AMHERST - The National Football League chapter of the University of Massachusetts alumni has grown considerably as teams trimmed their rosters to 53 players Saturday in preparation for new week's season opening games.

Six Minutemen, including Matt Lawrence, who is on the Baltimore Ravens' physically unable to perform list, made NFL rosters.

As expected, James Ihedigbo and Vladimir Ducasse both made the New York Jets final roster, while Jeremy Cain resumed his role as the Jacksonville Jaguars long snapper.

Both Victor Cruz and Jeremy Horne had solid preseasons with the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs, respectively, after signing as undrafted free agents. Both got good news at 6 p.m. Saturday when they weren't among their teams' final cuts.

Shortly after informing his family, Cruz shared his good news to the world via Twitter.

"Wow, hard work really does pay off! Thank you everyone that believed in me! The hard work never ends!" Cruz tweeted.

Cruz was the NFL's leading receiver during the preseason but was taking nothing for granted until his agent called him with good news.

"I was at home patiently waiting for the call, hoping for the best," Cruz said. "My agent called me and said I was a Giant. I was definitely excited. I had a good feeling, but you never know exactly."

He said it still hadn't hit him.

"I'm kind of floating around as everyone congratulates me. It's definitely been a whirlwind. It's been surreal these past couple months. It hasn't set in just yet," he said. "I'm ready to get to practice and start preparing for Carolina."

The Giants open the season Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Panthers at home.

Horne and the Chiefs will be the second of two Monday night games as they host San Diego at 10:15 p.m.

"This is what I've been waiting for my whole life. I'm ecstatic right now," Horne said. "This is a great feeling. I'm blessed with this opportunity. It's a dream come true."

Horne figured he'd made it when 6 p.m. came and went and the phone didn't ring.

"If they don't call you that means you made it," he said. "If they call you it's bad."

Horne called Cruz to share the good news.

"We called each other," Horne said. "It's great. We're doing our thing trying to feed our families."

After the inititial wave of phone calls died down, Cruz check to see how his former teammates has fared at UMass and celebrated their success.

"I was going crazy when I saw the final score," he said. "I was very happy."

Jeromy Miles, another ex-Minuteman, was not as fortunate. The All-Ameircan safety was cut by Cincinnati Bengals. He could be signed to a practice squad this week.

MILHELM, IGWENAGU HURT - Sophomore offensive lineman Stephane Milhelm and junior tight end Emil Igwenagu both left Saturday's game with sprained ankles. The severity won't be determined until early this week.

MISCELLANEOUS - Brothers Woody and Ryan Carter combined on a special teams tackle in the fourth quarter. Seventeen Minutemen played their first games for UMass including two true freshmen - Stanley Andre and Antoine Tharpe.

The crowd of 10,072 was the 17th time since 2005 UMass had more than 10,000 fans.

VIOLETTE KICKS - Late this week redshirt, freshman Brendan Levengood was still listed as the Minutemen's starting placekicker, but a late switch moved punter Caleb Violette into the role. He made three extra points and didn't attempt a field goal.

Levengood handled kickoffs.

NEXT UP - UMass will host Holy Cross, Saturday at 6 p.m. The Crusaders defeated Howard, 38-7, Saturday in Worcester.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com.