Tag: UMass

UMass Minutemen Top 10 Players: College Football Preview 2022

Who are the top 10 UMass players going into the 2022 college football season?

UMass Minutemen Preview 2022: Who are the top 10 players going into the season?

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UMass Minutemen Preview
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
UMass Schedule & Analysis 

College Football Rankings, Season Predictions: Independents Spring Version 2022

Independents college football rankings and predictions with realistic best and worst case records and quick analysis – the 2022 spring version.

Independents college football rankings and predictions with the realistic best and worst case records and quick analysis – the 2022 spring version.

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The independents are all in interesting situations.

Former Big 12er BYU won’t be on its own for much longer, Liberty will once again be a thorn in the sides of several Power Five teams, Army should rip through its schedule, and New Mexico State, Notre Dame, UConn, and UMass are all starting the 2022 season with new head coaches.

The rankings are based on how good the teams should be and not the final projected records. Keeping in mind that this all could/might/will change when we make the final calls in August …

– 2022 College Football Schedules By Teams: All 131 Schools

Running back recruit will visit Notre Dame

Hope the Irish can land him.

Notre Dame never can have enough players at skill positions. That’s because you never know when you might find the next player to electrify crowds at Notre Dame Stadium. That surely is the reason the Irish staff is thrilled to see the below tweet from Tony Phillips Jr., a running back recruit from Bishop McNamara in Kankakee, Illinois:

Unless there’s something we don’t know about, Saturday stands to be a busy a day for Phillips because he already has tweeted about going to Illinois on the same day. He hasn’t tweeted about visiting the Illini since:

In March, Phillips also visited Purdue and Iowa, so it’s obvious that a lot of Big Ten programs are looking heavily at him. In January, he received offers from Massachusetts and Miami (Ohio). Those were on top of the offers he already had received from Syracuse, Tennessee and Florida Atlantic.

This kid will play somewhere with a fine reputation in college, and let’s hope it’s Notre Dame.

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Notre Dame beats Massachusetts in first round of NCAA Tournament

The Irish have past their first tournament test.

If Notre Dame had lost to Massachusetts in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, no one would have been surprised. After all, two No. 5 seeds already had fallen, so it would have been forgivable not to bat an eye at seeing it happen again. But it didn’t happen this time, and the Irish are into the second round after an 89-78 win in Norman, Oklahoma.

The Irish (23-8) got off to a fast start, going up by as much as 17 in the first half. The Minutewomen (26-7) cut that lead by more than half going into the break when Sam Breen hit a buzzer-beating half-court shot. When the lead was whittled down to six in the third quarter, another No. 12 seed looked like it was on its way to victory. Instead, the Irish went on an 11-0 run, and that was all she wrote for the Minutewomen.

It was a historic game for Olivia Miles, who achieved the second triple-double of her collegiate career: 12 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists. She joins Skylar Diggins and Jackie Young as the only players in program history with two triple-doubles. While she also had six turnovers, no one will remember that.

Maddy Westbeld led the Irish with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. The Irish also got 18 points apiece from Dara Mabrey and Maya Dodson.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Tale of the Tape: Team Stats – Notre Dame vs. Massachusetts

You like the Irish here?

Notre Dame had the bounceback season it’s waited a few years for, and now, it plays Massachusetts in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Fans watching the Irish for the first time this season will notice superior abilities to block, pass and make field goals. They also are able to limit fouls, and they have a nice assist-to-turnover ratio just like their male counterparts. Most importantly, they can score, which is a must in women’s college basketball.

The Minutewomen also are able to to score and shoot well. They also are great at outrebounding opponents and limiting fouls. Take all of this into consideration, and we could have ourselves quite the scoring dual, which makes this matchup ripe for upset potential typical of when fifth and 12th seeds come together for March Madness. The Irish won’t be able to sleep on this team no matter how much the odds seems stacked in their favor.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame to face Massachusetts in first round of NCAA Tournament

Are the Irish ready for the spotlight?

It’s odd to talk about Notre Dame not being in the NCAA Tournament for a while, but that’s exactly what has happened lately. Fortunately, that drought won’t continue this year. The Irish have been selected for their first March Madness appearance since 2019 and their first with Niele Ivey as their head coach. They have been seeded fifth in the Bridgeport Regional and will face Massachusetts in the first round.

This will be the third time the Irish and Minutewomen face each other. The Irish won both of their previous meetings. The first took place in the 1995 National Women’s Invitational Tournament, the precursor to the present-day Women’s NIT, and was a 90-72 win. The second time happened at Purcell Pavilion in November 2012 and ended with a 94-50 victory.

It’s been a long road to get back to respectability, but the Irish have done it. The question now is whether that can translate into tournament success for this year or if this simply is a building block for the future.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

UMass fans storm field after gaining first win against winless UConn

UMass fans finally had reason to celebrate and they stormed the field

There was a storming of the field in Iowa after the Hawkeyes downed Penn State in a game between unbeaten Top 5 teams.

There was a storming of the field, too, when UMass defeated UConn in a clash of winless squads.

The Minutemen must have been feeling it in the fourth quarter. How else can you explain their coach calling an onside kick after going up 27-13 with less than five minutes left?

You read that correctly. UMass successfully pulled off the onside kick while up two touchdowns. It wasn’t the trailing Huskies, who needed the ball.

The crowd could not be held back when the clock struck zeroes.

Ellis Merriweather was the hero with 39 carries for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Merriweather, by the way, was the only healthy scholarship running back for UMass.

UConn vs UMass Prediction, Game Preview

UConn vs UMass prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, October 9

UConn vs UMass prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, October 9

UConn vs UMass How To Watch

Date: Saturday, October 9
Game Time: 3:30 ET
Venue: Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium, Amherst, MA
How To Watch: NESN, FloFootball
Record: UConn (0-6), UMass (0-5)
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UConn vs UMass Game Preview

Why UConn Will Win

UConn’s offense works a wee bit and the UMass attack doesn’t.

It’s been a long, long time since the Huskies have beaten an FBS team – 2018 – but the passing game hit Vanderbilt for 331 yards in last week’s heartbreaking loss, the running game has at least hit 100 yards in each of the last four games, and the team has a few playmakers to produce against the nation’s worst scoring defense and second-worst overall D.

UMass is bad against the pass, worse against the run, and the offense isn’t able to keep up with anyone. However …

– Week 6 CFN College Football Expert Picks

Why UMass Will Win

It’s not like UConn is a high-octane fun show.

The offense is slightly functional, but it’s not going to come out and hang 28 on the board in the first quarter. It has a wildly inefficient passing attack, the offense as a whole is only averaging 270 yards per game, and the defense isn’t able to do much of anything on third downs to get off the field.

The UMass offensive line is playing reasonably well when it comes to keeping defenses out of the backfield and there’s a decent return game, but …

– Week 6 College Football Schedule, Predictions, Game Previews

What’s Going To Happen

UConn has been competitive and UMass hasn’t been.

The big problem – in the real world more than for something silly like football – is the absence of UConn head coach Lou Spanos and two other coaches with covid problems. Even so, the Huskies have more on offense and the D will be just a wee bit better.

– Week 5 CFN NFL Expert Picks

UConn vs UMass Prediction, Line

UConn 30, UMass 24
Line: UConn -3, o/u: 57
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3

Must See Rating: 2

5: When Facebook and Instagram are down
1: The Bradshaw Bunch

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Notre Dame receiver Jay Brunelle enters transfer portal

An Irish receiver will take his talents elsewhere.

On paper, no true star receiver for Notre Dame in 2020 would indicate that the position is up for grabs. However, Irish receiver Jay Brunelle saw the writing on the wall for his opportunities in South Bend. After not seeing any game action as a freshman last season, Brunelle has decided he has a better chance of flourishing elsewhere. That being the case, he did the only thing he could do:

Brunelle, a native of Paxton, Massachusetts, came to the Irish as a three-star recruit out of St. John’s. As a senior, he had 52 receptions for 1,071 yards and scored 11 touchdowns. No player in the history of Central Massachusetts has had more receiver yards than him at 2,666.

As a recruit, Brunelle fielded offers from such programs as Michigan, Boston College, Wake Forest, Rutgers, UCLA, West Virginia and UMass. We obviously don’t know if he’ll consider any of those schools this time around, but his previous communication with them can’t hurt.

UMass just scored the best between-the-legs dangle goal in the Frozen Four final

A goal of the year candidate from Philip Lagunov with this stunner.

There are pretty hockey goals, and then there are ones like Philip Lagunov of the University of Massachusetts just scored in the Frozen Four. In the second period of the NCAA men’s ice hockey championship — aka the Frozen Four — fans in the stands were treated to a one-of-a-kind goal that’ll no doubt be on highlight reels for years to come.

With UMass leading St. Cloud State 2-0 in the opening moments of the second period, Lagunov gave Huskies defenseman Nick Perbix a shakedown he’ll never forget, toe-dragging the puck between his legs and through to open ice ahead of him.

Lagunov then finished the gorgeous play with a head fake before sliding the puck on the backhand between the legs of Huskies goaltender David Hrenak. In total, a beautiful skill play to open the Minutemen’s lead to 3-0.

While the highlight gives a great view of what happened on the play after the fact, you need to watch the real-time call as the crowd in Pittsburgh was absolutely stunned by what they just witnessed.

And of course, here are all the angles of Lagunov’s stellar goal for your viewing pleasure.

Unfortunately for St. Cloud State fans, the 3-0 deficit after that Lagunov tally took the wind out of their sails.

Yeah, there’s really no coming back from a goal like that.

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