the four games during the 2020 season

Whip's first season in 2014 they scored 125 in the first five games. Gave up a 200. It was loaded with P5 teams.

My bad. You can tell I wasn't a math major.

[Quann]

I agree.. many say we lose because we don't have an FBS QB.. I disagree.. like you said, it's because penalties, drops, and lack of imagination on offense. Gino can throw the ball.

100% agreed. That’s why I’m pretty encouraged about the future.

[inthescoop]

Also, that EMU team would have beat last year's team by 21+. We should have won but we lost, but all in all this game will be a huge learning experience for the coaches and players. Adjustments need to be made, and now is the time to see them going forward.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

The good news: They picked a fucking quarterback.

The bad news: Our Offensive Coordinator really sucks.


Overall they played fairly well, and maybe more importantly, they played hard. There's still plenty of mistakes they need to fix but this game showed me some progress in many areas.