University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Heads East To Face Northeastern, Saturday At Noon
October 07, 2008 | Football
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#13/11 UMASS (3-2, 1-1) at NORTHEASTERN (2-3, 1-0)
Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008 • 12 p.m.
Parsons Field • Brookline, Mass. (7,000)
TV: Comcast SportsNet New England
(Jerry Trupiano, Steve DeOssie)
Radio: WRNX (100.9 FM - Flagship)
WCRN (830 AM), WATD (95.9 FM), WCAP (980 AM)
UMass Heads East To Face Northeastern, Sat. At Noon
• Coming off a dominating defensive effort against Delaware last Saturday, UMass returns to the road for the fourth time in five games as UMass heads east on the Mass Turnpike to face Northeastern on Saturday at 12 Noon. The Minutemen stand at 3-2 overall, 1-1 in the CAA after the 17-7 win over the Blue Hens. Northeastern is 2-3, having won two games in a row including its league opener at Towson, 35-17, last Saturday.
• UMass is ranked for the 49th week in a row (every week since the first week of the 2005 season) in the Sports Network media poll. The Minutemen are just one of five programs in the nation to have been ranked every week since that point. They are joined by Montana, New Hampshire, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois. This week the Minutemen are 13th in the Sports Network poll and 11th in the FCS Coaches Poll.
• Saturday's tilt will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet New England and Comcast Charter Southeast (CSS) up and down the east coast. The game will be called by Jerry Trupiano and Steve DeOssie.
• Saturday's game will be broadcast live on the UMass Sports Network with Josh Maurer, in his first season as the new "Voice of the Minutemen." Former kicker Matt Goldstein will handle the color commentary. The pregame show begins at 11:30 a.m. (ET) on WRNX (100.9 FM), the flagship of the network. It will also be carried by WCRN (830 AM), WATD (95.9 FM) and WCAP (980 AM) in the central and eastern parts of Massachusetts. The game can also be heard live online at UMassAthletics.com.
• Saturday's game pits UMass head coach Don Brown against his former team, as he coached the Huskies from 2000-03. He led Northeastern to the Atlantic 10 championship and its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2002. Brown along with several members of the UMass coaching staff came to Amherst in the winter of 2004. Brown was named conference coach of the year in 2002 at Northeastern and at UMass in 2006, making him just the second coach in league history to earn the honor at two different schools, joining Jim Reid (UMass and Richmond).
The Series: UMass-Northeastern
• UMass holds a 28-8-1 lead in the all-time series, which began in 1934, against Northeastern after shutouts in two of the last three seasons, each in rainy conditions. With last year's 24-7 win for the Minutemen, UMass has outscored the Huskies, 58-7 over the last three seasons. In last year's victory, all 31 points were scored in the first half including two touchdown passes from Liam Coen to Rasheed Rancher and J.J Moore. Matt Lawrence ran for 110 yards and a touchdown as well. Northeastern's lone scored was a 1-yard rush by Anthony Orio. That scored ended a 156:22 scoreless drought for Northeastern, dating to 2004.
• Two seasons ago on Oct. 28, 2006, UMass downed Northeastern, 7-0, that followed a 27-0 whitewash at McGuirk Stadium on Oct. 8, 2005.
• UMass has won 21 of the last 22 games in the series, winning 16 in a row from 1984-2001. Northeastern broke the losing streak with a 42-17 win at Parsons Field on Sept. 21, 2002. That win also broke a seven-game UMass win streak in Brookline. UMass head coach Don Brown led Northeastern to that win to break the streak vs. UMass.
• UMass posted its largest win in the series, 77-0, back in 1999 with Brown on the sidelines for the Minutemen as the defensive coordinator.
• Brown has won all four of his games vs. the Huskies after having served Northeastern's coach from 2000-03. He was 1-3 against UMass in his four years in Brookline.
• Northeastern's Rocky Hager is 0-4 vs. the Minutemen, losing the four games by a combined score of 84-29.
• UMass is 12-5-1 all-time in Brookline. The Minutemen are a perfect 12-0 against the Huskies at McGuirk Stadium.
Connections Between UMass/Northeastern
• Along with coach Don Brown, several members of the UMass football staff, came to Amherst after serving at Northeastern. Assistant coaches: offensive coordinator Kevin Morris (2000-03), defensive coordinator Keith Dudzinski (2002-03), and offensive line coach/run-game coordinator Brian Picucci (2000-03). They also helped coach the Huskies to the 2002 Atlantic 10 championship and their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
• Northeastern sophomore Nate Thellen, who leads the CAA in interceptions is the brother of UMass true freshman defensive back Darren Thellen. They are Brockton, Mass. natives.
• UMass' strength & conditioning coach Bob Otrando is a Husky alum and is a member of the Northeastern Hall of Fame.
McGuirk Magic
• UMass has been tough to beat in the friendly confines of McGuirk Alumni Stadium and are riding a 16-game home win streak. It is the second-longest streak in FCS as only San Diego (27) has a longer one. In all of Division I football, it is tied for the third-longest streak, also behind Oklahoma (20). Since the start of the 1998 season, the Minutemen have gone 51-11 (.823) at home over the last 10 years, improving their all-time record at McGuirk to 159-72-2 (.686). UMass went 6-0 at home last season after going a perfect 8-0 at home in 2006, setting the school-record for best record at home. They were also undefeated at home in 2003.
• Since 1992, UMass has had a losing record at home only once, while posting a home mark of 70-23 (.753) during that span. In 2003, UMass went 7-0 at home to set the former record for most home victories in the 43-year history of McGuirk Stadium.
• UMass has won 20 of its last 21 games at home after dropping the 2005 home regular-season finale to New Hampshire on Oct. 29. They are 27-3 dating to 2003.
About UMass Coach Don Brown
• The 2006 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year and AFCA Region I Coach of the Year, Don Brown is in his fifth year at UMass and has a 39-16 (.707) record. All-time, he is in his 12th year as a head coach and has a 91-42 all-time mark, winning 68.4 percent of his games, 70.4 percent while at UMass. Brown moved to third on the career wins list at UMass with the season opening win against Albany (8/30). He broke a tie with Bob Pickett (36-28) and Jim Reid (36-29-2). Next on the list is Mark Whipple, who went 49-26 in his six seasons (1998-2003).
UMass Football History Thumbnail
• This is the 126th season of UMass football. UMass has an all-time record of 536-506-51 (.515) in 1,093 all-time games. The Minutemen come off their second straight conference title and NCAA Tournament appearance. UMass went 10-3 last season, going 7-1 in the inaugural season of the CAA. The Minutemen are 25-6 since the start of 2006, including a 13-2 season in 2006 in which they advanced to the National Championship game of Division I-AA/Football Championship Subdivision. UMass finished last season ranked No. 7 and was in the Top 8 all season long. With 23 wins over the last two years, UMass has the best two-year mark in school history.
Senior Class Seeking Wins Record
• The 2008 seniors came into the season seeking a program mark for most wins a four-year period. The record of 36 wins was set by the 2006 seniors, who went 36-14. Last year's senior class also went 36-14 in four years.
• The 2008 class led by senior captains quarterback Liam Coen, offensive lineman Sean Calicchio and cornerback Sean Smalls has a 33-11 record with seven regular-season games remaining. They need just three wins to set the new mark.
• The seniors are also seeking to lead UMass to the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row, which would set a new UMass mark. They are also looking for a third straight conference crown, which would be the first occurrence in the Yankee/Atlantic 10/CAA since Boston University in 1982-84. The last time UMass won three conference crowns in a row was from 1977-79, winning three Yankee Conference titles in a row.
• Prior to 2006, twice before UMass had 31 wins in a four-year span done from 2002-05 (31-16), 1998-2001 (31-19).
UMass Dominating FCS & CAA Foes
• The Minutemen finished 2007 at 10-3 overall, 10-2 vs. FCS opponents. UMass has a 26-4 record since the start of 2006, in games against FCS teams. Prior to the loss at Rhode Island on Nov. 3, 2007, UMass had won 17 games in a row against FCS teams in regular-season games. Since the 2006 opener, UMass is 26-7 with three losses to FBS teams (Navy, Boston College and Texas Tech). Other than the URI loss, the lone intra-division losses were to Appalachian State in the NCAA Division I Championship game in 2006, Southern Illinois in 2007 Quarterfinals and James Madison in 2008, the current No. 1 team in the nation. UMass began the 2007 season at 4-0 for the first time since 1986, losing to Boston College, the current second-ranked team in FBS, by a narrow 24-14 score in Chestnut Hill.
• The Minutemen are 16-2 in conference games over the last three seasons. The Minutemen finished at 7-1 in the CAA last season and were the last undefeated team in league play prior to the loss to Rhode Island. UMass went 8-0 in conference in 2006 (becoming the first undefeated team in league since Villanova in 1997).
