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By every possible measurement the UMass Minutemen have to view the first half of their season as a success. The Minutemen have defeated all four of the FCS teams that they have faced, including two both of their conference games. The Minutemen's lone defeat was to a nationally ranked FBS team that was undefeated until this weekend and the Minutemen nearly came back to win that game too.
UMass Football First Half Recap
By every possible measurement the UMass Minutemen have to view the first half of their season as a success. The Minutemen have defeated all four of the FCS teams that they have faced, including two both of their conference games. The Minutemen's lone defeat was to a nationally ranked FBS team that was undefeated until this weekend and the Minutemen nearly came back to win that game too.
The Minutemen kicked off their season under the lights at McGuirk Stadium with a conference game against the then fourth ranked William and Mary Tribe. For Coach Kevin Morris and the Minutemen this game was going to be true test of what type of team they were going to be. Were the Minutemen going to be the pound the ball down your throat, hard nosed, blue collar, defense first team that they had been under former coach Don Brown and was 4-2 through six games last season or were they going to be the tentative, uncertain, pass happy and turnover prone team that finished out the season 1-4 in their last five games? Through three quarters it was looking like the team from the end of last season was still on the field. They had scored two touchdowns, but they had also fumbled and turned the ball over on downs when quarterback Kyle Havens lost track of the line of scrimmage. In the fourth quarter the offense finally began to click with two long drives that resulted in touchdowns and put them ahead for good. With more than three minutes remaining on the clock, it was Tyler Holmes that lead the defense which held on for the win when Holmes intercepted a pass from a W&M offense that had already gone 18 yards in four plays sealing a 27-23 victory.
The second game of the season had the potential to be a trap game for the Minutemen. Following the comeback win against the highly ranked William and Mary and a trip to the big house to play the nationally ranked FBS Michigan Wolverines the next weekend, Coach Morris needed to keep his charges focused on the task at hand which was a Holy Cross team that had been an FCS playoff team the year before. The Minutemen responded by jumping out to a 31-0 halftime lead and held on for a 31-7 victory. Kyle Havens threw for 293 yards and two touchdown and the UMass offense put 525 total yards up on the board. On the defensive side of the ball it was Tyler Holmes who again stepped in and set the stage for the Minutemen when he forced a fumble near midfield and setup the Minutemen's second touchdown of the game and game the home team the momentum.
Having to travel Ann Arbor to face the Wolverines is am imposing idea for almost any football team. Traveling to Ann Arbor to face the Wolverines and play in front of 110,000 people when you have never played before more than half of that was the task that the Minutemen faced. Add on to it the fact that the Minutemen were playing with a heavy heart after the passing of long time band director George Parks at a performance as the marching band travelled to Michigan for the game, and you had the predicament that the Minutemen found themselves in. Tapping into that emotion, the Minutemen responded by jumping out to 17-7 lead before losing their composure for a bit around the middle of the game, allowing 28 unanswered points. The Minutemen regained their composure in time to come within an unsuccessful onside kick of coming all the way back to upset the Wolverines, losing 42-37. Jonathan Hernandez rushed for 114 yards and Kumar Davis became the first person to intercept Heisman trophy candidate Denard Robinson.
Staying on the road for the second straight week, the Minutemen looked to close out their non-conference schedule when they travelled down to long island to face off with a Stony Brook. Perhaps the idea of playing a team that they had rolled over last season at McGuirk 44-17 after playing at such a high level against Michigan was a bit of a let down, or maybe facing off against a team that had played at such a high level the week before fired the Sea Wolves up, either way the Minutemen needed to come back again before holding on for 26-21 victory. Senior transfer John Griffin lead the Minuteman attack on the ground with 132 yards rushing and Hernandez added on two more rushing touchdowns. Through the air it was another transfer in senior Anthony Nelson who paced the UMass air attack with 97 yards receiving.
Before the Minutemen could take their week off, they first needed to finish of their longest streak of road games by traveling to Towson to meet the Tigers. This time it was the UMass defense that set the tone for the game. Both Tyler Holmes and Mike Mele set career highs with 18 and 13 tackles respectively. The defense recorded five tackles for a combined loss of 26 yards and held an opponent to 23 points or less for the fourth time this season. On the offensive side of the ball, it was the transfers Griffin and Nelson who again lead the way for the Minutemen. Griffin rushed for 117 yards and scored a touchdown on the ground while Nelson had 40 yards and a touchdown through the air. Hernandez also scored his seventh touchdown of the year to tie him for the conference lead. As a team the Minutemen finished up the first half of the season with a 27-14 victory.
The second half of the season for the Minutemen will not be easy and they will need to avoid the second half pitfalls that caught up to them last season. Starting the second half of the season will be a home coming matchup with the Richmond Spiders on Saturday followed by the Colonial Clash with the University of New Hampshire at Gillette Stadium the week after. The Spiders are 2-3 so far this season, but are only one year removed from an 11 win season in which they were the #4 seed in the FCS playoffs. Another team that is struggling this year, the UNH Wildcats will be the fourth 2009 FCS playoff team on the UMass schedule, joining William and Mary, Holy Cross and Richmond. Also on the remaining schedule for the Minutemen will be trips to James Madison and Rhode Island sandwiched around home games with Maine and Delaware.
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