College Football Saturday, September 5, 2009

The Northeastern Boston College was the worst game I was ever at. I don't think Northeastern even got a first down all game. We left early in the 4th quarter, it was 47-0 BC. Terrible. Below is a "live blog" I did while listening to the UMass game. They lost, 21-17, but if you want to read my thoughts it's below.

7:25-I'm listening to the UMass game now on AM890 ESPN radio in Boston. It started well. UMass received the kick off and got two first downs and on third and 2 in Kansas State territory. Havens threw an incompletion and UMass punted. The defense forced a 3 and out but Jeremy Horne ran into the kicker giving Kansas State the ball back.

KS drove down the field but UMass forced a fumble and returned it to midfield. UMass tried a flea flicker and Havens threw an interception. K-State has the ball inside their own 10. Maybe I'll do a semi live blog from here on out.

7:29-INTERCEPTION!!!! UMASS BALL ON THE KANSAS STATE 25 YARD LINE!!!!!! About 7 minutes left in the first quarter, 0-0. Rough'em Up, Rough'em Up, GO UMASS!

7:39- Caleb Violette kicks a 35 yard field goal to make it 3-0 Minutemen. He's (apparently) a freshman punter. Place Kicker Armando Cuko was suspended by the team for the game for "internal reasons." Oh well.

7:46- End of 1st Quarter, 3-0 Good Guys. Kansas State drove down the field and is currently on the Minuteman 3 yard line. We need a turnover.

7:51- Kansas State QB ran it in on the second play of the second quarter. 7-3 Wildcats. The UMass broadcast team just let me know that former Patriot QB Steve Grogan's number is in the Wildcat's ring of honor.

8:06- SON OF A... Victor Cruz caught a Touchdown pass but Kansas State got a gift call...offensive pass interference on Julian Tally the other receiver. The announcers said the two receivers crossed and the defensive back covering Cruz ran into Tally. Isn't that sort of the goal when you cross receivers? I hate FBS games for this reason. Calls always seem to go in their favor. Violette has his kick blocked. 7-3 Wildcats/Big 12 Referees.

8:14- Predictably, Kansas State throws a 40 yard touch down pass. 14-3 Wildcats. I can't see the game so I have absolutely no idea if UMass was screwed on the Cruz TD, but if so, they gotta let it go and focus. This is a winnable game. So far, UMass has proven they belong on the same field as Kansas State. A bit more than 5 minutes left in the half. Shake it off and drive down the field.

8:29- UMass went 3 and out. The D held KS to a field goal attempt, which they missed. UMass ball on their own 30-ish with less than 2 minutes left. On first down, RB Tony Nelson dropped a pass. He was wide open with blockers. According to the radio it is his 4th drop to 0 receptions.

8:34- UMass picks up 1 first down (as I called him out earlier, I should mention the first down was on a Nelson reception) then is forced to punt. The receivers kept dropping balls. The punt is blocked. Violette is having a bad first game. Kansas State takes over at the UMass 40 and scores two plays later. 21-3 assuming the extra point is good, which it is. HALFTIME!

9:27- I'm still listening, just nothing much going on. A lot of traded punts. In CAA News, William & Mary upset FBS Virginia 26-16. Jeremy Horne apparently dropped a pass when he was wide open, and UMass is forced to punt. MUFFED!!!!!... UMASS RECOVERS...UMASS BALL ON THE KSU 18 YARD LINE!!!!!

9:31- UMass runs the ball down their throats. Minutemen ball on the 3...3rd and goal. PLAY ACTION PASS TOUCHDOWN UMASS!!!!! 21-9. HAVENS WITH HIS FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN PASS TO TIGHT END KREVIS!!!!!! EXTRA POINT IS GOOD! 21-10.

9:34- That's the end of the 3rd quarter. This game is far from over. In more CAA news, Richmond is beating FBS Duke, 21-9 in the fourth quarter.

9:39- RIDICULOUS!! UMass forces K-State to punt, and Jeremy Horne blocks it, catches it, and runs it into the endzone. Extra point good. 21-17.

9:44- Freaking Big 12 Refs. UMass stops K-State for a loss on first down, and the quarterback trips over his own two feet for a loss on second down. AFTER the play, the refs throw a flag and call defensive holding. After the play? Seriously? First down Kansas State, who has a new QB as apparently the other dude got pretty hurt falling down.

9:49- UMass holds them. K-State takes the delay of game to give the punter more room. The punter kicks it into the endzone anyway. UMass will take over with 10:17 left in the fourth, down 21-17. In my seven years of following the team, UMass has come close to beating FBS teams, but never actually did. They got screwed against BC two years ago and I'm still upset about it so I won't talk about it. The year before against Navy, they had the ball deep in Navy territory with a minute or two left down by 1 and fumbled to lose.

9:55- UMass goes three and out. LET'S GO D!

9:58- The defense forces a 3 and out. Last year, the UMass defense was the worst I ever saw, and here they are dominating Kansas State this half. I'm surprisingly calm. UMass ball.

9:59- DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE. Thank you BIG 12 Refs. The UMass announcers say Cruz had everyone beat and if he wasn't interfered with he'd be in the endzone, so I guess it was a good penalty to take.

10:03- UMass punts...less than 6 minutes left. Kansas State ball.

10:08- KState picks up a huge first down. About 3 minutes left.

10:10- Holding and a delay of game make it 1st and 25 with 3:09 left. LET'S GO D!

10:13- Kansas State converts on 3rd down...that's pretty much the ball game. UMass has 1 timeout. It's second down. A turnover is necessary. Now it's third down with 59 seconds. UMass burned its last timeout.

10:20 KState took back to back timeouts before third down. 3rd and 2. QB keeper. They're bringing out the chains... announcers don't know if he got it...if so it's by inches...announcers say short...but the chains disagree. First down. Kansas State got a first "by the hair of his chinny chin chin." Kansas State escapes with a victory. If only offensive pass interference wasn't called on Talley on Cruz's TD reception.

One of these days, UMass is gonna beat a FBS team. Maybe next year at Michigan.

Massachusetts Football Report Thursday, September 3, 2009

- UMass opens it's season Saturday @ Kansas State, and that means one thing: It's a bad week to be a Wildcat. Junior College Transfer Kyle Havens was named the starting quarterback. I feel bad for senior Scott Woodward. Whenever he came in for an injured Liam Coen, I always thought he did well. I think a lot of times during games, the coaching staff never trusted him though. I remember one game in particular against Boston College where Coen got hurt early in the third quarter. UMass stopped passing the ball completely unless it was third and long in their own territory. If memory serves correct he made something good happen more often than not, but I still wonder to this day why they didn't open the play book for him. Must be something they saw with him in practice. Most times a FCS team upsets and FBS team, it's with a scrambling quarterback who runs the option. As a result, some UMass fans speculated that Octavious Hawkins would start the season opener. I like the idea in theory, but I think Head Coach Kevin Morris is doing the right thing. You're probably not gonna win anyway, so you might as well treat this like a practice and try to work out all the kinks with the first team offense your gonna go with the rest of the season. By the way, the best thing about Havens being named the starter is he wears #12. That means my Liam Coen jersey (which doesn't say Coen on the back) can now become a Kyle Havens jersey. Sweet!

- I'm going to my first football game tonight to see the New England Patriots take on the New Jersey... I mean New York Giants. As no one is gonna play besides third and fourth stringers, the most exciting thing this blog will observe is what jersey I'll wear tonight. I have at my disposal good looking home blue Adam Vinatieri and Drew Bledsoe Patriot jerseys, a good looking silver Richard Seymour jersey, a fake looking blue Laurence Marony jersey (no numbers on the sleeves, no stripes on the shoulder, no gray on the collar...it's terrible) and a really nice blue Tom Brady I've never worn. The Tom Brady is the best jersey cause the name and number are actually sewn on whereas the others look machine painted. I decided to go with the Drew Bledsoe jersey, as he is undeniably the most important man in New England Patriot history, and I feel like since Brady wont play anyway it's the perfect time to honor Drew. Julian Edelman is also honoring Drew Bledsoe tonight, and if he makes the team he will probably continue to honor Bledsoe the entire season.

-I'm also going to a football game Saturday- Northeastern vs Boston College. It's a bit of a dilemma as UMass fans are suppose to hate Boston College whereas Northeastern is the poster child for schools that think they're better than you only because they're a private school. My hatred for Northeastern runs deep. On the other hand, I taught a few of the BC football players and some of them work their butts off and are good people, plus I got a degree from there, so I'm rooting for BC.