Preview 2019: Previewing and looking ahead to the UMass Minutemen season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– UMass Previews 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2018 Record: 4-8 overall
Head Coach: Walt Bell, 1st year
– CFN Preview 2019: All The Team Previews
5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE UMASS OFFENSE
– Just 35 coming into the season, new UMass head coach Walt Bell is a young, rising offensive mind coming off of stints as the coordinator at Florida State and Maryland before that. The offense needs some rebuilding after finishing with one of the nation’s most efficient passing games, but with no rushing attack.
– Ross Comis and Andrew Ford combined to throw for over 3,000 yards with 23 touchdown passes. They’re both gone, but senior Michael Curtis saw enough action to not come in cold. He and 6-4, 220-pound senior Randall West will push for the starting gig. But …
– There’s no Andy Isabella to throw to anymore. All he did was catch 102 passes for 1,698 yards and 13 scores before going off to be an Arizona Cardinal. 6-2, 190-pound Sadiq Palmer was the second leading receiver with 28 catches for 419 yards and two scores, and there’s enough young talent returning to be okay. But there isn’t another Isabella.
– The O line and the running game will be a problem … again. The Minutemen lose all three starters on the inside, but get back 6-7, 300-pound sophomore Larnel Coleman at one tackle spot, and 6-5, 320-pound senior Ray Thomas-Ishman on the other side. The interior is young, and the depth is lacking.
– Marquis Young is gone after leading the team with 778 rushing yards and nine scores, averaging over five yards per carry. Backup Jordan Fredericks is gone, too. It’s a thin, thin group with the leading returning running back – Bilal Ally – only finishing with 139 yards and a score.
NEXT: What You Need To Know About the Defense, Top Players, Keys to the Season, What Will Happen
4. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE UMASS DEFENSE
– The UMass defense still needs a whole lot of work. The D allowed 489 yards and 43 points per game, having the biggest issues up front. There weren’t any sacks – just ten on the year – and the stops sometimes never came. UMass allowed 55 points or more six times.
– Is there going to be more of a pass rush? New defensive coordinator Aazaar Abdul-Rahim comes in after working with the Maryland defensive backs over the last few seasons, and Job One is to find some sort of heat to bring into the backfield.
Three starters are back up front, starting with junior Jake Byczko on one end and with a whole lot of youth about to be thrown to the wolves. The ends might be a concern, but the tackles – at least early on – are going to be the bigger problem.
– Can the linebacking corps start to be more active? Junior Chinedu Ogbonna is the team’s leading returning tackler at one outside spot, and there’s just enough experience coming back to be hopeful that this turns into the team’s most improved unit. That’s partly because it was so bad, especially against the run.
– The secondary has to replace three starters, but Isaiah Rodgers is a dangerous corner with the talent to be a difference-maker who has to be avoided. To be a broken record, the youth will have to play a big role around S Martin Mangram – who made 24 tackles – and JUCO transfer Logan Darby.
NEXT: Top Players, Keys To the Season, What Will Happen
3. TOP UMASS PLAYERS
Best UMass Offensive Player
WR Sadiq Palmer, Sr.
Someone has to rise up and become the new No. 1 receiver. There are plenty of options, and it’ll be an open casting call, but the 6-2, 190-pound Palmer has the experience and deep play ability to try taking over for Andy Isabella. He won’t make 102 catches like the former star, but after finishing second on the team with 28 grabs for 419 yards and two scores – averaging 15 yards per catch – but he needs to get the ball his way more.
2. QB Michael Curtis, Sr.
3. QB Randall West, Sr.
4. OT Ray Thomas-Ishman, Sr.
5. OT Larnel Coleman, Soph.
Best UMass Defensive Player
QB Isaiah Rodgers, Sr.
The 5-10, 170-pounder out of Tampa had a strong sophomore season with 50 stops and 14 broken up passes, and followed it up with 56 tackles with two picks and three tackles for loss. One of the team’s fastest players. he’ll be used as a return man from time to time, too.
2. LB Chinedu Ogbonna, Jr.
3. DE Jake Byczko, Jr.
4. S Joseph Norwood, Soph.
5. LB Cole McCubrey, Jr.
NEXT: Keys to the Season, Prediction & What Will Happen
2. KEYS TO THE SEASON
Biggest Key To The UMass Offense
Establish an identity right away, and preferably have the ground game be a part of it. Under the new coaching staff, the passing game will work with a little bit of time, but the running attack that’s been so mediocre-to-lousy since becoming a part of the FBS world has to be more than just along for the ride.
The interior of the line has to undergo an overhaul, a few new backs have to emerge, and the offense that couldn’t move the chains needs to have something to rely on – especially considering the passing game has to undergo an overhaul, too.
Biggest Key To The UMass Defense
Stop the run, stop the run, stop the run. The Minutemen couldn’t get into the backfield – generating just ten sacks and averaging just five tackles for loss per game – and they couldn’t do anything to stop the run. They held just one FBS team – Charlotte – to under 200 yards and were destroyed for 300 rushing yards five times.
This is still going to be a young, developing front seven that will attack more, but has to show it can hold up. It can’t allow 5.8 yards per carry again.
Key Player To A Successful Season
QB Michael Curtis, Sr.
Or Randall West, or any of the new options that new head coach Walt Bell has brought in. The 6-2, 215-pound Curtis is a former JUCO transfer who stepped in a bit last year when injuries hit, completing 26-of-40 passes for 412 yards and four scores with two picks, and he ran for four touchdowns. This is a total rebuild of a job to do with this team, and Curtis is good enough to at least be reliable.
Key Game To The UMass Season
UConn, Oct. 26
It’s not like there’s a massive rivalry in the New England area between UConn and UMass, but the schools are only 50 miles apart, and both will need this game to have any sort of a decent season. The Minutemen get a week off to prepare, and after beating the Huskies 22-17 last season – and after being 3-1 all-time in the series – they have to keep it going.
– UMass Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2018 UMass Fun Stats
– UMass 1st Quarter Scoring: 131 – UMass 2nd Quarter Scoring: 64
– Sacks: Opponents 39 for 231 yards – UMass 10 for 71 yards
– Rushing Yards: Opponents 3,318 – UMass 1.697
NEXT: What Will Happen
1. UMASS WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN
This is a complete and total gut job for new head coach Walt Bell.
The starts are all done on the offensive side. New receivers have to emerge, there isn’t a sure-thing starting quarterback, the running back situation is thin, and the offensive line has to find a whole new group for the interior.
And, even with all of that, and even after losing WR Andy Isabella along with the two main quarterbacks and leading rusher, the O has to find a way to be better to make up for the porous defense.
There aren’t any quick fixes coming in for one of the nation’s worst Ds – at least outside of the new coaching staff.
On the plus side, it’s going to be a young team with a young coaching staff and a whole new energy. But after winning four games last year …
Set The Regular Season Win Total At … 3
The first five games are all against teams that didn’t go bowling last season, and in all, seven of the first nine games are against teams that couldn’t get an extra game.
Even so, UMass will be chalked up as a win on just about everyone schedule.
Beating Southern Illinois is a must, and coming up with two more wins against teams like Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, UConn, Liberty and Akron have to happen.
There’s no pressure, and this year is all about getting things in place for 2020. Bell and his staff will get plenty of time. Any wins are going to be gravy.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
