UMass Football 2014 Spring Wrap Up

Strengths & Question Marks 

The strength of this UMass Minutemen squad starts at the top with the new head coach Mark Whipple. In 1998 he led the Minutemen to the FCS National Championship before moving on to the NFL. While it remains to be seen how he handles the rigors of a FBS head coaching gig, he brings a familiarity to UMass football that was sorely missed under former coach Charley Molnar. On the field the line backers are the most talented group with Messiah and Andre returning and will anchor the new 3-4 defensive scheme.

There are question marks all over this team and there is none bigger than the one at the quarterback position. AJ Doyle struggled mightily last season and will be challenged for his starting spot by a host of newcomers. The offensive line is another area of concern as three starters are gone from last year including both tackles.

Breakout Players 

On the offensive side of the ball, one player to watch is tight end Brandon Howard who is taking over for NFL hopeful Rob Blanchflower. He has strong hands and good size and should provide an excellent safety net for whoever wins the QB battle. Also Wideout Shakur Nesmith, who made two big plays at the spring game, could play his way into the third receiver spot in the summer. At 6-4 he has good size and could be used nicely in the redzone.

Defensively look for DE Peter Angeh to have an impact coming off the edge as a pass rusher. As a rising sophomore he is a young talent that could blossom as the season goes on and he gets more game reps.

Position Grades

QB: D+

AJ Doyle looks to be the starter after spring ball but Todd Stafford, Andrew Verboys, and Blake Frohnapfel will all be in the mix to challenge Doyle. Doyle is a rising junior and split time at the helm last year with Mike Wegzyn who will graduate in a few weeks. AJ had a subpar season throwing for 1274 yards and 6 TDs with 11 interceptions. He didn’t look to have improved much this spring and he will need to come into summer camp ready to go or he could wind up holding the clipboard for one of the three challengers.

RB: C+

UMass has three returning ball carriers that should all see some kind of work load during the season. Lorenzo Woodley looks to be in position to share a majority of the carries with Jamal Wilson. Wilson will also appear in the backfield in the fullback position but he acts as more of a second back and could provide some matchup problems for opposing defenses. Shadrach Abrokwah is a solid third back and had games last year where he showed flashes. He had a good spring game and ran the hardest out of any of the three backs.

WR/TE: B

Tajae Sharpe returns after a very effective 2013 season where he led the team in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He is one of the lone playmakers on the UMass roster and should be utilized accordingly. Jalen Williams was Doyle’s favorite option during the spring game and looks to be the WR2 coming out of spring. With TE Rob Blanchflower gone rising redshirt junior Brandon Howard will have to fill the void. At 6-5, 250 lbs. he has the size to be a dominating force and to provide a safety net for the QB. This grade doesn’t factor in the QB position, which if it doesn’t get better will be hard for the recievers to live up to this grade.

OL: D

During the spring game both first and second team offensive lines looked to be in over their heads against the UMass defense. They will need to figure out how to shore up their pass protection otherwise it won’t really matter who the quarterback is.

DL: B-

Peter Angeh and the DL are a little undersized but what they lack in size they make up for in speed and agility. They love to go after the quarterback but it will be interesting to see how they handle the big offensive lineman of the MAC.

LB: B+

The LBs are by far the most experienced and most talented group on this team. Stanley Andre and Kassan Messiah return to the fold this year and will need to continue their stellar play to shore up this defense as they switch to a 3-4. With this new base defense the backers will need to live up to this grade if the defense is going to succeed.

Secondary: C

The secondary wasn’t tested too much during the spring game but Randall Jette and Trey Dudley-Giles have the potential to be solid corner backs. The defense will probably be on the field for a majority of the game so they will need to step their game up to keep games competitive. Safeties D’Metrius Williams and Joe Colton will also be significant factors in the secondary.

Specials: C-

Blake Lucas had an awful year last season as he was 2-10 on FGs but he looks to be the starter coming out of spring once again. He has looked much improved this spring and will need to carry this momentum into the fall as UMass will need every point they can get if they want to win more than one game this year. Punter Logan Laurent will also see a lot of game time and will need to win the field position game for the Minutemen and looks to be able to do so.

2014 Expectations

With Mark Whipple taking the reins UMass should improve from last year (not that it’s too hard to improve from 1-11). UMass plays one of the more challenging out of conference schedules with their first four games against BC, Colorado, Vanderbilt, and Penn State. The first two are home games with the last two on the road. It is safe to assume that UMass will be beginning the season 0-4.

Mark Whipple is an offensive minded coach and that is just what the Minutemen need after last year where they were on of the worst schools in just about every offensive statistical category. If the offensive line doesn’t improve though it won’t matter too much what play Whipple draws up. Overall they should be better than last season but probably not by too much until Whipple can get the recruits that he wants. Prediction: 4-8

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Max Moore, UMass contributor for Hustle Belt provided the information for our UMass football 2014 spring wrap up.  For more UMass football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Max & Hustle Belt on Twitter @HustleBelt.

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