Game Ten (UMass) Thoughts

[catdaddyp]

QB:

Finley made some really nice throws and generally had plenty of time in the pocket. Some of the longer developing routes were open against a UMass defense that struggled to generate pressure. Outside of the fumble at the goal line, Finley protected the football all evening. That hit on the fumble seemed to rattle him a bit, and honestly, I was surprised he came back in the game. He could’ve easily finished with more passing yards, but it wasn’t necessary with how well the run game was rolling.

 

RB:

Gant is tracking toward a first-team All-MAC selection. His patience and timing when hitting the hole are excellent, and he has that rare knack for moving in a way that makes it tough for defenders to square him up cleanly. Patrick is certainly the more explosive back, but Gant has settled into his rhythm and is playing at a high level. He finished with 153 yards and two touchdowns, leaving him exactly 150 yards shy of a 1,000-yard season.

 

WR:

The receivers spent most of the night blocking, as the offense ran the ball 46 times compared to just 22 pass attempts. Mason made another highlight-reel touchdown grab, while Ma. Williams has clearly become Finley’s go-to target of late.

 

TE:

Another week, another solid showing from Cravaack. He did have one drop, but aside from that, he threw some crushing blocks in the run game and added a nifty 15-yard reception with solid yards after the catch. Whisner, backing him up, had his best game to date as well.

 

OL:

The offensive line dominated UMass’ front. They consistently opened up run lanes and gave Finley plenty of time to throw. They were credited with allowing only six pressures the entire game — easily one of their best collective performances of the year.

 

DL:

You have to feel for Laventure, who had back-to-back sacks wiped out — one by a teammate’s unnecessary penalty and another due to the staff accepting a holding call instead. Regardless, he absolutely mauled his matchup all game. Dall came close to a few sacks himself but just couldn’t finish. The defense as a whole held UMass to only 169 total yards, which says it all.

 

LB:

I’m a Shammond Cooper fan, but at this point Melvin Spriggs needs to be starting and taking the majority of snaps. Spriggs has really turned it on the past two games and has become a dynamic player. Summers may not have the same athletic upside, but he’s been in the right spot at the right time lately and continues to make key plays.

 

DB:

DeWalt, Reed, and Kamara may have taken all the corner snaps, and all three played well. The nickel backs didn’t see as much playing time as they usually do because the defense often went to a five man defensive front. Hunter and Somerville got the starts at safety and played well enough for a night, but they’ll need to elevate their play moving forward.

 

ST:

The only blemish came on the missed extra point. Otherwise, Wiley placed his kickoffs well, Schramm hit a 42-yarder, and Castle had a solid day punting. The return units didn’t generate much, but there were no major miscues either.

 

Coaching:

It was clear the team was locked in across all three phases. Outside of one big play allowed by the defense, they controlled things start to finish. The offense piled up 467 yards — an impressive total. Credit to the staff for having the group ready to handle business against a UMass team that simply shouldn’t be able to compete with the Zips in 2025.

 

 

Next Tuesday night is another winnable matchup for the Wagon Wheel.

 

 

* Some of the walk-ons that got in on the last play or two are not listed below.

QB:

Finley

Roggow

Johnson

 

RB:

Gant

Patrick

Curry

 

WR:

Ma. Williams

Grear

 

WR:

Mason

Louis

Broughton

 

WR:

Polk

Monteiro

Hills

 

TE:

Cravaack

Whisner

 

LT:

Morris

D. Johnson

Motley-Simmons

Ndaiga

 

LG:

Archer

McManus 

Stopiak

 

C

Lyons

Mobley

 

RG:

K. Davis

Fox

 

RT:

King 

Jones

Mann

 

 

DE:

Durham

D. Frazier

 

DE:

Dall

J. Frazier

Cheatom 

 

DT:

Hull

Murphy 

 

DT:

Laventure

Mixon

 

LB:

Cooper

Spriggs

Benenge

 

LB:

Summers

Boswell

 

NB:

Aa. Branch

T. Thomas 

 

CB:

DeWalt

Kamara

 

CB:

Reed

Kamara

 

S:

Somerville 

Flowers

 

S:

Hunter

Di. Johnson

 

 

 

Top Rated Offense (20 snap min.):

QB - Finley

RB - Gant

WR - Ma. Williams

RG - K. Davis

C - Lyons

 

Top Rated Defense (20 snap min.)

LB - Spriggs

LB - Summers

DT - Laventure

DE - Dall

CB - Kamara

Edited 20 hours ago by catdaddyp

[exit322]

Three big thoughts:

 

1) thank you for doing these.  These are always great reads 

 

2) When was the last time an FBS team was objectively bad and Akron just stepped on their necks?

 

3) Kenni Burns' Kent teams could beat this UMass squad.

[Blue & Gold]

I believe I read somewhere - can't now remember where so I cannot reference it - that this was our largest margin of victory over an FBS opponent in 23 years?

 

I know it's been a while but that stat still surprised me.

[catdaddyp]

13 hours ago, exit322 said:

Three big thoughts:

 

1) thank you for doing these.  These are always great reads 

 

2) When was the last time an FBS team was objectively bad and Akron just stepped on their necks?

 

3) Kenni Burns' Kent teams could beat this UMass squad.

Thank you, glad to do them!

 

I’m not sure the last FBS team we played was as bad as this 2025 UMass squad. We beat NIU 44-12 in Moorhead’s first season, but that NIU team was better than its record indicated and a lot of things broke our way that day. The UMass team we faced Tuesday night was both talent-deficient and injury-riddled. I agree—the Burns-led Kent teams probably would’ve beaten the Tuesday night version of UMass, although it might’ve been close.

 

All that said, there’s a scenario where UMass leapfrogs us in the near future. They’re set to be one of the highest NIL bidders in the MAC, and their coaching staff will be among the best-compensated in the conference. If they use those resources wisely, NIL will help them retain their top players, while we’ll keep losing ours until something changes financially.

Edited 6 hours ago by catdaddyp

[exit322]

2 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

I believe I read somewhere - can't now remember where so I cannot reference it - that this was our largest margin of victory over an FBS opponent in 23 years?

 

I know it's been a while but that stat still surprised me.

 

Likely.  That was a 48-10 win over Can't in 2002.