Game Week: Depth Chart News

(Wide receiver Alan Williams will once again start for the Minutemen/Andy Heller for the Maroon Musket)

Injuries, inexperience and youth once again plague the UMass depth chart. While there hasn’t been too much shuffling this week, a number of new faces are starting to show up on the two-deep.

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Colarusso Backing up Blanchflower: The backup tight end merry-go-round is taking another spin. Julian Colarusso, a 6’4, 225-pound redshirt senior, is listed as Rob Blanchflower‘s backup this weekend. In the past, freshman Derek Beck was first off the bench, but he banged up his knee against Bowling Green, and we haven’t seen him since. I haven’t heard any updates on Beck’s condition, but after sustaining the injury, he was on crutches and hobbling. Colarusso was originally recruited as a wide receiver out of Catholic Memorial High School and has seen action on special teams.

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Alan Williams Back on Top: After serving his academic suspension, wide receiver Alan Williams was left off the depth chart last week. That made room for redshirt freshman Elgin Long, who was unimpressive (one catch for -5 yards) against Vanderbilt. Williams still saw action and had two catches fro 14 yards. Williams has been an important part of the UMass offense and compliments Marken Michel and Deion Walker well in the receiving corps. Whether or not they get anything going this weekend against an aggressive Northern Illinois defense should be interesting.

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Offensive Line Continuity: As another week passes without senior guard Nick Speller, UMass’ young offensive line is seeing more reps. Guys like Matt Sparks, Michael Boland and John Wallace – all freshmen or redshirt freshmen – will see time this weekend. Added to the mix is true freshman walkon Al Leneus, who saw some time at guard against Vanderbilt. Leneus was originally a defensive lineman, but UMass’ thin depth chart has opened an opportunity on the O-line.

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Robinson as Backup Mike: John Robinson, a true freshman linebacker, will be backing up Perry McIntyre this weekend. Robinson had a decent performance against Vanderbilt and tallied four tackles. Robinson is now one of three true freshmen on the linebacker two-deep, joining Kassan Messiah and Jovan Santos-Knox. Linebacker depth has been an issue with season-ending injuries to Greg Hilliard and D.J. Adeoba.