Football Heads To Georgia Southern On Saturday

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS FOOTBALL WEEKLY RELEASE
Game One	Massachusetts (0-0) at Georgia Southern (2-1)
Date \| Time	Sat., Oct. 17 \| 4 p.m.
Location	Allen E. Paulson Stadium \| Statesboro, Ga. \| Gameday Information
Series History	Series tied, 2-2 Last: Georgia Southern 34, Massachusetts 13 • Sept. 8, 2018 Allen E. Paulson Stadium • Statesboro, Ga.
Game Notes	Massachusetts \| Georgia Southern \| Sun Belt
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Listen (Online) Listen (Radio)	TuneIn Radio App \| Radio.com \| WEEI.com 105.5 FM WEEI (Western Mass.) & 830 AM WCRN (Worcester)
Tickets	Information available through the Georgia Southern Ticket Office
Television Live Stream	ESPN2 Watch ESPN
Team Information	Massachusetts \| Georgia Southern
Twitter	@UMassFootball \| @UMassAthletics \| @CoachWaltBell
Instagram	UMass Football \| UMass Athletics

LOOK AT ALL THESE NEW FACES

UMass football features 59 different student-athletes across its preseason offensive, defensive and special teams depth charts. Of those 59 Minutemen, 38 are in their first or second seasons at UMass (64.4 percent). It includes 17-of-28 on the offensive depth chart (60.7 percent) and 19-of-26 on the defensive (73.1 percent). Additionally, two of the five specialists (40.0 percent) are in their first or second year, which is not including offensive and defensive position players.
Of the 59 total student-athletes featured on the depth chart, 19 are true-freshmen and three are redshirt freshmen.

YOUNG BUCKS

UMass football tied for first in FBS for total true-freshmen to start a game during the 2019 season with nine, alongside Akron and Alabama.
Massachusetts had three rookies make starts on offense and six do so on defense so far this season.
It includes Helber Fagundes (OL), Wilson Frederic (DL), Jermaine "OC" Johnson, Jr. (WR), Grant Laws (DL), Cletus Mathurin (DL), Josh Wallace (CB), Johnathon Weir (DL), Dariyan Wiley (WR) and Billy Wooden (DL).

AYE AYE CAPTAIN(S)

UMass football has five team captains in 2020, elected by a team vote: Larnel Coleman, Samuel Emilus, Cole McCubrey, Ellis Merriweather and Josh Wallace.
Coleman is a redshirt senior offensive lineman projected to start at left tackle for the third consecutive season. He has 25 starts entering the season, including 12 at left tackle during the 2019 season and 12 at right tackle in the 2018 season. Coleman also started once in 12 appearances as a redshirt freshman in 2017, doing so at right tackle against Maine.
Emilus enters his third season as a wide receiver at UMass with 18 career games played, 42 receptions, 485 receiving yards and six touchdowns. His prior captaincy experience includes when he served as the team's lone game captain for the contest at Northwestern during the 2019 season.
McCubrey started all 12 games in 2019 was the team's leading tackler with 84 stops, which more than double his previous single-season best (35 tackles in 2018). He has appeared in all but one possible game since his arrival at UMass prior to the 2017 season. McCubrey's prior captaincy experience includes three instances as a game captain in 2019 - once as the defensive game captain against Charlotte and twice as the team's sole game captain against Liberty and Army.
Merriweather enters his first season at UMass following two years playing JUCO football at Garden City Community College in Kansas. He posted 513 rushing yards on 90 carries, including six touchdowns, for GCCC in 2019. He was also a member of the Garden City team that finished 10-1 overall and reached the NJCAA National Championship Game in 2018.
Wallace begins his second season at UMass in 2020 and projects as a starter at cornerback. He started at cornerback in eight games and appeared in all 12 during the 2019 season with 33 tackles, one interception and a forced fumble and fumble recovery.

ON TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Alumnus Isaiah Rodgers (2016-19) is in the middle of his first season playing at the NFL level after the Indianapolis Colts drafted Rodgers in the seventh road of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Rodgers' selection gave Massachusetts its second consecutive alumnus drafted into the NFL following Andy Isabella's selection by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Through five games played in the secondary and on special teams, Rodgers has three tackles, seven kick returns for 268 yards and one touchdown and one punt return for 12 yards.

Scoreboard

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Larnel Coleman

Samuel Emilus

Helber Fagundes

Wilson Frederic

Andy Isabella

Grant Laws

Cletus Mathurin

Cole McCubrey

Ellis Merriweather

Isaiah Rodgers

Josh Wallace

Johnathon Weir

Dariyan Wiley

Billy Wooden

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics

Football Heads To Georgia Southern On Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Larnel Coleman

Samuel Emilus

Helber Fagundes

Wilson Frederic

Andy Isabella

Grant Laws

Cletus Mathurin

Cole McCubrey

Ellis Merriweather

Isaiah Rodgers

Josh Wallace

Johnathon Weir

Dariyan Wiley

Billy Wooden

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