AMHERST — It’s hard for many to find a positive spin on allowing 365 yards rushing and 58 points.
Yet Bryton Barr saw plenty for UMass’ defense to build upon after South Florida gashed the Minutemen for those stats on Saturday. The seventh-year linebacker has been the biggest cheerleader for the unit, continuing to preach the unit was close to turning a corner.
From the first day of preseason camp to after the USF loss, Barr has talked about how energy is the fuel for the Minutemen on defense, and that, he said, was not lacking against the Bulls.
“The score didn’t show that tonight it was positive, but there was a lot of positivity that came out of it defensively,” Barr said after the game. “There was just a lot more energy than we have had at the past.”
“We have a good defense, we really do,” Barr added. “What hurts us is having a couple of missed assignments. We just have to be better, we have to practice better, practice harder, that’s about it.”
Defensive coordinator Ed Pinkham came away with a similar level of optimism after Saturday’s game against the unbeaten Bulls. Pinkham, who was the acting head coach against USF with Mark Whipple suspended for a week, said there was proof UMass could compete with great teams every week, but that it lacks the consistency to be able to beat those teams at the moment.
Trying to maintain that high level of play for 60 minutes becomes one of Pinkham’s big objectives for the bye this week as UMass tries to put together another strong finish to a season.
“The kids showed they can play with somebody who’s 4-0 and has beaten some good Division I teams, but it’s a challenge now to be consistent throughout four quarters,” Pinkham said. “These guys are scrappers, it’s just that sometimes you play your tail off and something just doesn’t go right. Maybe you lean back on past experience and say this is the start of a couple of negative things occurring, and we just need to get over that. We need to be able to play consistently through four quarters of football and not dwell on the negative things and let it affect our play throughout the entire game.”
ADDO MAKES IMPACT: After six weeks away, Jarell Addo didn’t skip a beat Saturday against USF.
The redshirt senior linebacker was suspended for UMass’ first six games for an undisclosed reason, but made his presence known early against the Bulls. On the first play of USF’s second drive, Addo closed in to tackle receiver Randall St. Felix, holding up St. Felix enough for Brice McAllister to poke the ball free for a fumble.
Addo finished with a team-best 12 tackles in his season debut. Pinkham, who resumed his normal duties as defensive coordinator after Saturday’s loss, said Addo’s return should restore some balance to the unit.
“It gives us the opportunity here in the second half of the season to keep guys playing the same position that they played all spring,” Pinkham said. “They’ll continue to learn and use the investment of time and coaching … at the position they’ve been learning all year long.”
ISABELLA ATTACK: Lost in the defensive concerns of the season, Andy Isabella has continued to thrive as the Minutemen’s top option.
A week after setting a career high with 12 catches against Ohio, Isabella hauled in 13 passes against the Bulls. He’s the first UMass receiver since Tajae Sharpe in 2015 to have back-to-back games with 10 or more receptions, but Sharpe never had 10 catches in three straight games.
The idea Isabella could accomplish that in two weeks when UMass hosts Coastal Carolina isn’t unfathomable given how large his role in the offense has been this season. Isabella has 54 catches for 839 yards and eight touchdowns in seven games this season, and Whipple continues to find new ways to feed Isabella the ball.
“We’re able to do a lot with him, he can handle it,” senior quarterback Andrew Ford said. “We’re can build our offense around him very similar to the way we did with (former tight end) Adam (Breneman) last year. It’s tough for defenses to game plan for us because we’re giving five, six seven new formations with Andy in different spots every single week.”
This is shaping up to be a very special year for Isabella if he can continue to produce at this level for UMass’ final five games. He is on pace for 14 touchdowns and 1,440 yards this season, which wouldn’t put him too far off Jimmy Moore’s single-season records of 1,494 yards and 16 scores in 1998.
Isabella is also in line to finish second in school history in career receptions, yards and touchdowns. Entering the off week, the Mayfield, Ohio, native is four catches, 235 yards and two scores away from tying the second-place mark in those three statistics.
Josh Walfish can be reached at jwalfish@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshWalfishDHG. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.