University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Hosts No. 19 Maine On Homecoming Weekend
October 25, 2004 | Football
Oct. 25, 2004
Complete Release With Player Notes & Stats in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
UMASS (3-5, 1-4) vs. #19 MAINE (4-3, 2-2)
SATURDAY, Oct. 30, 2004 • 1 p. m.
McGuirk Alumni Stadium (17,000/Grass)
Amherst, Mass. • HOMECOMING
UMass Radio Network
UMass Hosts No. 19 Maine On Homecoming Weekend
• This season, the homecoming football game is truly a homecoming for the football team. After a month away from home, the UMass football team returns to the friendly confines of McGuirk Stadium as the Minutemen host No. 19 Maine for the Homecoming 2004. UMass comes off a heart-breaking 27-24 loss at Rhode Island last weekend to wrap up its four-game road stretch. All-America candidate Shannon James (Stratford, Conn.) intercepted off his nation-leading eighth pass in the loss. He is now fourth all-time in school history in career interceptions with 16. He is the active leader among all Division I-AA college players in career interceptions and leads all juniors -- regardless of division in career interceptions. Steve Baylark (Apopka, Fla.) gained 138 yards -- marking his second consecutive game with 100-plus yards and ninth 100-yard game of his career.
|
Top 10 Tidbits
• UMass has won 10 of its last 12 homecoming games. • Shannon James leads the nation in interceptions with eight. • James leads all active Division I-AA players in career interceptions with 16 and has the most of any junior in all of college football, regardless of division. • James is also fourth all-time in career interceptions at UMass with 16. • James' eight interceptions this season is tied for the best single-season in school history. • Steve Baylark broke into the top 10 career lists in carries (8th) and rushing yards (10th) last weekend. • UMass has won five of the last six games in the series with Maine. • UMass' 36 wins vs. Maine are tied for the third most against any team.. • UMass has won 16 of the 19 games against Maine at McGuirk Stadium. • The win at UNH was the 500th in school history. UMass enters the game at 500-496-51 record.
|
• UMass enters the game with a 3-5 overall record, 1-4 in the Atlantic 10. UMass dropped a tough 27-24 decision at Rhode Island last weekend. In the loss came after a 38-21 win at No. 7 New Hampshire on Oct. 16 -- which was UMass' fifth win in its last eight games against a top-10 team dating to 2002. The Minutemen suffered four consecutive losses, falling to Richmond, 24-14, on Sept. 18, No. 4 Delaware -- the defending I-AA national champions, 21-7 on Sept. 25, at Boston College, 29-7, on Oct. 2 and at No. 19 James Madison, 28-7 on Oct 9. The Minutemen opened the season with a pair of wins at Delaware State (51-0 on Sept. 4) and vs. No. 4 Colgate (30-20 on Sept. 11).
• Maine comes into the game with a 4-3 overall record and is 2-2 in the Atlantic 10. The Black Bears play one of the nation's best schedule and posted perhaps the biggest win of any Division I-AA team this season, beating Mississippi State of the Southeastern Conference, 9-7 on Sept. 18. Maine topped Northeastern last weekend at home, 35-26. The Black Bears have alternated wins and losses for the last four weeks following the win over the Huskies. Previously, they lost to No. 17 James Madison, 24-20 on Oct. 16; beat Richmond, 29-25 on Oct. 9; lost to No. 4 Delaware on Oct. 2 and after beating Mississippi State. The Black Bears opened the season out west, dropping a 27-20 decision at Montana before returning home to beat Northern Colorado, 38-0. Maine, which was a preseason No. 2-ranked team according to Street & Smith's is ranked No. 19 by the Sports Network, No. 15 by Don Hansen and No. 18 by ESPN/USA Today.
Homecoming Success
• The Minutemen have been tough on opponents in Homecoming games for more than the last decade. UMass is 10-2 in Homecoming games the last 12 years, including a string of seven straight wins from 1992-1998. During that time, the Minutemen stand 5-1 against nationally-ranked opponents in Homecoming games, including a win over No. 2 Maine two seasons ago on Oct. 12, 2002. Prior to a 1999 setback against Hofstra, UMass had not lost a Homecoming contest in Amherst since 1991 (a 17-14 loss to Rhode Island). In the last 12 years, the Minutemen have outscored their opposition 323-228, an average game score of 27-19. Last season, UMass beat Hofstra on Oct. 18, 27-22.
Youth Is Served
• UMass is the youngest team in the Atlantic 10 in terms of playing experience as UMass plays just six seniors on its regular depth chart -- five on offense. There is just one single senior in the two-deep on defense -- back-up safety Leroy Brooks (Hackensack, N.J.). On offense only three seniors start: wide receiver Jason Peebler (Modesto, Calif.), offensive guard Rob Kane (Londonberry, N.H.) and fullback Rich Demers (East Boston, Mass.). After those three, just three seniors are on the depth chart as back-ups on offense: wide receiver Dominique Stewart (Severn, Md.), fullback Steve Wysocki (New Britain, Conn.) and tight end Sean Young (Nashua, N.H.).
• The defense features three freshmen who are listed as starters: Wilner Alexis (Somerville, Mass.), David Burris (Southbridge, Mass.) and true freshman Brandon Freeman (Ruther Glen, Va.). Overall, of the 23 players on the defensive two-deep 15 players are in their first or second year of action at UMass with 10 players as redshirt or true freshmen.
The Series: UMass vs. Maine
• UMass holds a 36-13-1 lead in the all-time series against Maine. The Minutemen stand at 20-3-1 against Maine in Amherst and 16-3 all-time in McGuirk Stadium. UMass has won five of the last six games in the series and the last three at home. The last game at McGuirk in the series came at Homecoming 2002 on Oct. 12, 2002, a 20-10 UMass win.
• From 1991-96, every game between the Minutemen and Black Bears was decided by eight points or less. Then from 1997-2001, the closest game was decided by 21 points. The last two games have been decided by 10 and eight points (UMass won 24-16 last season in Orono).
• UMass' 36 wins are tied for third-most against any team as well. The most wins have come against the last two oppnents: Rhode Island (43) and New Hsmpshire (39).
• The series with Maine is the fifth-most played one in UMass history as the teams have met 50 times.
• Head coach Don Brown is 1-2 all-time vs. the Black Bears, all coming while he was the head coach at Northeastern from 2000-2003. Maine's Jack Cosgrove is 5-6 against UMass, all-time.
Connections Of Note Between UMass/Maine
• Maine's All-Atlantic 10 tailback Marcus Williams is a native of Amherst, Mass., and graduated from Amherst High School, where he played with Minuteman James Ihedigbo.
• UMass has no players from the state of Maine on its roster. Maine has 10 players from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• Maine's defensive end Kurt Bulwith played high school ball with UMass' twin brothers Brandon and Bryan Smith at Bayonne High School in New Jersey.
• Speaking of twins, along with the Smiths, Maine features twin wide receivers Ron and Ryan Waller.
Finally, Back Home This Week
• The Oct. 2 game at Boston College was the first of four consecutive games away from McGuirk Stadium. The journey began on Oct. 2 with the game at Division I-A Boston College. That game was be followed by trips to James Madison (a 28-7 loss on Oct. 9), New Hampshire (a 38-21 win on Oct. 16) and finished with Rhode Island (a 27-24 last Saturday) before returning to Amherst to host Maine this weekend as part of Homecoming 2004. It was the first four-game road stretch for UMass since 1986 when the Minutemen won three-of-four games away from McGuirk beating Maine, Boston University and Harvard.
Taking On The Top Teams
• UMass faces arguably its most difficult schedule in school history as it faced both the defending national champion and the defending national runner-up as it beat Colgate (30-20 on Sept. 11) and faced Delaware on Sept. 25 (losing 21-7). Both teams were ranked No. 4 in the nation at the time of the game, spanning three weeks. In addition, UMass faced perennial Division I-A top-25 team Boston College (losing 29-7 on Oct. 2) which has been to five consecutive bowl games.
• Overall, UMass faces five teams in this week's Sports Network Top 25: No. 3 Delaware, No. 9 James Madison, No. 10 New Hampshire, No. 18 Colgate and No. 19 Maine.
• The Atlantic 10 is showing to be perhaps the nation's top conference as it has six teams in this week's Top 25. For three weeks in September and October, the A-10 had seven teams in the Top 25 to match a conference record which last occurred on Sept. 9, 2002.
• In Don Hansen's weekly poll, three Atlantic 10 teams are in the top 10 and nine teams are in the top 40 including Northeastern, Hofstra and Rhode Island. In the ESPN/USA Today weekly poll, five UMass opponents are ranked -- similar to the Sports Network poll.
James Picks Them Off At A Record Rate
• Junior free safety Shannon James is having a record-setting season and is a top candidate to be an All-American this season. He was named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks on Sunday, Oct. 17 after his third two-interception game of the season at New Hampshire. He was also honored on Sunday, Oct. 3, after his strong performance at Boston College in Saturday's 29-7 defeat.
• James is currently first in the nation and first in the Atlantic 10 in interceptions per game with a 1.0 average with eight in eight games. Fordham's Thaddeus Kornegay also averages an interception a game, but has seven in seven games.
• He is active career leader in interceptions among all college players in Division I-AA with his 16 career picks. He leads all players that are not seniors in career interceptions regardless of division.
• That mark ranks him fourth all-time at UMass as he passed Jeremy Robertson (1998-2001) last weekend with a pick at Rhode Island.
• James has five interceptions in the last four games.
• James picked off BC quarterback Paul Peterson twice including a 47-yard return which led to UMass' first touchdown in the game. The return was also the longest run-back of his career. He picked off UNH's Walter Payton Award candidate Ricky Santos twice along with seven tackles on Oct. 16.
• James has earned A-10 Defensive Player of Week three times in his career as he also earned the honor last season after a huge game in an upset win over No. 2 Villanova on Oct. 25.
Baylark Running For Paydirt
• Tailback Steve Baylark went over the 100-yard plateau for the second week in a row at Rhode Island with 138 yards on 26 carries. It was his ninth career 100-yard game.
• Baylark had the greatest game of his two-year career at New Hampshire on oct. 16 with 192 yards on 43 carries and three touchdowns. All were career bests. The 43 carries were the third-most in a single game in UMass history. Garry Pearson had 54 vs. AIC in 1982 and Marcel Shipp had 44 vs. Delaware in 1999. The game was his eighth career contest with 100 yards and fifth career game with multiple touchdowns. He set his original career-high of three touchdowns in a game against New Hampshire in last year's game at McGuirk Stadium.
• Baylark had his seventh career 100-yard rushing game with 115 on 18 carries against Colgate on Sept. 11. He also scored two touchdowns in a game for the fourth time in his career. His 100-yard game was especially impressive against Colgate, as the Raiders allowed just one 100-yard rusher last season on their way to the national championship game. The Colgate game was also sweet as he outgained 2003 Walter Payton Award winner Jamaal Branch, 115 to 62 yards.
• In eight games this season, Baylark has 156 carries for 718 yards for 89.8 yards per game, which ranks fourth in the Atlantic 10. Last season, Baylark picked up 1,177 in his first year with the Minutemen, passing the 1,000-yard plateau against Delaware.
• Baylark also cracked the top-10 career lists at UMass in total carries and rushing yards in the Rhode Island game. He comes into the Maine game with 424 carries for 1895 yards. He stands eighth on the carries list and can pass Dave Palazzi (1985-88) with 19 carries vs. Maine. He is also tenth on the yardage list and would move to eighth with another 100-yard game.
Peebler Flying Up All-Time Charts
• Senior All-American wide receiver Jason Peebler is moving up the all-time UMass lists for career receptions and career receiving yards. Since the start of the 2004 season, he has moved all the way from seventh to second in career receiving yards with 583 over the first seven games. He now has 2,098 yards with only Adrian Zullo (1998-2002) ahead of him on the all-time list with 2,892 yards.
• Peebler has also gone from 11th to tied for fourth on the career receptions list since the start of the year. With 106, he became the sixth Minuteman to pass the century plateau, tying Kerry Taylor (1995-98). he caught his 100th career ball at New Hampshire on Oct. 16 with a 41-yard strike from Tim Day in the fourth quarter.
• He is 25th in the nation and fifth in the Atlantic 10 in yards per game at 84.9. Peebler is also 12th in the A-10 in all-purpose yards at 98.6.
• His 19.8 yards per catch average for his career, is the best in UMass history.
• Peebler began with a sensational start to this season with three 100-yard receiving games in the first three contests of 2004, as he has been the top target of quarterback Tim Day. He hauled in five passes from Day in the season opener at Delaware State for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Against Colgate, he had four catches for 161 yards and a pair of TD's and against Richmond, he had four catches for 130 yards with one touchdown. For his career, Peebler has seven career 100-yard games, with the first four coming last season.
• Overall, Peebler and Day have connected for five plays of 50 or more yards (80, 50, 58, 64 and 50) with four of them going for scores.
• He broke out of a mini slump with a 96-yard receiving day at Rhode Island on six catches including a 39-yard touchdown grab from Tim Day.
• Peebler, who has been named a preseason second team All-American by I-AA.org, is one of the top offensive threats for the Minutemen this year, after having a breakout season in 2003. Peebler led the team with 50 catches for 1,003 yards and 13 touchdowns last year, while setting a school single season record with an average of 20.1 yards per reception. He also placed third on the UMass single season list for receiving yards, while ranking second on the list for receiving touchdowns. In addition, Peebler led the team with 78 points scored, while ranking second on the squad with 1,187 all-purpose yards. At the conclusion of the season, Peebler earned second team All-America honors from College Sports Television, in addition to being a second team All-Atlantic 10 Conference selection.
• He was named the UMass/Dinn Brothers Athlete of the Week on Sept. 13 after his big game vs. Colgate.
Day Continues Sparkling Passing
• Junior quarterback Tim Day has been very strong in the early season, his first as the Minutemen's full-time starter at quarterback. In his first two games this season, he was nearly perfect, as he completed an amazing 30-of-40 pass attempts for 589 yards and six touchdowns. Day set the UMass single-game record for completion percentage in the season-opener at Delaware State (9/4), as he nailed 17-of-19 passes (89.4 percent) for 290 yards and four touchdowns. All of those marks set career high as well. He passed his yardage mark in his return to his home state of New Hampshire, as he threw for 293 at UNH.
• In two games this season, Day surpassed his entire career totals in passing yards, with 589 (had 339 entering 2004) as well as touchdowns with six (had two).
• Overall through eight games, Day has completed 56.3 percent of his passes (133-of-245) for 1749 yards. He has hooked up for 13 touchdowns -- six to Jason Peebler.
• Day continued to make his mark on the UMass record book as he tied for the second-most attempts in a game with 52 at James Madison and tied for the third-most pass completions with 28 in that same game.
Koegel Gets His Kicks With Punts
• Sophomore punter Christian Koegel (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) was named the Atlantic 10 Special Teams Player of the Week as well as earning a spot on the Don Hansen Gazette Player of the Week Honor Roll on Monday, Sept. 27 after a huge game against No. 4 Delaware.
• Koegel averaged a single-game school-record 53.0 yards on six punts and dropped four inside the 20-yard line in Massachusetts' 21-7 loss to the Blue Hens. Four of Koegel's six punts went for over 50 yards. He had a 76-yard boot in the first quarter which was downed at the Delaware one yard line. That punt was the third-longest in school history.
• Against Boston College, Koegel set another school record for punting yardage in a game with 526 yards on 12 boots for a 43.8 average. Koegel's 12 punts were one short of a school-record as well. The 526 yards also set an Atlantic 10 conference record.
• For the season, Koegel has averaged 41.8 yards on 46 punts. He ranks second in the A-10 and 15th nationally in punting average. Eleven of those have been downed inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
Walker Ties School Record For Tackles
• Sophomore linebacker Charles Walker (North Lauderdale, Fla.) tied the school record for tackles in a game with 23 vs. Delaware. Walker tied the record set by John McKeown in 1986, also set against the Blue Hens. He had 14 solo tackles and nine assists. He also had two sacks in the contest. Walker had just 13 tackles his entire freshman season, playing mostly on special teams.
• Walker currently leads the Minutemen in total tackles with 60 on 41 solo tackles. He also leads in sacks with 3.5 and is tied for the lead in tackles for loss with 4.5. He has missed the last two games with an injury.
Top Tacklers
• The trio of UMass linebackers Charles Walker, Serge Tikum (Silver Spring, Md.) and Brad Anderson (Ijamsville, Md.) lead the Minutemen in tackles. Walker tops the squad with 60 tackles, 41 solo. Tikum has 52, while Anderson has 50. Shannon James tops the secondary in tackles with 58. Walker and James also have 4.5 tackles for loss, second on the team.
• Anderson posted nine tackles in four of six games from Sept. 18-Oct. 16 and has four tackles for a loss along with one sack, one interception and one fumble recovery.
• Linebacker L.A. Love (Bryan, Texas) has been huge of late with 21 tackles over the last two games in starting in place of the injured Walker. Love had a career-high 12 tackles at Rhode Island on Oct. 23 and has 35 total tackles this season.
• Keron Williams (Lake Park, Fla.) has made the most of his tackles, posting nearly half of them for a loss of yardage. Williams has a team-high 8.5 TFL for a loss of 35 yards but has just 25 overall tackles this season. He has 2.0 sacks for 21 yards.
• Linemen Ola Sanusi (Detroit, Mich.) has 3.5 sacks and 22 total tackles. Sanusi drew his first start in place of an injured Keron Williams and had nine tackles, one TFL, a forced fumble and a pair of pass break-ups against Richmond.
• With James leading the way, the secondary has been stellar for the early season. Strong safety James Ihedigbo (Amherst, Mass.), cornerbacks R.J. Cobbs (Parsippany Hills, N.J.) and Tracy Belton (Landover, Md.) have all started each game with Cobbs missing the New Hampshire and Rhode Island games. Ihedigbo has 44 tackles -- 38 of which are solos. Cobbs, who converted from a running back to defensive back this season has 30 tackles and a three pass break-ups. Belton also has 34 tackles and team-high four pass break-ups.
• Belton is also tied for 13th in the nation with five interceptions in eight games for .67 per game.
• In Cobbs place, true freshman Brandon Freeman (Ruther Glen, Va.) has come up with 21 tackles this season including 10 in the last two games, his first two collegiate starts.
Top-Notch Defense
• UMass' defense has been strong on the early season, pitching the program's first shutout since 2000, with the 51-0 whitewash of Delaware State in the season opener. UMass began the season with an 87:38 streak of holding its opponents scoreless before Colgate's Lane Schwarzberg made a field goal with 2:22 left in the first half of the second game of the year.
• Against New Hampshire, UMass held the Wildacts to minus-2 yards rushing. It was the fewest rushing yards allowed by UMass since they also held Central Connecticut to minus-2 in the 2003 season opener.
Five Starters Anchor Offensive Line
• The UMass offensive line, which posted a solid season in 2003, returns four starters from last season a one from 2002 to pave the way for the Minuteman offense this fall. Leading the way is senior left guard Rob Kane (Londonberry, N.H.), a second team All-Atlantic 10 selection in 2003, who has started 42 of 44 games in his career. Other Minutemen returning to the starting lineup are junior tackle Colin Stoetzel (Grafton, Mass.) with 28 career starts, sophomore center Alex Miller (Fairfax, Va.) with 21 career starts and sophomore guard David Thompson (Norfolk, Va.) with 21 career starts. That group is joined by junior tackle O.J. McBride (Sunrise, Fla.) who started eight times in 2001 and 2002, before missing the entire 2003 season due to injury. Freshman Matt Austin made his first collegiate start in place of McBride in the James Madison game at tackle. Austin also started at New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
UMass Finally Gets 500th Program Win
• UMass finally won its 500th game in program history on Oct. 16, beating New Hampshire, 38-21. after four attempts. The Minutemen come into the Maine game with 500-496-51, dating to the start of the team in 1879. Last season, UMass pushed its all-time record over .500 for the first time since the 1887 season. Prior to the victory over James Madison on Sept. 27, 2003, the last time UMass had an overall record over .500 came following a 17-10 victory over Williston Academy on Oct. 8, 1887, which made its all-time record 11-10-3. In fact, UMass was once 87 games under .500 (218-305-46) in its all-time record, following a 20-6 loss to Boston University on Oct. 31, 1959. Since then, the Minutemen have posted an impressive 282-191-5 record to move over the .500 mark.
Minutemen Against Ranked Teams In I-AA
• UMass topped No. 7 New Hampshire on Oct. 16 for its second win over a ranked team this season. The Minutemen have now won five of ther last eight games against top-10 teams.
• The Minutemen faced their second ranked team -- also at No. 4 -- on Sept. 25 when Delaware came to town. The Minutemen beat then-No. 4 Colgate for its fourth consecutive win over a Top 5 ranked team back on Sept. 11 (30-20). UMass fell at No. 19 James Madison on Oct. 9.
• UMass faced four ranked opponents last season going on the road for all four games. The Minutemen earned victories in the first two games against ranked foes last season and have won five of the last seven overall vs. Top 25 teams.
• Last season, they downed No. 16 Maine, 24-16 on Sept. 20, then defeated No. 2 Villanova on Oct. 25, 19-14. The squad then lost a triple overtime affair at No. 6 Delaware and the NCAA Playoff contest at No. 6 Colgate. • The Minutemen played three games against ranked foes in 2002, defeating No. 2 Maine, 20-10, and No. 4 Villanova, 17-16, while falling at No. 18 Northeastern 42-17.
• Since the beginning of the 1998 season, UMass now stands 15-16 against ranked opponents. The Minutemen concluded the 2001 season 1-3 and the 2000 season with a 1-2 record against ranked opponents, while going 2-3 against ranked teams in 1999 and 6-3 in 1998. UMass' six victories over ranked opponents in 1998 set a school single season record.
• The Minutemen also stand 8-11 against ranked teams at home over the last 10 years, including a 3-8 mark against top 10 teams at home. Prior to back-to-back victories in 2002 over Maine and Villanova, UMass had lost eight straight home games to top 10 opponents, since a 43-29 win over No. 7 Delaware on Oct. 23, 1993.
McGuirk Magic
• UMass has been tough to beat in the friendly confines of McGuirk Alumni Stadium since the start of the 1998 season. The Minutemen have gone 30-10 (.750) at home over the last six years, improving their all-time record at McGuirk to 138-71-2 (.660). Since 1992, UMass has had a losing record at home only once, while posting a home mark of 51-23 during that span. Last year, UMass went 7-0 at home to set a new record for most home victories in the 39-year history of McGuirk Stadium. The 2003 squad also became the first UMass team to go undefeated at home since 1993, when it posted a 5-0 mark at McGuirk Stadium.
UMass Stars Earns Preseason Honors
• Five members of the UMass football team have been selected to the 2004 preseason All-Atlantic 10 Conference teams. Junior tailback Steve Baylark, junior free safety Shannon James senior offensive tackle Rob Kane and senior wide receiver Jason Peebler were all selected to the first team in voting by the conference's coaches and media. In addition, senior cornerback Steve Costello earned second team honors. The teams were announced at Atlantic 10 Media Day in Richmond on August 4.
Four Captains In 2004
• This fall, UMass has four captains for the first time since the 1993 season and only the second time in school history. The four players who have been elected to serve as captains this fall are senior cornerback Steve Costello, senior offensive tackle Rob Kane, senior wide receiver Jason Peebler and junior linebacker Serge Tikum. Here is a list of players who have served as captains for the Minutemen over the last 11 years.
Extra Points
• UMass has scored in 113 straight games since a 34-0 loss to Rhode Island on Sept. 30, 1995 ... The Minutemen have scored in 119 consecutive home games since a 17-0 loss to Holy Cross on Sept. 17, 1983.
