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University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Toledo
Football Welcomes Toledo To McGuirk On Saturday Afternoon
October 02, 2023 | Football
Minutemen and Rockets set for 12 p.m. kick on ESPNU.
| University of Massachusetts Football Game Notes & Information | |
| Game 7 | Massachusetts (1-5) vs. Toledo (4-1) |
| Date | Time | Saturday, October 7 | 12 p.m. |
| Location | Amherst, Mass. | McGuirk Alumni Stadium |
| Tickets | Purchase Tickets Here |
| Series History | Toledo leads, 6-1-0 Last Meeting | Sept. 20, 2022 | Glass Bowl, Toledo, Ohio | Toledo 55, Massachusetts 10 |
| Game Notes & Team Information | Massachusetts: Game Notes | Don Brown Presser | Game Program | Record Book Toledo: Game Notes |
| Watch | ESPNU |
| Listen | WHMP 101.5 FM, 1240AM & 1400AM | WCRN 830 AM App: Download The Varsity Sports Network on your mobile device |
| Live Statistics | StatBroadcast |
| @UMassFootball | @FBCoachDBrown | |
| UMass Football | |
| UMass Football | |
AMHERST, Mass. -- University of Massachusetts football hosts Toledo for a noon contest at McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Saturday, October 7. The game will air on ESPNU.
SERIES HISTORY
The Minutemen and the Rockets will be meeting for the eighth time in series history, with Toledo holding a 6-1-0 advantage. Toledo also leads the series, 2-1, when playing at UMass. Last season, the Rockets posted a 55-10 week two victory at the Glass Bowl.
The Massachusetts win in the series came on Sept. 11, 1976, in Amherst as the Minutemen defeated the Rockets, 28-14, to open that 1976 campaign. The teams also met in 1983, 1999, 2014 (MAC), 2015 (MAC), 2021 and 2022.
SIMP CATCHING ON
Junior wide receiver Anthony Simpson scored touchdowns in back-to-back games to open the season and now has 26 catches for 426 receiving yards (78.60 yards/game) this season. His 426 receiving yards rank 25th in FBS (first among independents). Simpson also has nine carries for 82 yards this season.
In the win at New Mexico State, the Arizona transfer had a 10-yard TD run for the game's first score. At Auburn, he took a swing pass 58-yards for his second TD of the season. It marked the first two career touchdowns for the Bloomfield, Connecticut native.
Simpson posted 101 receiving yards at Eastern Michigan (Sept. 16), including a career-long 67-yard connection in the second half. His third touchdown of the season came late in the fourth quarter against New Mexico when he hauled in a 65-yard TD catch from Ahmad Haston to help send the game to overtime (Sept. 23).
QUICK HITS
Massachusetts held Eastern Michigan and New Mexico scoreless in the third quarters and the Minutemen have held the opposition off the scoreboard in three of five third quarters this season.
At 14.53 yards per completion, UMass ranks 19th in the country in passing yards per completion.
WOODEN LEADING THE D
Senior defensive lineman Billy Wooden ranks third on the team with 26 total tackles and first on the team with 15 solo tackles. He has a team-best seven tackles for loss and a team-best 4.5 sacks on the season. His 4.5 total sacks ranks tied for 10th in FBS (first among independents), while his .75 sacks per game this season ranks tied for 34th in FBS (first among independents).
Wooden also has a pass breakup, two quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries (t-2nd in FBS).
A Towson, Maryland native, Wooden is in his fifth season with the UMass program and has served as a game captain in each of the team's first six games this season.
KAY'RON RUNNING WILD
Redshirt junior Kay'Ron Lynch-Adams is putting together a breakout season as the lead back for the Minutemen. A 2023 Phil Steele Preseason All-Independent Second Team member, Lynch-Adams has logged 504 rushing yards on 110 carries this season. He has also added 11 catches for 78 receiving yards.
Against New Mexico State to open the year (Aug. 26), he totaled two touchdowns, marking his first career multiple touchdown game. He posted 101 yards on 14 carries at Auburn, including a 28-yard run, for his first career 100-yard game.
At Eastern Michigan (Sept. 16), Lynch-Adams carried the ball 26 times for a career-high 129 yards. His 504 rushing yards on the season ranks 13th in FBS (second among independents), while his 84.0 rushing yards per game ranks 30th in FBS (second among independents).
Lynch-Adams joined the Minutemen for the 2021 season after spending two years at Rutgers. Last season, he rushed 84 times for 297 yards and a career-long, 66-yard touchdown.
DESROSIERS DELIVERING RETURNS
Redshirt sophomore running back Greg Desrosiers Jr. totaled 244 all-purpose yards against Arkansas State (Sept. 30), including 75 yards rushing, 27 yards receiving and 142 yards on kickoff returns. Against the Red Wolves, he posted his first career two touchdown game with a career-long, 60-yard TD run and his second TD catch of the season.
A 2023 Phil Steele Preseason Independent Team First Team Kick Returner selection, Desrosiers Jr. has 12 rushes for 88 yards and a touchdown this season to go along with 12 catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns. He also has 398 yards on kickoff returns for 634 all-purpose yards this season. The 398 kickoff return yards ranks second in the country, trailing only Elijhah Badger of Arizona State (435).
Desrosiers Jr., who hails from Lawrence, Massachusetts, joined the UMass program last season after two years at Louisville (appeared in six games for the Cardinals).
POWER FIVE TRANSFERS FOR 2023
Massachusetts added 15 transfers into the program with previous power five experience:
JB Brown - Arizona
RJ Edwards - Arizona
Jalen Harrell - Miami
Shambre Jackson - Florida State
Dashaun Jerkins - Ole Miss/Vanderbilt
Jalen John - Arizona
Tyler Martin - Arizona
Steven Ortiz - Minnesota
Taisun Phommachanh - Georgia Tech/Clemson
Mark Pope - Miami
Jerry Roberts Jr. - Arizona
Isaiah Rutherford - Arizona
Anthony Simpson - Arizona
Matt Smith - Duke
Jermaine Wiggins Jr. - Arizona
COACHING AT THE ALMA MATER
UMass employs three alums in full-time coaching roles in 2023, including assistant head coach/special teams coordinator/defensive lines coach, Ben Albert, defensive line coach, Valdamar Brower and associate head coach/offensive line coach, Alex Miller.
Albert is a 1995 graduate of the University of Massachusetts and was an All-Conference defensive lineman. During the 2002 and 2003 seasons, he served as the inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator, where he aided the Minutemen to the 2003 Atlantic 10 Conference championship.
Brower, a 2004 graduate of UMass, was a star defensive lineman for Massachusetts from 1999-2003, playing for then-defensive coordinator Don Brown during the 1999 season.
Miller developed into one of the most celebrated offensive lineman during his playing days at Massachusetts. His four years starting on the line culminated with multiple first team all-America awards following the team's appearance in the 2006 National Championship Game. Miller cemented his legacy as a durable and reliable centerpiece for the Minutemen with starts in all 50 games played during the 2003-06 seasons
Two additional coaching staff members earned a degree from UMass in analyst Jesse Monteiro '17 and Graduate Assistant Garrett Dzuro '23.
