University of Massachusets Athletics
Transcription From Don Brown's Weekly Teleconference
November 12, 2007 | Football
Nov. 12, 2007
The UMass football team is coming off a convincing 27-7 victory over New Hampshire. Read what Head Coach Don Brown had to say about that game, looking ahead to Saturday's regular-season finale at Hofstra.
UMass Head Coach Don Brown on the first half of the UNH game:
We were anticipating a great football game. They're a great football program led by Ricky Santos. They came right down the field on the first series and threw an interception in the end zone, which was a battle between Keith LeVan and Jeromy Miles, our free safety. [Miles] got the big interception there. Then we have a huge gaff later on in the quarter. We get a punt blocked on the 14 yard line. Our defense made the series of the day by backing them up. They were actually forced to punt the ball after two minus yardage plays on first and second down. That was a huge series for us. Mike Meggett has the huge interception and returns the ball to the nine yard line. Matt Lawrence puts it into the end zone. We also kicked a 51-yard field goal by Chris Koepplin. We're up 10-0 at that point. Ricky bring them back down the field and on fourth and two, we think we've got them stopped, but he finds a way to move the pile. It was a crazy situation, but he moved the pile and got a first down; they go in and score. It was 10-7 at that point. They come back down the field just before the half and miss a field goal.
On the second half:
Then our offense took over in the third quarter. We were against the wind. Not like it's a 50 mile per hour wind, but it was a bothersome wind. We went 11 plays, 88 yards, ten of them by Matt Lawrence, who had 80 yards rushing in the series. It was a huge drive for us. We come back later in the quarter with a six play, 60 yard drive, capped off by a play action pass from Liam Coen to Mike Omar. Liam broke the UMass record for passing yards. There are a lot of great quarterbacks there, so congratulations to him. We capped off the quarter with a 30-yard field goal.
Overall thoughts on the game:
Defensively, we had eight sacks. We did a great job of keeping Ricky in the pocket. When he gets out, he can ad lib and really hurt you. We minimized the damage in the run game, holding them to 44 yards rushing. It was one of our best defensive efforts of the year. Second half performance by our offense was very, very solid. We struggled in the first half on third-down conversions. Give credit to the New Hampshire defense. We played much better in the second half and managed the game the whole second half, and kept Ricky and company on the bench. With that, and a good defensive effort, life is good in Amherst today.
On Lawrence's performance:
We came out with a purpose, to try and run the ball against the wind and put a good drive together. We just kept pounding it away, and Matt had ten of those carries during the course of the drive. He followed the offensive line's blocking. He's done a great job for us following in a long line of great tailbacks at UMass. He has done a great job in his own right. Tony Nelson also chipped in with 11 carries for 65 yards. The two tailback tandem gave us 212 yards on the day. We did have a net of 204.
On possibility of winning the CAA automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament:
That will take care of itself after Saturday. We have a big football game on the horizon down at Hofstra. We're just more concerned about taking care of our own business this week and having a great week of preparation getting ready for Hofstra.
On Saturday's upcoming game at Hofstra:
I don't think there are any surprises. Since 2005 in the last game at Hofstra when we went down there and failed, playoff aspirations went out the window and conference championship went out the window. Our goal around here is to take care of your own shop and focus on what's in front of you. We need to do that on Saturday against a very, very good Hofstra team.
On bouncing back from the Rhode Island loss in beating UNH:
On Sunday after the Rhode Island loss, we had a very frustrated football team. It was not a pretty day. On Tuesday, guys came back after the Monday off with great resolve. The practice week was impressive and it carried all the way through Friday night's meal and Saturday morning. I knew we had a football team that was focused and ready to compete. I was proud on the way our guys came back together, regrouped, and competed against an excellent New Hampshire team. I'd be remised if I didn't compliment Ricky Santos on his outstanding career at the University of New Hampshire. He's been one of those guys I've really enjoyed competing against. All the things that he's done for our conference, in terms of the way he carries himself and plays the game, certainly has made us all better.
On the possibility of the CAA automatic bid coming down to the fourth tie breaker between UMass and Richmond (in which the Athletic Directors would vote the champion):
Commissioner Yeager, that's his responsibility to make sure it's a fair and equitable solution. I'm very confident in his abilities to administer the process. We're just glad to be in the discussion at this point in time. Those are the things my football team can't control. The only thing that we can control is trying to get ready to play a very, very good Hofstra team. Both teams have had good years. Somebody's got to make a decision and you just live with it. I have no control over it, so I'm not going to worry about it. I'll do whatever they tell me to do.
