University of Massachusets Athletics
Football Prepares For AIC
October 16, 2000 | Football
Oct. 16, 2000
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THE SERIES WITH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE: UMass holds an 8-1-2 lead in the all-time series which dates back to 1937. The Minutemen have won the last five games in the series, but the schools have played only one time since the 1965 season. UMass stands 8-1-0 against the Yellow Jackets in Amherst, with a streak of five straight wins. The lone win in the series for AIC came on Sept. 21, 1957, when the Yellow Jackets posted a 19-7 win in Amherst. The last meeting between the two schools came on Nov. 20, 1982, when the Minutemen won 29-13 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
Ayi Among Nation's Best: Senior linebacker Kole Ayi (Nashua, N.H.), one of the favorites to win the 2000 Buck Buchanan Award, continues to lead the UMass defense in tackles. In the victory over Northeastern he totaled nine tackles, including a career-best three sacks for 16 yards. The previous week against Hofstra, Ayi totaled a season-high 17 tackles, including seven solo stops and one tackle for loss. Earlier this year he recorded a team-best 11 tackles at Richmond, including one tackle for loss. Ayi also totaled five tackles and a 12-yard sack against New Haven, while recording six tackles against William & Mary and five tackles against Maine. For the season, he leads the team with 53 total tackles through six games. Ayi also ranks second on the team with four sacks for 28 yards, and has six tackles for loss on the season. He has moved into second place on the all-time UMass list for solo tackles, with 282 during his career as a Minuteman, while also ranking fourth in total tackles with 408. Ayi is only the third player in school history to make over 250 career unassisted tackles, and needs 17 more to break the UMass career record.
HEAD COACH MARK WHIPPLE: Now in his third season as head coach of the Minutemen, Mark Whipple has posted an overall record of 25-9 (.735) during his UMass career. He was the fastest coach in school history to record 20 victories, picking up the 20th win of his UMass career against Connecticut last season. Whipple needed only 26 games to reach the 20-win mark. Previously, Mike Hodges held the record for fewest games needed to reach 20 wins, going 20-7 in his first 27 games as UMass head coach. Whipple also became the first coach in school history to win 20 games in his first two seasons, as Hodges did not record his 20th victory until the sixth game of his third season. This season, Whipple has a chance to become the first UMass coach in 20 years to lead his team to three consecutive winning seasons. The last Minuteman coach to accomplish the feat was Bob Pickett, who led UMass to four straight winning years from 1978-81. Whipple owns a career record of 97-42 (.698) in 13 years as a collegiate head coach, including four years at Brown (24-16 / 1994-97) and six seasons at New Haven (48-17 / 1988-93).
SHIPP CONTINUES TO SAIL: Senior tailback Marcel Shipp (Paterson, N.J.) is having yet another fine season for the Minutemen, despite missing some time due to a sprained ankle. In last week's victory over Maine, he rushed 20 times for 114 yards and caught three passes for 20 yards, while being in the lineup for about half of UMass' total plays. Shipp rushed 31 times for a season-best 147 yards against New Haven, while also carrying 27 times for 112 yards and a touchdown at Richmond. With his performance against the Spiders, Shipp has now rushed for 100 yards in a game against every team in the Atlantic 10 Conference. He has accomplished the feat three times against Maine, twice against New Hampshire, Villanova and William & Mary, and once each against Delaware, James Madison, Northeastern, Rhode Island and Richmond. Shipp also rushed for over 100 yards four times against former Atlantic 10 member Connecticut. Dating back to last season, Shipp has now rushed for over 100 yards 27 times in his last 30 games. For the year, he has totaled 523 yards and three touchdowns on 118 carries, while also catching 10 passes for 122 yards.
BROWER HAS BREAKTHROUGH GAME AGAINST MAINE: Redshirt freshman defensive end Valdamar Brower (Florence, Mass.) had his best game of the season in last Saturday's victory over Maine. He led the UMass defense with eight tackles in the game, including five tackles for loss and four sacks for 20 yards. The four sacks came just one shy of the school single-game record, held by Scott Assencoa with five sacks against Connecticut in 1992. Following the Maine game, Brower was honored as the Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Week. For the season, Brower now ranks seventh on the team with 29 total tackles, including eight tackles for loss.
SHIPP AND AYI AMONG FAVORITES FOR NATIONAL AWARDS: Marcel Shipp and Kole Ayi both have good chances of winning the National Player of the Year awards presented by The Sports Network. Last year, Shipp finished fifth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award (given to the top player in Division I-AA), and is one of only four returning players to finish in the top 10 last season. Ayi placed second in last year's voting for the Buck Buchanan Award (presented to the best defensive player in the country), and is the only one of the top four finishers from last season to return.
SHIPP STARTS 1,000-1,000 CLUB: Against Maine last week, senior tailback Marcel Shipp became the first player in school history to break the 1,000-yard mark in both rushing and receiving yards. He caught three passes for 20 yards against the Black Bears, giving him 1,009 receiving yards in his UMass career. Shipp is the all-time UMass leader in career rushing yards with 5,667. The previous school record for most career receiving yards by a 1,000-yard rusher was 632 by Matt Jordan (1,278 rushing yards / 1995-98). The most career rushing yards by any UMass 1,000-yard receiver is 496 by Chip Mitchell (1,680 receiving yards / 1986-89).
Robinson PLAYS BIG at Safety: Junior free safety Jeremy Robinson (Syracuse, N.Y.) is having yet another big year in the UMass secondary. In last week's victory against Maine, he made five total tackles while also intercepting a pass and recording two pass breakups. The previous week at Northeastern, Robinson led the team with 10 tackles, in addition to intercepting a pass during the fourth quarter. In the victory over New Haven, he totaled three tackles with a sack, three pass breakups and his first interception of the season. At Richmond, Robinson ranked second on the team with 10 tackles, along with one tackle for loss and a pass breakup. On the year, he now ranks second on the team with 37 tackles, while also posting a sack, three interceptions and seven pass breakups. Last season, Robinson ranked second on the team in tackles with 103, including 69 solo stops. He also made 12 tackles for loss, to go along with four sacks, six interceptions, six pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.
SEIBERT IMPRESSIVE AS A STARTER: Sophomore quarterback Kelly Seibert (Monroe, N.Y.) has come through with solid performances in the first two starts of his collegiate career against Northeastern and Maine. Seibert completed 14 of 24 passes for 131 yards against Northeastern, while also rushing five times for 16 yards and a touchdown. In the Maine game, he hit on 18 of 29 passes for 206 yards and two scores, in addition to rushing for a touchdown. He has now completed 32 of 54 passes on the year for 337 yards and two scores. Last year Seibert served as the backup to Todd Bankhead, completing 12 of 18 passes for 122 yards and one touchdown on the year. During his senior year at Monroe Woodbury High School in 1997, Seibert completed 68 of 145 passes for 900 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also rushing for almost 600 yards and seven scores.
Smith a Top Student-Athlete: Senior defensive back Brian Smith (Wilmington, Del.) looks to be a candidate for both All-America and Academic All-America honors this season. Smith, who has started both at cornerback and strong safety this year, made four tackles in last week's victory over Maine, with three tackles for loss and a pass breakup. He totaled six tackles the previous week at Northeastern, and also had a key interception in the end zone during the third quarter when the Huskies were ahead by three points. Against Hofstra, Smith tallied five tackles with one tackle for loss, while he had five tackles and a sack for four yards in the win over New Haven. At Richmond he ranked third on the team with nine tackles, including three tackles for loss, and against William & Mary in the season opener he tied for second on the team in tackles with six. On the season, Smith now ranks fourth on the team with 35 total tackles, including a team-best 10 tackles for loss. Last year, Smith ranked third on the team in total tackles with 102, including 73 solo stops. He also had 10 tackles for loss, one sack, three interceptions and four pass breakups. In addition, Smith carries a cumulative grade point average of 3.36 in Accounting.
MCGUIRK MAGIC: Since Mark Whipple took over as the head coach of the Minutemen prior to the start of the 1998 season, UMass has been almost unbeatable in the friendly confines of McGuirk Alumni Stadium. The Minutemen have gone 12-3 (.800) at home from 1998 to present, improving their all-time record at McGuirk to 120-64-2 (.651). Since 1992, UMass has had a losing record at home only once, while posting a home record of 33-16 (.673) during that time. The Minutemen also have a mark of 9-1 at McGuirk Stadium against Atlantic 10 Conference opponents under Whipple, and have never lost consecutive home games in his tenure.
QUINLAN HAS CAREER DAY AT NORTHEASTERN: Junior tailback Kevin Quinlan (Somerville, Mass.), who has been a dependable backup to Marcel Shipp over the course of his career, had his best performance ever in the win at Northeastern. Quinlan rushed 38 times for 241 yards and two touchdowns, recording the ninth-best single game rushing performance in school history, as Shipp missed the game due to a sprained ankle. Following that performance, Quinlan was honored as the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week and received the Coca-Cola Gold Helmet as the Division I Player of the Week in New England. During his UMass career, Quinlan has now rushed for 100 yards in a game on four occasions, and UMass is 4-0 in those contests. His previous best game came against McNeese State in the 1998 NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, when he had 147 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries. Quinlan also totaled 127 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries against Northeastern last year, and had 16 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown against Connecticut in 1999. For the season, Quinlan now has 459 yards and four touchdowns on 90 carries, while catching eight passes for 91 yards. He also broke the 1,000-mark in career rushing yards against Northeastern, and enters the AIC game with 237 career carries for 1,179 yards and 14 scores.
WHIPPLE'S OFFENSE REMAINS IMPRESSIVE: UMass continues to boast one of the nation's top offenses, averaging 31.5 points and 424.8 yards per game so far in 2000. Last season, UMass finished the year with 415 points (31.9 per game), second-most in school history behind only the 524 points scored in 1998 (33.5 per game). The third highest scoring total in school history is 343 points set by both the 1978 and 1988 teams (the 1978 squad set the record in 13 games and the 1988 team needed 12 games). UMass also recorded the second highest single-season mark in school history for total offense last year with 5,673 yards. The record of 7,074 yards was set by the 1998 Minutemen in 15 games, while the 1988 team had the third-highest total with 4,638 yards in 12 games. In addition, UMass has scored 30 or more points in a single game 19 times during Mark Whipple's tenure, posting a 16-3 record in those contests. The Minutemen have also tallied 400 or more yards of total offense in 24 of their last 34 games, and have topped the 500-yard mark seven times.
FAST FINISH: Over the last three years, UMass has a combined record of 5-5 in games played before Oct. 1, but the Minutemen have come on to record strong finishes every year. Since the beginning of the 1998 season, UMass has a mark of 20-4 in games played in October, November or December. The Minutemen have a 10-2 record in the month of October over the last two years, including an 9-1 mark against Atlantic 10 foes.
UMASS AGAINST RANKED TEAMS: The Minutemen have faced one ranked opponent so far this season, falling to No. 10 Hofstra 51-36. Since the beginning of the 1998 season, UMass now stands 8-7 against ranked opponents. The Minutemen faced five ranked teams last season, posting an overall mark of 2-3. UMass defeated No. 18 Delaware 26-19 and No. 8 Furman 30-23 in overtime, while falling to No. 22 Villanova 26-21, No. 6 Hofstra 27-14 and No. 2 Georgia Southern 38-21. In 1998, the Minutemen posted wins over No. 5 Hofstra (40-35), No. 20 Villanova (36-26), No. 6 McNeese State (21-19), No. 13 Lehigh (27-21), No. 2 Northwestern State (41-31) and No. 1 Georgia Southern (55-43). The 1998 losses to ranked teams were against No. 3 Delaware (33-30), No. 15 Connecticut (44-41 in overtime) and No. 9 Connecticut (28-27). UMass' six victories over ranked opponents in 1998 set a school single-season record.
MINUTEMEN BRING IN ACADEMIC HONORS: A number of UMass players received honors last season for their work both on the field and in the classroom. Graduated senior Mike Wynne led the way by being named a National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete, a Burger King Division I-AA Scholar Athlete and a GTE / CoSIDA first team Academic All-American. Both Wynne and current senior Brian Smith were selected to the GTE / CoSIDA Academic All-District I first team, marking the second straight season both players were named to that squad. Wynne and Smith were joined by graduated senior Todd Bankhead, senior wide receiver Steve Ley (Philadelphia, Pa.) and senior defensive end Dan Schneider (Fitchburg, Mass.) on the Academic All-Atlantic 10 team, with both Bankhead and Wynne also being named to the Division I-AA Athletic Directors Academic All-Star team. This year Smith will be a top candidate for Academic All-America honors, as he currently carries a 3.36 grade point average in Accounting.
UMASS ON THE 21ST: The Minutemen have an all-time record of 7-9 in games played on Oct. 21. The last time UMass played on Oct. 21 came during the 1995 season, when the Minutemen knocked off William & Mary 20-9 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. In home games played on this date UMass has a 3-1 mark, with a 2-1 record at McGuirk. The only home loss on Oct. 21 for UMass came in 1989, with the Minutemen falling to Delaware 21-14. The other home games for UMass on Oct. 21 were both victories over Rhode Island, 25-0 in 1961 and 28-24 in 1967. UMass' first-ever game played on this date came during the 1893 season, a 16-0 loss to Yale.
FERRER STEPS UP ON DEFENSE: Senior linebacker Joe Ferrer (Casselberry, Fla.) has been a key part of the success for the UMass defense so far this season. He currently ranks third on the team in total tackles with 36, including seven tackles for loss. Ferrer's top game so far this season came at Northeastern when he totaled nine tackles, including one tackle for loss. He also had a big game at Richmond, making three tackles for loss among his seven total tackles. Ferrer is a transfer from the University of Notre Dame, where he totaled 67 tackles during his first three years of collegiate competition.
MCKENZIE MAKES MOST OF FIRST START: Sophomore strong safety Anton McKenzie (Medford, N.Y.) earned the first start of his career against New Haven, and came through with an outstanding performance. With UMass using five or six defensive backs to counteract the Chargers' four wide out attack, McKenzie totaled a team-best eight tackles with three quarterback sacks for a total of 25 yards. He also had a big game in the victory over Maine, recording five total tackles and two sacks for 11 yards. For the season, McKenzie has now totaled 20 tackles, with a team-best five sacks for 36 yards.
FOURTH AND GO: Over the last three seasons, UMass has made a habit of going for it on fourth down. In six games so far this season, the Minutemen have been successful nine of the 14 times (.643) they have gone for it on fourth down. Last season, UMass was successful on 23 of 37 fourth down attempts for a 62.2 percent success rate. In 1998, the Minutemen converted 21 of the 37 times they went for it on fourth down for a 56.7 percent success rate. UMass has now been successful on 60.2 percent (53 of 88) of its fourth down conversions since the beginning of the 1998 season. By comparison, UMass opponents converted on only 24 of 60 fourth down attempts over the last three years, good for 40.0 percent.
MINUTEMEN AMONG THE A-10 LEADERS: Several Minutemen rank among the Atlantic 10 leaders through games of Oct. 14. Richard Lucero stands first in passing yards (248.4 yards/game) and passing efficiency (157.8 rating), and this in total offense (244.2 yards/game). Marcel Shipp ranks second in rushing (104.6 yards/game) and fourth in all-purpose yards (129.0 yards/game). Adrian Zullo stands second in receiving yards (79.6 yards/game), fourth in receptions (5.0 catches/game) and fifth in scoring (7.2 points/game). Sophomore placekicker Doug White (Claremont, Calif.) leads the league in both field goal percentage (100.0) and extra point percentage (100.0), and stands third in field goals made (0.8 field goals/game). Senior tailback Troy Lockman (Newport News, Va.) is third in punt returns (13.0 yards/return), junior wide receiver DeShon Hardy (Neptune, N.J.) stands fourth in punt returns (11.3 yards/return), Jeremy Robinson is third in interceptions (0.5 picks/game), junior cornerback Rob Green (Freeport, N.Y.) ranks fourth in interceptions (0.4 picks/game) and David Sanger stands fourth in punting (39.2 yards/punt). As a team, UMass leads the Atlantic 10 in passing offense (263.2 yards/game) and net punting (36.9 yards/punt), while ranking third in total offense (424.8 yards/game), total defense (317.0 yards/game), passing efficiency (145.0 rating) and punt returns (11.7 yards/return).
HOWARD MAKES BIG PLAYS: Senior wide receiver Jeff Howard (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) had another solid game for the Minutemen in the victory at Northeastern. He ranked second on the team with three catches for 45 yards, including two key first down catches as UMass drove for its first touchdown of the game late in the second quarter. Earlier in the year, Howard made five receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown against Hofstra, while catching four passes for 83 yards in the victory over William & Mary. For the season, Howard has now totaled 15 receptions for 259 yards and two touchdowns, to rank second on the team in receiving. He is the only UMass player to catch a pass in every game so far this season.
ABOUT THE YELLOW JACKETS: American International College enters this week's game with an overall record of 5-2 and a 5-1 mark in the Eastern Football Conference. The Yellow Jackets had a five-game winning streak snapped last week, when they fell at Southern Connecticut 33-19. AIC's offense averages 29.1 points and 338.9 yards per game, including 172.4 yards through the air and 166.4 yards on the ground. Sophomore tailback Tory Brown leads the Yellow Jackets with 432 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 58 carries, while senior tailback Mike Novembre has added 402 yards and four touchdowns on 88 carries. Redshirt freshman quarterback Tom Guy has completed 69 of 121 passes on the season for 1,068 yards and 11 touchdowns with four interceptions. Defensively, AIC has been led by junior linebacker Pat Tudryn with 55 total tackles on the year. Sophomore linebacker Marcus Louison has added 51 tackles on the season, while sophomore linebacker Royston Jordan has totaled 52 tackles with a team-best three sacks. The Yellow Jackets have also been very efficient in turnover margin, forcing 21 turnovers in four game, while giving the ball up only eight times.
AIC HEAD COACH ART WILKENS: Art Wilkens is in his seventh season as the head coach of the Yellow Jackets, posting an overall record of 41-30. After taking over a team which was coming off three consecutive losing seasons in 1994, Wilkens has led AIC to winning records in each of the last four seasons. His team posted a 10-2 mark during the 1999 season, setting a school-record for victories and winning AIC's first-ever Eastern Football Conference championship. A 1972 graduate of Bucknell University, where he earned three varsity letters as a linebacker and offensive guard, Wilkens spent time as an assistant coach at Bucknell, Penn State, Appalachian State and South Carolina, before being appointed to his present position at AIC.
EXTRA POINTS: UMass and James Madison, which tied for the 1999 Atlantic 10 Conference title without facing each other, will not meet again this season. Beginning in 2001, the Atlantic 10 will play a full round-robin schedule, with each team playing nine league games ? UMass has scored in 64 straight games since a 34-0 loss to Rhode Island on Sept. 30, 1995 ? The Minutemen have scored in 94 consecutive home games since a 17-0 loss to Holy Cross on Sept. 17, 1983 ? UMass will play its 1,000th football game when it travels to New Hampshire next week. THe Minutemen are 473-474-51 in their 118th football season ? The Minutemen will play seven home games this season in the friendly confines of McGuirk Alumni Stadium. The only other time UMass played seven contests at home in a single season came in 1993, with the Minutemen posting a 6-1 record at McGuirk. If UMass should play host to an NCAA playoff game this year, it would set a new school single-season record for most home games played.
