Quote:and the overall support - with more on campus games (finally) we need to get the apathetic (and pathetic) students to show up and get some atmosphere in that concrete barn of ours.
Hawaii would represent a stepping stone win for us. Are they a powerhouse - no of course not - but they would not be an FCS win or some ****** bottom wrung MAC school pushover win which nobody gives a shite about.
Pretty salty talk from a fan of a school that never got to .500 in MAC play. Just sayin.
Maybe that didn't come out right but this was a huge part of the problem - we were/are a nobody playing a nobody (and especially nobody that anyone in Amherst gave one solid shite about). I honestly am not even sure most people up here even know where Akron is (sadly).
Part of that atmosphere change can come just by playing against a team who people heave heard of (Like Hawaii or BYU etc...).
What makes you think you can beat a Hawaii or a BYU?
I'm only partially doing this to be a jerk--the reality is your win totals and your Sagarin ratings say you're a major underdog vs Hawaii. So how does this work out well for you guys?
Well then don't be a jerk :-) !! My rambling is about a few things that are and are not directly related - Umass winning games and getting our pathetic student body there to see them play. We need more attendance - period.
I didn't say anything about Umass winning those games. The students don't care if we play Akron or Miami (Oh) or Ball state - those schools mean absolutely nothing to them whether we win or not - because there is absolutely no cache` to those "names" even if we are in the same conference. A team like BYU and even Hawaii sounds "more impressive" and people up here have heard of them at least so that brings a little more interest. Of course more wins will bring more people in, but just a better opponent will help too.
Using basketball - a crappy Umass basketball team playing Kennesaw State will draw 2,500 (maybe). But the same crappy Umass Basketball team playing St John's or Depaul will probably draw 1,000 or more additional fans - not because the odd sof us winning changed (we suck either way), but just because those teams have more name recognition.
Football or basketball - if Umass was 0 and 30 and Uconn came to town the building would be full - if we were 0 and 30 and Akron came to town, they would be hard pressed to get 2,000 if the tickets were free.
(This post was last modified: 08-25-2017 02:45 PM by Eldonabe.)
Quote:and the overall support - with more on campus games (finally) we need to get the apathetic (and pathetic) students to show up and get some atmosphere in that concrete barn of ours.
Hawaii would represent a stepping stone win for us. Are they a powerhouse - no of course not - but they would not be an FCS win or some ****** bottom wrung MAC school pushover win which nobody gives a shite about.
Pretty salty talk from a fan of a school that never got to .500 in MAC play. Just sayin.
Maybe that didn't come out right but this was a huge part of the problem - we were/are a nobody playing a nobody (and especially nobody that anyone in Amherst gave one solid shite about). I honestly am not even sure most people up here even know where Akron is (sadly).
Part of that atmosphere change can come just by playing against a team who people heave heard of (Like Hawaii or BYU etc...).
What makes you think you can beat a Hawaii or a BYU?
I'm only partially doing this to be a jerk--the reality is your win totals and your Sagarin ratings say you're a major underdog vs HAwaii. So how does this work out well for you guys?
(08-25-2017 02:43 PM)Eldonabe Wrote: I didn't say anything about Umass winning those games. The students don't care if we play Akron or Miami (Oh) or Ball state - those schools mean absolutely nothing to them whether we win or not - because there is absolutely no cache` to those "names" even if we are in the same conference. A team like BYU and even Hawaii sounds "more impressive" and people up here have heard of them at least so that brings a little more interest. Of course more wins will bring more people in, but just a better opponent will help too.
Ok, that makes sense. And there's always the chance you win--upthread apparently Vegas has you at only -2 for the Hawaii game.
(08-25-2017 02:43 PM)Eldonabe Wrote: I didn't say anything about Umass winning those games. The students don't care if we play Akron or Miami (Oh) or Ball state - those schools mean absolutely nothing to them whether we win or not - because there is absolutely no cache` to those "names" even if we are in the same conference. A team like BYU and even Hawaii sounds "more impressive" and people up here have heard of them at least so that brings a little more interest. Of course more wins will bring more people in, but just a better opponent will help too.
Ok, that makes sense. And there's always the chance you win--upthread apparently Vegas has you at only -2 for the Hawaii game.
Underdogdynasty has us by 6. This can't be right, we're the #130 FBS rated pre-season team.
Quote:Prediction
This game has the makings of a high-scoring shootout that could go either way. However, I’m optimistic that the Minutemen will come out of the gate strong and start their season with a win. I predict that UMass will win, 35-29.
Ticket sales look pretty good, 8 sections with low availability and one one section with medium availability. The rest seemed reserved for group sales. Schools not in season so no students and the band will be around 20% of strength.
Man o man it's game day. Really excited and peeked at the ticket chart and very encouraging. 60% of the stadium is grayed out or no tickets available, the other 40% is low availability. Do I believe the ticket chart 100%, no, but hoping to be pleasantly surprised by the crowd and atmosphere. Too bad we don't start school for another week and will miss the flow and energy of the student marsh pits.
Anyhow if you are outside of New England and know many of you are. You can watch the game for free at 6 PM EST.
(08-26-2017 09:13 AM)Steve1981 Wrote: GAME DAY IS HERE!!!
Man o man it's game day. Really excited and peeked at the ticket chart and very encouraging. 60% of the stadium is grayed out or no tickets available, the other 40% is low availability. Do I believe the ticket chart 100%, no, but hoping to be pleasantly surprised by the crowd and atmosphere. Too bad we don't start school for another week and will miss the flow and energy of the student marsh pits.
Anyhow if you are outside of New England and know many of you are. You can watch the game for free at 6 PM EST.
(08-26-2017 09:26 PM)billybobby777 Wrote: Well, UMASS came close to winning. What was the final attendance numbers?
Attendance was 12,145.
Ooph.
No students on campus, 3k plus would have changed those number close to a sell-out. The last 4 year slide in FCS followed by 5 terrible years as FBS, certainly hurts. There was so much riding on this game it really hurts in the syhcey as nothing has changed. We played a 7 win G5 team close so there is progress, but we need wins at this point and it just hurts.
The last 4 years of fcs were bad when Brown left and Morris took over and the cupboard was totally empty at the dawn of FBS era. It will take time but man it's so painfully. We are just getting up to FBS recruitment and playing freshmen. Like Jesse Britt, who dropped the fair catch and they recovered and then scored. He was one of the best players we have and listen.
(08-27-2017 10:41 AM)BigHouston Wrote: Pretty certain UMass numbers would be better if they were in the AAC, with a new football stadium of course.
Wha???
What in the world would cause you to "think" that? (I'm dead serious here... What empirical evidence, your wishful thinking not withstanding, possibly supports such a thought?)
(08-27-2017 11:08 AM)NJ2MDTerp Wrote: You guys should hire either Al Golden or Greg Schiano to turn around the program.
When you pay an FBS Head Coach the equivalent of what you would flip to a panhandler at an intersection, you are going to get what you pay for.............
Quote:Instead of an important, momentum-gathering victory, the Minutemen began their season just like the past five years, with a loss. This loss in particular was difficult to take.
In a year where a lot of talk has been made about changing culture, and making progress towards turning a corner, Saturday’s victory felt exactly like so many games where UMass has found a way to lose as opposed to win. A lead squandered, key mistakes at inopportune times, big plays given up leading to deciding scores. Those are things UMass was, and still is, hoping to put behind them. They weren’t able to do so on Saturday, and it cost them a win.
UMass’ offense showed that it can still score, racking up five touchdowns via both air and ground, in spite of an up and down performance from their offensive line. UMass’ defense, as it has been since the move up, is the primary source of concern.
Good performances were turned in on several levels. Rodgers looks like the stalwart he was projected to be at cornerback. Linebacking newcomer Bryton Barr had a terrific UMass debut with 13 tackles and a sack in the middle. Steve Casali looked strong as always, never hesitating to lay it on the line for the Minutemen.
But at the end of the day, UMass’ defense gave up 503 yards on Saturday, and lost coverage at the most inopportune time. Blown assignments can be corrected, but defensive coordinator Ed Pinkham has more work to do.
UMass needs to regroup quickly, as a road date with Coastal Carolina awaits next Saturday night. A game, that while the Chanticleer’s first at the FBS level, is far from a sure thing.
The Minutemen still have a chance to get their season off to a quick start, and how they regroup after losing a tight one, one that they had in their grasp, will show a lot about the 2017 UMass squad.
(08-26-2017 09:26 PM)billybobby777 Wrote: Well, UMASS came close to winning. What was the final attendance numbers?
Attendance was 12,145.
Ooph.
No students on campus, 3k plus would have changed those number close to a sell-out. The last 4 year slide in FCS followed by 5 terrible years as FBS, certainly hurts. There was so much riding on this game it really hurts in the syhcey as nothing has changed. We played a 7 win G5 team close so there is progress, but we need wins at this point and it just hurts.
The last 4 years of fcs were bad when Brown left and Morris took over and the cupboard was totally empty at the dawn of FBS era. It will take time but man it's so painfully. We are just getting up to FBS recruitment and playing freshmen. Like Jesse Britt, who dropped the fair catch and they recovered and then scored. He was one of the best players we have and listen.
He looked like that was THE last place he wanted to be at that particular moment.
I wish he owned that prevent offense scheme they decided to go with when they could have iced the game. That was just dumb on every level. You have about 4 net yards up the middle for the entire game so you decide to kill clock buy running your least effective play set at that moment..... The opposite of Brilliant!
(08-27-2017 11:08 AM)NJ2MDTerp Wrote: You guys should hire either Al Golden or Greg Schiano to turn around the program.
When you pay an FBS Head Coach the equivalent of what you would flip to a panhandler at an intersection, you are going to get what you pay for.............
Hey...I want to see UMass football succeed but I was surprised that the school would give Whipple a second go around, especially considering that he had no FBS level experience and was out of coaching at the time of his hiring. That said, if there's no substantive improvement by the end of year 3, I think the school should seriously consider either Golden or Schiano. Both have built FBS programs from ground up, are still young and can tap into the NJ/PA talent UMass needs.
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