UMass hits the road for upstart ODU

By MATT VAUTOUR Staff Writer

AMHERST - With his hometown of Blacksburg, Va., not far from the West Virginia border, and Saturday's contest at Norfolk, Va., pretty close to the Atlantic Ocean, calling the 7 p.m. game at Old Dominion a homecoming for Tyler Holmes might be stretching things a bit.

But with his career winding down, any trip to Virginia is cause for added excitement.

"It's always good to go back to your home state," Holmes said. "I have a lot of family making the trip, coming to see me so I'm very excited for this weekend."

Holmes hasn't had the gaudy tackling numbers that he's enjoyed in previous years, due to a combination of being in UMass' new 3-4 defense and seeing extra blocking.

"I'm also taking on a lot more double teams which is freeing up my partner in crime Perry McIntyre, who is having a great year," Holmes said. "As long as we win it's not about stats for me. It's all about the team."

Whether or not his friends and family see Holmes put up numbers, he'd like them to see a UMass victory to put last week's loss to Boston College in the rearview mirror.

"We're ready to bounce back and get that sour taste out of our mouth," he said.

Time & location: 7 p.m. Foreman Field, Norfolk, Va.

Records: UMass is 2-1 (1-0 vs. CAA), ODU is 3-0 (0-1 CAA)

Last week: UMass fell at Boston College, 27-17; ODU lost at Delaware, 27-17

TV: None locally

Radio: WRNX-FM (100.9)

Internet broadcast: Links can be found at umassathletics.com

When UMass has the ball: The league's most productive rusher will go up against the CAA's stingiest rushing defense.

UMass senior tailback Jonathan Hernandez leads the league with 132.7 yards per game, while ODU has allowed just 88.0 rushing yards per game, including just 80 in last week's loss to Delaware.

It also pits Old Dominion, which leads the conference with 12 sacks, against a UMass offensive line which has allowed just three.

UMass coach Kevin Morris hopes this will be the week that sophomore quarterback Kellen Pagel finds the consistency that's eluded him so far.

"We're just pushing him to get better. It's time to go now," Morris said. "It's about him getting more game reps and making better decisions on game day. He's doing well in practice he needs to take it onto the field on game day. It's a mental thing obviously. It's not physical because he can make all the throws."

When Old Dominion has the ball: Thomas DeMarco has been the starting quarterback in every game since the Monarchs resurrected their football program in 2009. The senior is 85-for-143 for 815 yards this season. He's thrown four touchdowns and has been intercepted three times. He can be an effective runner as well with five rushing TDs.

"He's a very athletic kid. He reminds me a little bit of Rhode Island's quarterback" Steve Probst, Holmes said. "If something breaks down he can make a play with his legs and certainly keep them in the ball game."

DeMarco will likely go after UMass' secondary, which is both injured and young.

Holmes said the Minutemen front seven needs to pressure DeMarco to take pressure of the defensive backs. "They're young and they're going to keep getting better," he said. "We have to keep doing our job and getting after the quarterback to help those guys out a little bit."

Colby Goodwyn is ODU's primary ball carrier. He's averaging 103.7 yards per game, second in the league behind Hernandez.

Old Dominion's 35.8 points per game is third in the conference, while its 409.5 total yards per game is second in the CAA. UMass should be aided by the return of cornerback Antoine Tharpe, who could boost a thin secondary.

ODU will gamble. The Monarchs have attempted 11 fourth-down conversions and have made five.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.