AMHERST — Lukas Kolter was blunt. Being injured wasn’t fun.
“A year and a half off of football, you can’t even imagine how terrible that is,” said the UMass redshirt junior offensive lineman who missed 2016 with a foot injury. “Redshirting last year was absolutely terrible. Now getting back feels great.”
Minuteman coach Mark Whipple was critical of a lot of the execution in Saturday’s loss to Hawaii, but Kolter followed up a strong preseason with a good game against the Warriors.
“He’s been great. He played good the other night. He played a couple of positions. We’re working him at a few,” Whipple said. “He’s smart. He’s a good athlete for his size. He’s worked hard. We missed him last year, but I’m glad he’s here now.”
Kolter said he spent last season trying to absorb as much as possible by watching to be ready when he was healthy again.
“Not being on the field was already tough enough,” he said. “I tried to keep up mentally.”
Kolter, a 6-foot-4, 315-pound native of Cologne, Germany, gives the Minutemen some offensive versatility on the line as he can play any interior spot.
When center Derek Dumais was shaken up, he stepped in at center.
“We’re rotating around the inside guys. Coach is trying me out at center for the first time this year,” Kolter said. “I’m pumped to play center, pumped to play guard, pumped to play wherever the coaches want me to play.”
When he is at center it gives the Minutemen a guy calling out protections with a German accent for the second straight season as Fabian Hoeller started every game there last year.
Kolter said he missed his countryman.
“I miss Fabian a lot around here. He was here before I came,” he said. “Now the first year without him is a little weird.”
Kolter helped fill some of the leadership void from Hoeller’s departure.
“I feel like I’ve been leading the guys a lot, along with Raquan (Thomas) and (Jake) Largay. I feel like we have a lot of leaders,” he said. “We have great chemistry on the offensive line right now.”
HONORING 1990 YANCON CHAMPS — UMass announced that the 1990 Yankee Conference champions will be honored at the Sept. 9 game against Old Dominion at McGuirk Stadium.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage