Quotes From Coach Brown's Weekly Teleconference

Sept. 6, 2004

UMass Romps Over Delaware State, 51-0
Coming off the largest shutout win in a season opener in school history, Coach Don Brown had plenty to be happy about. Read what he had to say in this week's Atlantic 10 Teleconference. Question: Other than Tim Day's performance, what else stood out about the win at Delaware State: Head Coach Don Brown: We had a number of receivers really step up in the win. In addition to Jason Peebler, Brandon London and J.J. Moore really stepped up with Moore catching a touchdown. We made no mistakes in the kicking game, we were 6-6 on extra points and 3-3 on field goals, using two different kickers. They had some real good hits. The big disappointment was that we had way too many penalties. We will work on that obviously to get that number down. Tell us about Tim Day, what did you see in him when you made him the starting quarterback: Brown: He had a good spring and was really above the others in learning the new system and now in his second time through, he has a real understanding of what we are looking for and he executed it. He has worked well at getting the ball to Jason Peebler and our other receivers. Timmy gives us our best chance for success. He showed that with his near-perfect first half against Delaware State. He has all the characteristics to be a starting quarterback. Question: Day really spread it around to a lot of receivers, was that on purpose or just a product of the game? Brown: It was a little bit of both. We want to spread it around and that nature of the game, allowed us to do that even more. Peebler, Stewart, London, Moore and even Nathanael Hasselbeck all had catches. Mike Douglas, our tight end, had a big catch for the first TD in the game and we want to get him more involved. Question: Was there anything you wanted to see from your team that you got a chance to do in the game? Brown: The one thing you like to see is how your team does when it faces adversity. When you have the number of penalties we had, it can rattle you. They had the ball inside the 15 yard-line twice also and we were able to hold them without a score. I was impressed with how we weathered the storms. On offense, we didn't get rattled either. We had a 2nd-and-25 in their zone and made eight and nine yards and got the first down. You are always looking to see how your team works when they face adversity and I thought we did well. When you have so many new players, especially on the defensive end you are curious to see how they react. You are always concerned to see how they perform under the lights, when they have their first opportunity. We were excited about the way they played the first time. Question: You face Colgate this week, can you talk about the team that knocked UMass out of the playoffs last season: Brown: Jamaal Branch, of course, was the Walter Payton Award winner. We have been watching him on tape for the last few days. He is not spectacular, but he is big and physical and the next thing you know, he has 100 yards. TThe quarterback, Chris Brown is a veteran, an outstanding player, who led his team to the national championship game. Luke Graham is a top wideout, so they have a lot of weapons. On defense, they have guys like Adam Leeman up front and they have both cornerbacks back, so I know coach Ed Pinkham is excited about that. We have our hands full, they played in the national championship game last season and they beat us in the first round of the playoffs. We know what type of team they are and we are getting prepared.

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Tim Day

Mike Douglas

Nathanael Hasselbeck

Brandon London

J.J. Moore

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics