(06-05-2015 08:56 AM)No Bull Wrote:  UMass has some upside but won't make it long as an independent. I am not sure what the plan is. I think not joining the MAC for all sports was a mistake...I am sure most anyone who likes UMass FBS football agrees with me.

Patience. You realize that this will be our first year at the FBS scholarship limit. Most transitional teams take some time to add the beef up front along with FBS speed and depth. Patience and watch us this year.

cfbhuddle had some positive things to say about us.

Quote:But in 2014, UMass showed its first signs of life as an FBS program. The Minutemen finished 3-9, but all three wins came in Mid-American Conference play, surpassing the league’s win total in league from the previous two seasons.

There’s more to take away from the Minutemen’s losses than their wins, however. UMass dropped five games by a total of 19 points, including a pair of three-point decisions against Power Five competition, Colorado and Vanderbilt. The Minutemen had opportunities to win both contests.

UMass also lost by one score at MAC stalwart Toledo, and fell to MAC East divisional champion by just one point.

A few plays turn out differently, and a 3-9 UMass team is suddenly 7-5 and going to a bowl game. Some of the misfires can be attributed to inexperience, which will be of no concern for the team Phil Steele notes as the nation’s most experienced in 2015.

Chief among them is quarterback Blake Frohnapfel, a gunslinger with prototypical pro prospect size, which works out well given head coach Mark Whipple is well-tenured in the NFL.

And before he spent time with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins, Whipple was the head coach at UMass, from 1999 through 2003.

The university turned to a coach with experience in Amherst after parting ways with Charley Molnar, and Whipple delivered in his first season. The intricacies of his offense streamlined implementation, and Forhnapfel explained to Friend of the Site Alex Kolodziej that Whipple’s system was easy to run.

That manifested in UMass scoring more than 27 points per game in 2014 — not Baylor-like numbers, sure, but a monumental improvement over 2013, when the Minutemen averaged fewer than 12 points per game.

Look for a considerable spike again with virtually the entire offense returning.

http://cfbhuddle.com/2015/06/02/going-ou...s-bowling/