AMHERST — When UMass plays at Old Dominion Saturday, Minuteman coach Mark Whipple said both of his quarterbacks will likely play.
When exactly UMass and ODU will kickoff is somewhat up in the air.
It’s scheduled for 6 p.m. in Norfolk, Virginia, but impending Hurricane Matthew could affect that.
According to the Virginia Pilot, officials at Old Dominion are exploring moving the game, either to earlier in the day, likely noon on Saturday, or even Friday night.
A decision isn’t expected to come until Wednesday morning at the earliest.
Whipple was waiting for further updates.
“We’ve got a plan. We’d have to put more things in (Wednesday if the game is Friday),” Whipple said.
UMass is flying to Virginia by chartered plane. It’s unknown whether the Minutemen would be able to change the flight to fly Thursday. Getting out after a game Saturday could also be a challenge.
The Pilot said the region is expected to be hit hard.
“We’re preparing for what we’re calling a generational storm, a storm that people are still talking about 20 or 30 years from now,” Jeff Orrock, the meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service’s Wakefield, Virginia, office, told the Pilot Tuesday.
Whenever the game happens Whipple said quarterbacks Andrew Ford and Ross Comis will play.
“They’ve both played really good (in practice),” Whipple said. “They’ve both had good moments and bad. We’ll figure it out. They both played really well today. It’s a good problem to have.”
The redshirt sophomores have had high points and low points this season for UMass (1-4).
Ford has completed 63 of 101 throws for 660 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions.
Comis is 25 of 56 for 358 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Comis was solid in the 24-7 loss at Florida, but struggled in the 26-7 loss to Boston College and was injured. He didn’t play again until Saturday when he led the Minutemen on two fourth quarter scoring drives.
Ford looked sharp in the 21-13 win over FIU and the 47-35 loss to Mississippi State. But he struggled in Saturday’s 31-24 loss to Tulane before giving way to Comis.
“We were obviously disappointed with the result. It doesn’t change our mindset going into this week,” Ford said. “We just have to have our best week of practice and take our best game in on Saturday.”
Comis said he’s fully healthy and eager to contribute.
“I’m healed up and ready to go this weekend,” Comis said. “You like to get in rhythms. But Andrew and I know we’re both starting guys and both provide valuable minutes to our team.”
Whipple has never used a quarterback rotation in two stints at UMass.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage