Friday, November 7, 2008
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of UMass' Division I-AA
Championship in 1998, I'm rerunning the game story from each game from
that season in its corresponding week this year. I'll add some
commentary on the old articles in in italics.
UM FUMBLES IT AWAY
AMHERST - Despite turning the ball over six times previously, with 45 seconds left in the game and trailing 28-27, the University of Massachusetts football team still had a chance to win with the ball at its own 45 yard-line.
But turnover No. 7 put the final touches on a tough day for UMass quarterback Todd Bankhead, as his pass was tipped by Connecticut's Jordan Younger and intercepted by Husky Jeff Delucia to seal a 28-27 UConn victory at McGuirk Alumni Stadium Saturday.
The loss cost the Minutemen (8-3, 6-2) the Atlantic 10 title, but while it was a heartbreaker, it proved not to be a backbreaker. Sunday, the Minutemen received an at-large bid to the Division 1-AA playoffs (see related story).
UConn's win marked a season sweep for the Huskies, who beat the Minutemen 44-41 in overtime on Oct. 17.
"It was a crazy game," said Minuteman coach Mark Whipple. "Our offense played well, but they just laid the ball on the ground too many times. It wasn't a lack of effort that we lost and it wasn't lack of confidence. I couldn't be prouder whether we won the game or not."
The 12th largest crowd in UMass history attended the game. The 16,392 fans were the most at McGuirk since Nov. 26, 1974.
"I want to give all the thanks and the credit to the people at UMass and the fans today," Whipple said. "I think you could really feel that they were into it."
The one-point margin of victory again came from UMass' place-kicking struggle, when Jason Cherry missed the extra point after the final Minuteman touchdown, but there was blame to be shared as an excessive-celebration flag on UMass forced Cherry to kick from 33 yards out.
"Jason hit it pretty good," Whipple said, "But he just hit it off to the right. We had a personal foul and I'm not sure what happened, but those officials were good.
UMass finished with 12 penalties for 111 yards.
The loss overshadowed a brilliant effort by the Minuteman defense, which was on the field for just one of the UConn touchdowns.
While special teams accounted for one, the other two came as a result of Bankhead miscues. He fumbled the ball four times in the game and threw two interceptions. One of each wound up in the end zone.
Marcel Shipp also had a costly cough-up. With 3:01 left in the game and the Minutemen seemingly marching toward the go-ahead touchdown, Shipp fumbled the ball at the end of a 17-yard run at the 20. Jamar Wilkins recovered it for the Huskies.
"That was the turning point," said UConn coach Skip Holtz, " because if he walks into the end zone, we were losing."
It marked a disappointing end to an otherwise stellar day for Shipp, who rushed for 257 yards on 38 carries.
UMass' opening drive gave no indication of the troubles that later would befall Bankhead. He directed an 80-yard drive that was capped by a 39-yard scamper by Shipp to put the Minutemen ahead 7-0 less than five minutes into the game.
UMass then surprised the Huskies with an onside kick that kicker Andy Maclay recovered himself. The Minutemen drove to the UConn 17 yard-line but Bankhead fumbled under pressure on third down.
Husky Ron Gamble scooped up the ball and took off the other way, but Minuteman speedy receiver Adrian Zullo caught him and stripped the ball loose. Cliff Bolden fell on it to give UMass the ball on its own 29. The Minutemen advanced the ball back to midfield but were forced to punt.
Anthony Carter tied the game for the Huskies with 3:19 left in the first quarter when he picked off a Bankhead pass at the UMass 37 and scored, but the Minutemen responded quickly.
After Zullo returned the kickoff 39 yards to the Minuteman 43, Shipp went to work. Gaining 30 of the drive's 58 yards himself, Shipp set up Jimmy Moore's 13-yard TD reception from Bankhead to make it 14-7. Moore finished with nine catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns.
The second of those end zone receptions didn't come from Bankhead. The quarterback handed the ball to Shipp, who handed the ball to freshman receiver Eddie Bowman on a play designed to look like a reverse.
Bowman's downfield heave toward Moore in double coverage was off line, but the senior receiver read it right, hauled it in and beat two defenders into the end zone to put UMass ahead 21-7 with 6:15 left in the half.
It was the Huskies who carried momentum into intermission however, as a Gamble sack freed the ball from Bankhead's grip at the UConn 37 and DeLucia picked it up and sprinted into the end zone to make it 21-14.
The momentum extended to the second half, when Jordan Younger, who was returning kickoffs for only the second time this year, broke away for a 92-yard TD to tie the score, 21-21.
Shipp regained the Minuteman lead early in the fourth quarter, but the missed PAT left the score 27-21.
UConn answered with its only offensive touchdown of the day, when quarterback Shane Stafford completed a 45-yard march with a 4-yard play-action toss to Carl Bond just inside the end zone. Jim McManus booted what became the winning kick to make it 28-27 with 12:04 remaining.
...10 years since that game...
Friday, October 31, 2008
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of UMass' Division I-AA Championship in 1998, I'm rerunning the game story from each game from that season in its corresponding week this year. I'll add some commentary on the old articles in in italics. In a season filled with dramatic moments, this game didn't have many of them.
Pointed win for UM
AMHERST _ There was no suspense and no last minute dramatics this time for the University of Massachusetts football team, just a whole lot of Todd Bankhead and Marcel Shipp.
Scoring their most points in 10 years, the Minutemen stomped Atlantic 10 rival Maine, 55-34, in front of 10,355 at McGuirk Stadium Saturday.
"We played very well today. Our kids did a really good job preparing this week," said UMass coach Mark Whipple. "I saw a little more concentration in practice. We really haven't practiced poorly all year, but there was a little something extra."
Bankhead broke out of his two-game slump by completing 20-of-29 passes for 353 yards and five touchdown passes against a Black Bear defense that entered the game ranked first in the conference against the pass.
"He did a great job," Whipple said. "Every time somebody has made a mistake, they've come back and really responded. Last week Todd had a terrible day and he came back and had a great day today."
Bankhead's performance earned him the Atlantic 10's Offensive Player of the Week.
His top competition for that honor likely came from within his own backfield as sophomore tailback Shipp rushed for 270 yards (196 in the fourth quarter) and three touchdowns on 38 carries.
"In the first quarter we passed a lot which really opened things up," Shipp said. "The line did a great job."
The win improved UMass to 8-2, 6-1 in the Atlantic 10, on the season. A win next Saturday against Connecticut at McGuirk would clinch the Atlantic 10 title and an automatic bid to the Division 1-AA Playoffs.
The Minutemen never trailed in the contest and led 20-14 at halftime. They scored 14 unanswered third quarter points that turned a tight game into a blowout.
The Minutemen moved the ball on their first drive of the game. Launched by a 41-yard kick-off return by Adrian Zullo, UMass drove from the Maine 48 to the Maine 20, but holder Andy Maclay fumbled the snap to prevent Jason Cherry from trying a 37-yard field goal.
The Black Bears concentrated on stopping Shipp early, opening the door for Bankhead, who put UMass on the board with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Zullo with seven seconds left in the first quarter to put the Minutemen ahead 7-0.
After the Maine offense quickly went three-and-out, a 41-yard pass from Bankhead to Jimmy Moore that moved the ball into the red zone, set up a 12-yard TD connection between the two one play later, making it 14-0.
The Black Bears narrowed their deficit to 14-7 on a seven-yard pass from Mickey Fein to Drew O'Connor but UMass responded almost immediately as Bankhead hit fullback Matt Jordan for a 36-yard touchdown pass on the right side line. Cherry missed the PAT leaving UMass ahead 20-7.
Agawam native Phil McGeoghan made it close before halftime with an eight-yard TD reception to make it 20-14.
Moore and Kerry Taylor each caught touchdown passes to make it 34-14 before a wild fourth quarter.
Maine started the fourth quarter by turning the ball over on downs to the Minutemen on their own 34-yard line. That marked the only time in the final 15 minutes that a drive didn't end on a touchdown until Bankhead took a knee to run out the clock at the end of the game.
In that time period Shipp had an 82-yard touchdown and scoring runs of three and two yards as well.
...10 years since that game...
Thursday, October 23, 2008
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of UMass' Division I-AA
Championship in 1998, I'm rerunning the game story from each game from
that season in its corresponding week this year. I'll add some
commentary on the old articles in in italics.
Samuel, defense work a miracle
KINGSTON, R.I. - Rhode Island quarterback Jeff Weaver didn't see University of Massachusetts linebacker Khari Samuel moving over into pass coverage until the ball was out of his hand.
The ball bounced off Samuel's gloves to his chest before nestling firmly back in his hands, and he was off to the races. Before Samuel even completed his untouched 20-yard run into the endzone, Ram fans were already headed for the exits.
The touchdown capped another come-from-behind win for the No. 12 Minutemen, who left the Ocean State on the winning end of a 23-13 football game.
"When I wear gloves, I can't catch," Samuel said. "I just had to stop it first and juggle it. I caught it and I tried to run the best I could. Just lucky I guess."
The Minuteman victory, coupled with Connecticut's 59-17 loss to Delaware, puts the Minutemen (7-2, 5-1) alone atop the Atlantic 10's New England Division, and in the driver's seat to win the league title with just two games remaining. A league title would bring an automatic bid to the NCAA Division 1-AA playoffs.
Richmond, which leads the Mid-Atlantic Division, has the same conference record as UMass, but if both teams win their last two games, the Minutemen own the tie-breaker, because they beat the Spiders 22-17 on Sept. 12.
"I thought our defense played outstanding," Whipple said. "I thought it was very apropos for Khari to pick the last pass off and kind of ice the game that way."
Samuel, who was named the Atlantic 10's Defensive Player of the Week, also broke the UMass record for solo tackles with 269 for his career.
"We have confidence in ourselves," Samuel said. "We knew if we just kept plugging and believing in each other and the things we were running that things would come out for the best."
The Minutemen won despite a tough afternoon for quarterback Todd Bankhead, who threw four interceptions and was sacked five times. It also marked the second straight game in which he did not throw a touchdown pass.
"Todd obviously struggled," Whipple said. "He threw the ball all right but just made four bad decisions, just bad reads."
While Bankhead struggled, sophomore tailback Marcel Shipp continued his string of brilliance. After being held to just 60 yards in UMass' scoreless first half, Shipp carried the Minutemen on his back for 109 yards after intermission to finish with 169, his seventh consecutive game with more than 100 yards.
Shipp needs only 184 yards in his final two games to tie the UMass single season rushing mark of 1,631 set by Garry Pearson in 1982.
The game adhered perfectly to the URI game plan in the first half. The Rams kept pressure on Bankhead, sacking him twice and forcing him into two interceptions; more important, they never let the UMass offense deliver a big play.
On offense the hosts controlled the clock in the first half, riding James Jenkins for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Both teams missed field goals in the first quarter, leaving the game scoreless after the first 15 minutes. Rhody kicker Matt Walker put the Rams ahead with a 26-yard field goal midway through the second quarter and URI extended the lead to 10-0 at halftime on a 55-yard TD sprint up the middle by Jenkins.
The second half didn't offer much promise early for the Minutemen. Their first drive ended on a Bankhead interception and their second sputtered before punter Andy Maclay booted the ball away.
Over the course of the game the Rams were flagged three times for 15-yard personal foul penalties, including one for extra-curricular saliva that got Ram lineman Miguel Viera ejected in the game's closing minutes.
Their second personal foul turned a 12-yard run by Shipp into a 27-yard gain, giving the Minutemen the ball at the URI 24. Two runs and one reception by Matt Jordan moved the Minutemen to the 4-yard-line, where Bankhead ran a naked bootleg into the endzone. Jason Cherry missed the point-after, leaving the Rams ahead 10-6.
After Matt Walker missed a 36-yard field goal, Bankhead let him off the hook. Ron Iannotti picked off the UMass QB's next pass and returned it to the UMass 16. The Minutemen defense held, however, forcing the Rams to settle for a 27-yard field goal.
Freshman Adrian Zullo grabbed the momentum back for UMass. Taking the kickoff at his own 1-yard line, the speedster raced up the right sideline before being knocked out of bounds 58 yards later at the Rhode Island 41.
Shipp took it from there, gaining 34 of the necessary yards himself on three carries, including a 15-yarder that tied the game, 13-13.
The Minutemen defense held again, forcing the Rams to punt four plays later. With Bankhead directing his best drive of the day, the Minutemen moved the ball to the URI 8-yard line, where Cherry chipped home a 26-yard field goal that put UMass ahead to stay, 16-13.
"I was really proud of the way Jason stepped up on the field goal and really drilled it," Whipple said.
...10 years since that day...
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
I was 24 when UMass made its Chattanooga run in 1998 and I hung out with the Collegian and WMUA reporters on road trips. One of my favorite off the field memories from that season was at the championship game. The WMUA crew was forced to broadcast from inside the main press box instead of a normal booth so everyone could hear their broadcast throughout. During the pregame, Brett Mauser, WMUA's play-by-play voice, was rattling through the list of things he thought UMass needed to do to win the game.
Standing near me were two reporters that covered Georgia Southern. All week these guys had been homers, arrograntly talking about how great Georgia Southern was, being very condescending to the rest of us like being from the northeast meant we didn't know anything about football. One turned to the other and said something like "This isn't the Atlantic 10, there's no way you guys can win," he said mocking Mauser.
At the end of the game when it became clear that UMass was going to win, Mauser was going appropriately crazy. Those same two reporters walked behind me again whining about how they shouldn't let student media in the press box as they sulked out.
Why am I telling you all this? Because I'm letting Mauser guestblog his memories of that season as part of the blog's season long look back at that season.
By Brett Mauser
Out of left field? Only if that ballpark’s in Guam, the Arctic Circle, Neptune. Really, the Minutemen’s 1998 run to the title made Cinderella’s rise to royalty comparatively predictable. If I had bet on whether UMass would have won a national championship that year, I’d be out one farm.
As a staff writer for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian and broadcaster for WMUA, I was fortunate enough to catch all but one of the ’98 games, that being James Madison. Because of it, it’s the season against which all other improbable runs will be measured.
With Whipple in place, the fullback dive of the Mike Hodges era was replaced by an offense that could seemingly score at will. The teams wore the same jerseys, and many of the numbers stayed the same, but they really looked like they were from different planets, or at least a different era. One was a Model-T; the other was a Maserati. By season’s end, Todd Bankhead threw for three times as many yards as the 1997 quarterbacks. Marcel Shipp turned his freshman-record 756 yards into a UMass record 2,542 as a sophomore. Jimmy Moore and Adrian Zullo gave Bankhead options downfield and Kerry Taylor plenty of space up the seam or underneath. It was awesome. They went from dull to dangerous overnight.
In August, a national championship was inconceivable, but belief in that team really took but a few games to materialize. The Delaware loss got our attention, especially mine. I’d told the Blue Hens student radio team that their high school team could beat us. Whoooa, was I wrong. That Taylor flat-out dropped the pass in the end zone with less than a minute to go was inconsequential to our perception of that team. That they’d almost beaten Delaware was about as good as actually beating them.
What people might forget about is how close UMass was to missing the playoffs altogether. Forget the playoff thrillers in Louisiana or the goal-line stand against Lehigh. If Adrian Zullo doesn’t validate Whipple’s lack of confidence with his kicking game with a sliding touchdown catch to beat Hofstra, UMass finishes 7-4 and misses the playoffs. If James Madison ties the game with a two-point conversion and wins in OT, it’s over. If the field goal by UNH’s Shawn MacLean splits the uprights rather than sails juuuuust left, they’re out. Richmond, URI, we easily could have dropped those too. Or, like today, if UMass scheduled a I-A juggernaut and dropped a fourth game because of it, Tennessee’s a no-go. Yes, they should have beaten UConn at least once and if Taylor catches the pass in Newark, a 2-9 team from the previous year could have run the table even. Take out the ugly Buffalo, Maine and Villanova wins, and every game that season, win or lose, drastically curbed my efforts to reverse a lifelong affinity for fingernail consumption. It was one big cliffhanger.
The charge to Chattanooga culminated with me performing radio play-by-play duties for the showdown with Georgia Southern. Boy, did the UMass defense show up that day. Sure, it surrendered 43 points, but the seven turnovers were massive. None were bigger than when Kole Ayi seemingly intercepted an option pitch to Adrian Peterson and waltzed into the end zone. Because the stadium’s broadcast booths were all occupied by pros, myself and Justin Rudd were relegated to the main press area. Our account was heard loudly and clearly by the dozens of media members, including the entirely disgruntled Georgia Southern press corps. They were plenty confident going in, and let that be known. Their glum looks let it be known that they were plenty displeased afterward. I’d love to hear a tape of that game, of the Ayi return, the what-in-the-world Holston-to-Zullo touchdown, the countdown to the title. As media members, we’re supposed to be objective, but there’s a decent chance I failed in that endeavor.
I’m sad that many of the details have grown fuzzy; some surely remain. Among them, I remember the certifiably awesome Jimmy Moore, he of the greatest catch I’ve ever seen live (one-hander near the north end zone at McGuirk against I forget who). I remember Kevin Quinlan coming out of nowhere to rush for 147 yards in the place of Shipp against McNeese State. I remember Ayi, Brian Smith and Khari Samuel flying to the ball, with the latter saving the day against Rhode Island with a huge pick late. The whole season was like the ultimate Choose Your Own Adventure book. The route UMass chose was complete with near pitfalls left and right but in the end, the tightrope act brought maximum satisfaction for a sports fan, both then and now. Without a doubt, the 1998 championship season was amazing. I wish everyone could have experienced it.
...14 days til the election...
Thursday, October 16, 2008
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of UMass' Division I-AA Championship in 1998, I'm rerunning the game story from each game from that season in its corresponding week this year. I'll add some commentary on the old articles in in italics.
This was another game where one play might have changed the game and thus the season.
Headline: Final kick sails UM's way (out)
DURHAM, N.H. _ As Shawn MacLean's potential game-winning 42-yard field goal sailed toward the uprights, the setting sun in the eyes of the fans on the New Hampshire side of the field made it nearly impossible for them to see whether the kick was good.
But when the referees' arms didn't point skyward and the Minuteman sideline emptied onto the field in celebration, the Wildcats' fans groaned in disappointment.
"It was really close," said UMass linebacker Kole Ayi, who had a game-high 19 tackles. "It looked like it just hooked off at the end. For a while I thought it was good."
Aided by MacLean's poor kicking all game, UMass escaped Durham with a 27-26 win in Atlantic 10 action at Cowell Field.
"We got lucky," said UMass coach Mark Whipple. "I thought he made the kick. We'll take it and move on."
Trailing 27-20 with 3:11 left in the game, the Wildcats struck quickly, riding on the back of tailback Jerry Azumah. Starting at the Wildcat 9-yard line, Azumah followed a 5-yard run with a 63-yard reception to move the ball to the Minuteman 23-yard-line. He capped the drive one play later with a TD run down the left sideline, setting up the Wildcats for a game-tying extra point at 27-26.
But the celebration on the UNH sideline was short-lived when MacLean's PAT sailed just left of the upright with 2:27 to play.
UNH's onside kick attempt was recovered by Minuteman Jimmy Moore at the Wildcat 49-yard-line, but three runs by Marcel Shipp couldn't produce a first down, forcing UMass to punt.
Maclay's punt pinned the Wildcats at their own 9-yard-line with 1:15 left. Wildcat quarterback Tim Cramsey wasn't especially sharp in the final drive, as the Wildcats moved just 32 yards on nine plays, giving them the ball on their own 41-yard-line with just nine seconds left.
UNH caught a break, though, when Minuteman cornerback Brian Smith was flagged for pass interference. Since the game can't end on a defensive penalty, UNH got the ball on the Minuteman 25 for its ill-fated 42-yard field goal attempt.
"It was a great great football game," Whipple said. "Two heavyweights going at it."
The Minutemen (6-2, 4-1) won despite another spectacular performance by Azumah, the all-time leading rusher in Division 1-AA. Azumah turned in his best game of the season with 241 yards and four touchdowns on 33 carries.
After the game Whipple said he's glad he won't have to face Azumah again.
"I've never been so frightened standing on the sideline since I've been coaching. Looking out on the field saying, where's No. 25 (Azumah)?" Whipple said. "I never felt good until the thing .. I still don't feel good. It's Halloween. I've seen Jerry Azumah and I don't want to see anybody else. It's a scary feeling on that sideline."
The pregame promise of a showdown of the conference's top running backs was fulfilled as Shipp ran for 185 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries.
"Marcel Shipp makes a lot of things happen," Whipple said. "He's the guy that's making a lot of people miss."
The sophomore back's numbers earned him the Bill Knight Award, which is given annually to the most outstanding player in the rivalry between the Minutemen and Wildcats. This was the first time since he came to UNH that Azumah did not win the award, a fact that Shipp did not take lightly.
"It means a lot because he's a great athlete," Shipp said. "For me to win this is a big achievement for me and my team to take it from him."
UMass takes on Rhode Island at Kingston Saturday.
The game marked Todd Bankhead's first game in a UMass uniform without a touchdown pass, but the junior signal caller still found his way into the Minuteman record books. He entered the game needing three completions and 118 yards to set UMass single-season marks in those respective categories.
He finished with 274 yards, going 19-of-32. He threw two interceptions.
The Minutemen were clicking early on both sides of the ball. UNH got the ball to open the game and took a 16-play drive to the UMass 8-yard line, but Chris Price blocked MacLean's 30-yard field goal try and the Wildcats came away empty-handed.
Bankhead directed a 71-yard drive in less than three minutes, capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Kevin Quinlan to put the Minutemen ahead 7-0.
Three plays later UMass linebacker Khari Samuel stripped Cramsey and Ayi recovered on the Wildcat 26. Five plays after that Quinlan punched it in again, but kicker Jason Cherry's PAT bounced back off the goalpost, leaving the Minutemen ahead 13-0.
Azumah got New Hampshire on the board late in the half, but MacLean missed the point-after cutting the host's deficit to 13-6.
The Minutemen answered right away. On the next play from scrimmage, Shipp tore off a tackle-breaking 47-yard run that was extended an extra 15 yards because of a UNH face mask penalty.
After a 15-yard pass from Bankhead to Kerry Taylor brought the Minutemen inside the 5, three Shipp runs brought the ball over the goal line for a 20-6 UMass lead at halftime.
Azumah TD's of 13 and 32 yards tied the game at 20-20 late in the third, but Shipp's 2-yard TD run with 7:27 remaining gave the Minutemen just enough cushion.
...10 years since that game...
Thursday, October 9, 2008
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of UMass' Division I-AA
Championship in 1998, I'm rerunning the game story from each game from
that season in its corresponding week this year. I'll add some
commentary on the old articles in in italics.
This game featured two future NFL running backs in Marcel Shipp and Brian Westbrook. It also marked the debut of new kicker Jason Cherry.It was only the seventh game of the season, but Todd Bankhead set the UMass single-season TD pass mark with 20.
Headline: UMASS HITS WILDCATS EARLY, OFTEN
AMHERST _ The No. 19 University of Massachusetts football team never gave No. 22 Villanova a chance Saturday, as the Minutemen took a 20-0 lead in the first quarter and rolled to a 36-26 win in a game that wasn't as close as the score indicated. The game was played in front of a late-arriving homecoming crowd of 12,135 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
"This was a great great win for us," Whipple said. "I'm so proud of the way our kids came back after a tough loss (last week against Connecticut)."
The win over the defending Atlantic 10 champs allowed the Minutemen (5-2, 3-1 A-10) to keep pace with Connecticut (6-1, 3-1) in the A-10's New England division. The Huskies beat Rhode Island, 31-17, Saturday.
Prior to Saturday, Villanova had owned the first 15 minutes of games this season, outscoring opponents 45-13 in the opening quarter over its first six games. The Minuteman game plan was to come out strong early and turn the tables.
"I thought the first quarter would be very important because Villanova had played so well all year in the first quarter," said UMass coach Mark Whipple.
The Wildcats helped the UMass cause right away, when quarterback Chris Boden fumbled the snap on the Wildcats' third play from scrimmage. Matt Dawson recovered to give the Minutemen the ball on Villanova's 36-yard-line.
Six plays later Todd Bankhead hit Marcel Shipp in the flat and the running back ran 10 yards into the endzone to put UMass ahead 7-0, just 3:35 into the game.
The TD pass was Bankhead's 20th of the season, tying the UMass single season mark.
Shipp found the endzone again less than eight minutes later, this time on the ground, running 3 yards through the line. Freshman Jason Cherry, who was making his first start as the UMass placekicker, missed the extra-point wide left, leaving UMass ahead 13-0.
After Villanova failed to move the ball, Connor Kinsella's punt pinned UMass on its own 1-yard line.
Runs of 7 and 8 yards by Shipp gave UMass some breathing room. At first-and-10 from his own 16, Bankhead launched the ball deep to a wide-open Sean Higgins, who was finally brought down at the Nova 20.
The 64-yard bomb, which was UMass' longest pass of the season, set up its most impressive play of 1998. On third-and-9 from the 19, Bankhead fired to Jimmy Moore in the endzone.
The pass was high, and the single coverage on Moore was tight. Fighting off the defender with one arm, Moore leaped, shot his right arm straight up and hauled the pass in one-handed for the touchdown. That put UMass ahead 20-0.
"The touchdown catch that he made is as good as you're ever going to see anywhere," Whipple said. "That alone lifted up the team and lifted the crowd to say this UMass team is for real, when you go up and make a play like that for a touchdown on a third-down play. He's been solid for us all year. He's been a great player for us."
"I threw a bad ball and he went up and got it," said Bankhead, who took sole possession of the single season TD record on the play. "That boosted the whole team."
Cherry's first career field goal from 28 yards put UMass ahead 23-0 midway through the second quarter before Casey Hannon nailed a 35-yarder for the Wildcats to make the score 23-3 at halftime.
Shipp, who ran for 175 yards on 41 carries, got 39 of those on a long touchdown run on UMass' first drive after intermission. Cherry missed the PAT again, and UMass led 29-3.
Villanova caught its first break of the game on its next possession. After seeing no open receivers down field, Boden took off up the middle, but fumbled the ball as he fought through a pile of tacklers. The Minutemen recovered, but the officials ruled Boden was already down.
Whipple, who already was a bit hot under the collar from an earlier play, gave the officials an earful.
Four plays later Boden hit Brian Westbrook for a 37-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 29-10.
While not as highlight film-worthy as his senior teammate's earlier touchdown, freshman Adrian Zullo's diving catch in the endzone on a 16-yard throw by Bankhead was enough to draw cheers from the crowd and put the home team ahead 36-10.
Feeding off the offense's energy the UMass defense produced a three-and-out. Minuteman returner Kevin Quinlan opted not to field Kinsella's punt, but the referee ruled that the ball nicked off Quinlan. Ademole Turner recovered to give the Wildcats a first-and-goal.
Whipple stormed out to the middle of the field to argue the call, which earned him an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty.
"I've never gotten a 15-yarder in my coaching career. I wanted to show our kids that we're behind them 100 percent," a cooler-headed Whipple said after the game. "I thought the officials were wearing Villanova a little bit and I just wanted to make a statement a little bit that we were going to play our tails off and that we were in this together.
"It was a sign," Whipple continued. "Not to show up anybody, but that we're for the kids. The kids were playing too hard to let anything go away and I wasn't going to let that happen."
Westbrook scored on a 4-yard run and the Wildcats added another TD late, but interceptions by Dawson and Brian Smith made the offense's early work hold up.
"We just rode it out at the end, Whipple said. "We've played in three what I consider big games. At Delaware, and last week at UConn we just didn't find a way to win. Today we found a way to win. They're the defending champions and they weren't going to die easy. To win by 10 points, we're ecstatic."
After the game, Nova coach Andy Talley praised the Minuteman offense.
"UMass executed their offense very well. They did a good job of finding open receivers," he said. "They hit the tight end a lot. Shipp is a really good running back."
Bankhead finished with 283 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. After the game he shrugged off the significance of his addition to the record books.
"The only record I care about is that we're 5-2," Bankhead said. "I felt pretty good about everything, but I didn't play as well as I should have in the second half and we need to finish people off."
The Minutemen return to the road Saturday, when they travel to New Hampshire for a 12:30 game with the Wildcats.
...10 years since that game...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of UMass' Division I-AA Championship in 1998, I'm rerunning the game story from each game from that season in its corresponding week this year. I'll add some commentary on the old articles in in italics.
As I go through these stories I'm struck by how many single plays in so many close game could have cost the Minutemen a playoff spot and with it a championship. There were plenty in this game.
Smith, Shipp keep UM on solid footing
AMHERST _ When Brian Smith got his fingers on the ball, the University of Massachusetts sideline breathed a collective sigh of relief.
With 58 seconds left in the game, James Madison had just scored to cut the Minuteman lead to 28-26, and the Dukes set up for the two-point conversion. With his top two options covered, quarterback Greg Maddox tried to hit receiver Marc Bacote in the back of the end zone. Smith managed to touch the ball and knock it to the ground to give the Minutemen a 28-26 win over Atlantic 10 rival James Madison Saturday at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
"Brian Smith made a great play," UMass coach Mark Whipple said. "Brian has really been the most consistent and the best defensive player we've had throughout."
UMass (4-1) now has won four consecutive games and is the only unbeaten team in the A-10 (2-0).
Whipple was pleased with the game's result but not entirely happy with his team's performance.
"We found a way to win and that's the most important thing," Whipple said. "If you keep putting yourselves in these situations, you're going to get bit in the rear. But I think the players realize that they did not play very well."
The defensive heroics were necessary due to a costly UMass penalty on its previous drive. The Minutemen had a first-and-10 from the Dukes' 12-yard-line. After Kevin Quinlan made a short run up the middle, offensive lineman Mim Hill was called for a dead-ball unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, forcing the ball back to the 23, out of Matt Murphy's comfortable field goal range.
UMass couldn't make up the ground and Murphy missed a 36-yard try, keeping the Dukes within one score.
"That was one of the most foolish penalties I've ever been associated with," Whipple said. "We lost our focus. It could have cost us the game, which could have cost us a championship. That is frustrating and hopefully we're going to learn. They will certainly get some extra conditioning because of it. I'm going to run them."
Sophomore tailback Marcel Shipp was a bright spot, rushing for 190 yards on 24 carries for UMass, including a 12-yard touchdown run.
"Nobody really stepped up today except No. 5 (Shipp)," Whipple said. "He is a great football player. goes hard every play, every time in practice. I don't think there's any doubt that Marcel Shipp was the difference in our win."
Much like last week's game against Hofstra, the Minuteman defense covered for a sputtering offense in the first half. Four JMU trips inside the Minuteman 20-yard line produced only one touchdown and two Alan Haston field goals.
But Haston missed the point after on the TD, a moment that would loom large. Had Haston made the kick, James Madison would have only needed to kick a PAT at the end of the game.
Quarterback Todd Bankhead punched in UMass' only first-half score just two seconds into the second half from 1-yard out, which gave UMass a 7-3 lead.
Down 12-7 at halftime, the Minuteman offense came to life. On the first play from scrimmage Bankhead hit Jimmy Moore for a 20-yard reception at the 47. Shipp moved UMass ahead 2 yards, before Bankhead and Moore connected again.
Moore caught the ball on the right sideline but was drilled by a JMU defensive back as he headed toward the goal line. The ball popped loose and rolled into the endzone, where Steve Ley recovered for a touchdown that gave UMass a 14-12 lead with 13:45 left in the third quarter.
"We just came out and clicked on offense," Moore said. "We weren't doing anything in the first half on offense. We just had to execute."
The Minutemen extended that lead to 21-12 with 5:19 left. A 38-yard run by Shipp gave the Minutemen the ball on the JMU 16. On the next play, Moore held on this time as Bankhead found him for the TD. Moore finished with five catches for 109, while Bankhead had 187 yards in the air (11-for-23) but threw one interception, fumbled once and was sacked four times.
Four plays later the Minuteman defense forced the Dukes to punt, giving the offense the ball back just 2:19 later.
Shipp accounted for 65 of the Minutemen's 69 yards on the next drive _ 36 on the ground and 29 on a pass reception _ capped by a 12-yard TD run that put the UMass ahead 28-12.
"We just stepped our game up a lot and the holes were open," Shipp said.
James Madison didn't throw in the towel, though. Led by Maddox's arm and the running of Delvin Joyce (104 yards) the Dukes scored on consecutive fourth-quarter drives to set up the final two-point conversion attempt.
"I thought our kids played hard," said JMU coach Alex Wood said. "But it's one of those things."
Notes: Senior linebacker Khari Samuel returned to the Minuteman lineup after missing last week due to a deep thigh bruise. He made 10 tackles and recovered a fumble, while playing most of UMass' defensive snaps.
"I held up," Samuel said. "I just need to come back and play."
...10 years since that game...
Friday, September 19, 2008
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of UMass' Division I-AA Championship in 1998, I'm rerunning the game story from each game from that season in its corresponding week this year. I'll add some commentary on the old articles in in italics.
This game was the morning after Larry Bird's Hall of Fame induction, which I covered. So I drove to Hempstead very late and was pretty exhausted, but the game was pretty memorable. This one began UMass' reputation as a team of destiny.
The Minutemen got ranked for the first time afterward.
The headline was:
A banner day for UMass football
HEMPSTEAD, NY - At halftime, University of Massachusetts quarterback Todd Bankhead's head was being fitted for goat horns. A pair of costly fumbles and his inability to move the Minuteman offense were largely to blame for No. 5 Hofstra's 12-0 lead.
But when freshman receiver Adrian Zullo dove and caught Bankhead's 15-yard pass just inside the goal line with three seconds left in the game, Bankhead's head could have been fitted for a crown.
"Coach told me that if they played man (defense) that we'd go to Jimmy (Moore) and if they had zone we'd go to Adrian," Bankhead said. "I saw the zone and I threw to where I knew Adrian would be and he made a great play."
That touchdown capped a wild game, as UMass (3-1) blocked two punts for touchdowns en route to an upset of the No. 5 Flying Dutchman, 40-35, at Hofstra Stadium.
"This was one of the top five games I've ever been associated with," UMass coach Mark Whipple said. "The second half .. these kind of halves are how you make a champion. It was a great win."
Despite the difference in ranking, Whipple didn't think his unranked squad had pulled off an enormous upset.
"I don't think this was a huge upset," he said. "I never got the feeling that these kids thought they were going to lose the game. During the week there wasn't any trepidation. This was another step for us."
Bankhead finished with 348 yards in the air, including three touchdowns and no interceptions, and ran for a TD as well. After the game, he credited the UMass defense for giving the offense a chance to pull out the comeback.
"The defense was playing great and keeping us in the game," Bankhead said. "I wasn't playing good at all and we needed to step up and make something happen. I'm just appreciative of our defense and our special teams for stepping up."
Adding to the defense's effort was that it came without captain Khari Samuel, who was sidelined with a deep thigh bruise.
After the UMass offense's dismal first-half performance, the defense took matters into its own hands.
On Hofstra's first possession of the second half, three straight incompletions by QB Giovanni Carmazzi forced the Dutchmen to punt from their own 10-yard-line. Minutemen Dan Healey broke through the Hofstra line and blocked Dan Kralich's kick, sending it rolling backward. Willie Hemmer pounced on it in the endzone to cut Minuteman deficit to 12-7 with 13:02 left in the quarter.
Remember Gio Carmazzi? So good at Hofstra before becoming one of the worst NFL draft picks off all time.
"We worked on going after punts all week," said Healey. "We thought they were kind of soft in their punt protection. A seam just opened up and I went threw it and blocked it."
An unsportsmanlike conduct call on Minuteman Mike Smith extended the following Hofstra drive that otherwise would have ended in a punt from near midfield. Three plays later Carmazzi hit Wayne Yearwood in the endzone to build their lead to 19-7.
The Minuteman offense finally came to life on the next drive. Moving 83 yards on 12 plays, Marcel Shipp caught a pass from Bankhead just inside the Hofstra 20-yard-line and eluded tacklers on his way to the endzone, bringing UMass within five, 19-14, with just over seven minutes left in the period.
After Carmazzi briefly grabbed momentum back with a 76-yard bootleg touchdown, the Minutemen went back to work. Starting at its own 10, UMass mixed Bankhead passes and Shipp runs to push the ball to the Hofstra 32. With 3:31 left in the third, Bankhead tossed a short dump-off pass to Shipp, who made his way into the endzone, making the score 25-21.
Chad Johnson's 41-yard (not that Chad Ocho Cinco) field goal salvaged a disappointing drive for the Dutchmen to start the fourth quarter and the Hofstra defense then stuffed the Minutemen on a fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard-line.
But the Minutemen special teams turned a good performance into an historic one three plays later. Three straight Carmazzi incompletions from the 3-yard line brought out the punting unit and this time Nelson Ovailes made the block and Bryan King smothered it for the game-tying score. It marked the first time ever UMass had blocked two punts in a game.
Kralich learned his lesson on Hofstra's next drive. When the snap came to him wobbling, he tried to run with it rather than risk another block. But Healey and King snuffed him, giving UMass the ball at the Hofstra 32.
Bankhead's 23-yard pass to Jimmy Moore brought UMass to the 9-yard line and the quarterback's bootleg from 2 yards out gave the Minutemen their first lead, 34-28.
Matt Murphy's missed extra-point left the door open for the Dutchmen, however and they sneaked through on a Carmazzi 44-yard TD pass to Vaughn Sanders. It tied the game and Johnson's extra-point put Hofstra ahead 35-34 with 3:21 remaining, giving UMass 2:57 to mount one-more attack.
UMass ran the three-minute drill to perfection. Its final drive gobbled 73 yards on 12 plays. Moore (11 catches, 164 yards) made four grabs for 59 yards in UMass' last possession. He was double-covered on the last play, freeing up Zullo.
Shipp finished with 146 yards on 27 carries, after a tough start. He had an early fumble deep in UMass territory and was stopped in the end zone for a safety in the first half. Bankhead's two fumbles directly led to a field goal and a touchdown by Hofstra that gave the hosts a 12-0 lead at halftime.
"This was a great game for UMass," Whipple said. "I was really proud of our kids because we were offensively nonexistent in the first half and I didn't see that much panic. When you play that poorly and you're only down 12-0 you have to credit the defense."
...10 years since that game...
Thursday, September 11, 2008
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of UMass' Division I-AA Championship in 1998, I'm rerunning the game story from each game from that season in its corresponding week this year. I'll add some commentary on the old articles in in italics.
I have a spotty memory sometimes to begin with, but I remember quite a few details from the 1998 season pretty well. But until I read this story again I don't remember this game much at all. It's hard for me to believe that Buffalo upgraded to I-A considering how bad they were in I-AA. In 1997 UMass went 2-9, with one of the wins coming against the Bulls. This was one UMass figured to win going into the season and it wasn't close. It was the McGuirk Stadium fans' first look at Todd Bankhead and the Minutemen's new high-powered offense. They'd seen Marcel Shipp before, but this game announced that he was headed for stardom.
The headline was:
UMASS GETS ITS MONEY'S WORTH
AMHERST _ As he paced around prior to Saturday's game against Buffalo, University of Massachusetts football coach Mark Whipple saw two quarters and four pennies staring up at him from the ground.
"I found 54 cents," Whipple said. "I told the coaches, that's how many points we're going to score."
If not for a blocked 29-yard field goal attempt by Matt Murphy early in the second half, Whipple's silver and copper would have proved prophetic, as the Minutemen crushed Buffalo, 51-27, at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
In front of 11,672 fans in the team's home opener, Marcel Shipp showed that the new Minuteman offense isn't only about throwing the ball. The sophomore tailback rushed for 221 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries.
"Marcel was healthy this week and he showed the kind of player he is," Whipple said. "I told him he was going to run for 175 this week. I guess he proved me wrong."
A sprained thumb on his throwing hand early in the game helped bring junior quarterback Todd Bankhead's numbers back to earth. After two straight weeks of 323 yards passing, he finished with 192 yards and three touchdowns on 13-of-30 attempts. He also rushed for 28 yards, including a touchdown.
Highlights were scarce for the Bulls, as only the passing tandem of Chad Salisbury (27-of-40, 375 yards, two TDs), and receiver Drew Haddad (11 catches, 173 yards), stood out.
"We played a horrible football game," said Buffalo coach Craig Cirbus. "We had breakdowns infundamentals and once the fundamentals broke down, everything else broke down with it."
Starting their first drive on their own 40-yard line, four of UMass' first six plays were good for first downs, capped by a 14-yard run by Shipp, in which he dragged would-be tacklers with him into the end zone. Murphy's PAT made it 7-0.
After Buffalo turned the ball over on downs at the Minuteman 30, UMass quickly made it 14-0 on a Kerry Taylor touchdown reception from Bankhead and Murphy's kick. (Taylor's TD reception gives him 11 in his career, moving him into fifth all-time at UMass in that category).
The Bulls, came back, however, scoring 14 unanswered points on consecutive drives to tie the game. Bankhead struggled on the next series, throwing three straight incompletions and forcing the Minutemen to punt.
The Bulls marched back into UMass territory, and had a third-and-2 at the Minuteman 37, but tailback Josh Roth fumbled as he crossed the line of scrimmage and UMass cornerback Jerard White pounced on the ball at the 40-yard line.
The Minutemen seized momentum as Bankhead handed off the ball to Shipp, who then handed the ball to receiver Eddie Bowman for an apparent reverse.
But instead of running, Bowman launched a bomb to receiver Jimmy Moore, who hauled in the pass at the far sideline near the Bulls 10-yard-line and sprinted in to the endzone. Murphy's kick made it 21-14.
In the early part of his career, the only time Bowman was on the field was to throw passes on this play. Jeff Thomas and I used to sit in the press box and watch Bowman come in from the sidelines and say "here comes the fake reverse pass." I was always amazed opposing defensive coordinators weren't a little wiser to this.
"We're always looking to make a big play on both sides of the ball," Whipple said. "Those can be back breakers for the other team."
The teams traded TDs to make to 28-20 before the Minutemen took over. Bankhead found Moore in the endzone from 16-yards out with 23 seconds left in the half to give UMass a 35-20 lead. The crowd gave the Minutemen a warm cheer as they headed into the locker room.
The UMass defense set the tone for the second half. After forcing the Bulls to go three-and-out on their first possession, UMass' 16-play drive came up empty when Murphy's 29-yard field goal try was blocked.
But on the very next play Khari Samuel chased tailback Derrick Gordon down from behind and stripped the ball free. The Minutemen recovered at the Buffalo 8. One play later Bankhead scrambled into the endzone and rout was on at 41-20.
Buffalo cut the lead to 41-27 on a 1-yard plunge by Roth, but Jeremy Robinson made his first of two interceptions on Buffalo's next drive.
"The key was that our defense came up with interceptions and fumbles and our offense responded with scores," Whipple said.
Things likely won't go so easily Saturday, as Hofstra is ranked No. 6 in the nation, but Whipple has a solution.
"I hope I find a dollar bill."
Notes: Robinson's two interceptions earned him Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors.. The Minutemen played without freshman receiver Adrian Zullo, who suffered an ankle injury in practice.. Samuel suffered a bone bruise to his right arm late in the game and did not return.
...10 years since this game...
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