2012 UMass Spring Football Analysis

The 2013 Massachusetts Minutemen -Head Coach: Charlie Molnar

UMass Minutemen

2013 Schedule
8/31 at Wisconsin
9/7 Maine
9/14 at Kansas State
9/21 Vanderbilt
9/28 OPEN DATE
10/5 at Bowling Green
10/12 Miami Univ.
10/19 at Buffalo
10/26 Western Michigan
11/2 Northern Illinois
11/9 OPEN DATE
11/16 Akron
11/23 at Central Michigan
11/29 at Ohio

Why To Be Excited ... It’s still a rebuilding process. Seven starters return to a defense that was inconsistent and struggled, but this was a really, really young group that took its lumps. There’s hope on the ends with Kevin Byrne and Stanley Andre returning. The Minutemen started two freshmen outside linebackers, and now Kassan Messiah and Jovan Santos-Knox are experienced and true sophomore John Robinson will get a look in the middle. Freshmen quarterbacks A.J. Doyle and Mike Wegzyn also struggled but have a year under their belts.

Why To Be Grouchy ... There’s a ton of work to do. There’s a strange mix of lots of young talent that’s going to be given time to mature and even more young talent that’s going to need to get through a season. Only five starters return to an offense that couldn’t stop throwing the ball away and couldn’t score on a regular basis, and while the defense gets most of the key parts back, both starting defensive tackles are gone. There’s hope for the future, but this looks like another lump-taking season while Charley Molnar tries to put all the pieces together.

What Needs Working On ... Scoring, scoring, scoring. The Minutemen need to improve in just about every area, with miles to go on defense and plenty of concerns on offense, but more than anything else the attack has to find ways to score after finishing last in the nation averaging just 12.67 per game – the second-worst team, Idaho, averaged just 15.83. It all starts with a running game that averaged a mere 92 yards per outing. Defensively, the front line has to start getting to the quarterback on a regular basis after coming up with a paltry 12 sacks.

Non-Conference Games: at Wisconsin, Maine, at Kansas State, Vanderbilt
Games Against The West: at Central Michigan, Western Michigan
Realistic Best Case Record: 4-8
Worst Case Record: 0-12
Likely Finish: 2-10

Pre-Preseason Projected Wins: Maine, Akron

Pre-Preseason Projected Losses: at Wisconsin, at Kansas State, Vanderbilt, at Bowling Green, Miami Univ., at Buffalo, Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, at Central Michigan, at Ohio

Schedule Analysis: The Minutemen have to beat Maine early on, and they have to take advantage of a November home game against Akron. Outside of those two, it’s tough to find many chances for wins. Road games against Wisconsin and Kansas State won’t be pretty and a home date against Vanderbilt isn’t exactly a break. After starting out the season at Bowling Green, four of the next five games are at home – a major luxury for a MAC team. However, closing out at Central Michigan and Ohio will be rough.

Team Concerns For 2013: After managing just one win, the Minutemen have to be better in most areas while rebuilding in some key parts. The passing game that came up with just nine touchdown passes and was shut down cold at times has to be more efficient and effective, while the ground attack that came up with more than 100 yards just once in the last seven games needs to be better. With six starters needing to be replaced on offense, and both tackles on defense, this will still be a process.

The 2013 Class Is Heavy On ... Receivers. There might not be a Victor Cruz in the bunch, but Shaquille Harris was a good get out of Florida and E.J. Burston and D.J. Woods out of Florid will bring some depth. JUCO transfer Josh Bruns could find a job right away on the offensive line, while defensive ends Shane Huber and Peter Ngobidi are going to eventually be key starters. The hope is for big bomber Todd Stafford to become the trigger man for the passing attack in the next few years.

2012 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 122. That Class Was Heavy On ... New head coach Charley Molner wants more offense, and it should come from this class, at least in the backfield, with RB Stacey Bedell leading the way. Molner came on so late that there hasn’t been much of a recruiting season, so there’s going to be plenty of scrambling after Signing Day just to find players. The defense will come next year.