(Mike Wegzyn had 23 yards passing against Bowling Green/Andy Heller for the Maroon Musket)
As Bowling Green’s Dwayne Woods scampered into the end zone after picking off UMass quarterback Mike Wegzyn, a hush fell over a sparsely filled Gillette Stadium.
UMass’ offense, and its fans, had been silenced again.
The Minutemen appeared overmatched against a large and experienced Bowling Green defense, mustering only 118 yards of total offense. The Falcons, who had their own problems against an aggressive and rejuvenated UMass defense, shut out the Minutemen 24-0.
“There was no excuse for us to go out there and not perform at a higher level,” UMass coach Charley Molnar said. “Defensively, I thought they played the best they had all year. They tackled well and stopped the run. Offensively we couldn’t put any wind in their sails, we couldn’t give them any life. Offensively we just didn’t have it today.”
UMass’ defense bounced back after a disappointing performance at Western Michigan on Oct. 6. The Minutemen held Bowling Green 2.5 yards per rush, shutting down the Falcons’ feature back, Anthon Samuel. While Falcon quarterback Matt Schilz had two touchdown passes, he only put up 188 yards passing and never seemed comfortable in the pocket.
The Minutemen were led by a pair of true freshmen. Linebacker Kassan Messiah had 16 tackles, while D’Metrius Williams looked like a seasoned cornerback with seven tackles and three pass breakups.
“They’re outstanding. They took the loss hard. They play hard. They’re talented, but because of their enthusiasm and effort it brings them up another notch,” Molnar said.
At the end of the day, the regression of the UMass offense was too much for its defense to overcome.
Wegzyn’s performance brought back memories of his forgettable outing against UConn on Aug. 30 when he threw for 56 yards and an interception. Against Bowling Green, Wegzyn had 23 yards and two interceptions and lacked the poise that started to surface against Miami (OH) and Ohio. He over- or under-threw passes downfield, missed open receivers in the flats and forced the ball into non-existant windows.
In short, he looked like a freshman.
“Today he just wasn’t himself. He does a lot of tough things every week in practice and today he just couldn’t do them,” Molnar said. “We have to go back and see and make sure he feels confident in what he does and what he is doing, and if we’ve got too much on his plate we got to take some off.”
Wegzyn took the loss particularly hard.
“It’s frustrating. I don’t know what else to say about it right now. It’s the most frustrated I’ve been in awhile,” Wegzyn said.
Fans muttered for true freshman A.J. Doyle after three quarters of subpar play from Wegzyn, but not much changed after Molnar made the switch. Doyle was put in an awkward quarterbacking dichotomy – he either handed the ball off or went deep. At the end of the day, he had 10 yards passing and two interceptions.
While quarterback play faltered, UMass also never got anything going on the ground. Mike Cox had 40 yards on 10 carries and never had a chance to get into a groove.
Below are the game notes from a tale of two units – a stout defense and a lost offense:
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D’Metrius Williams’ Tweet is Overblown: At halftime, Williams retweeted some of the praise he was getting for his first-half performance and tweeted that – in different words – he was going to have a good second half. Hustle Belt posted the tweets, and that was then picked up by Deadspin. That, of course, made the whole thing go viral.
While looking around Twitter I saw comments saying that he should be suspended, that he was a waste of taxpayer money and a number of other snide remarks. To me, that is disgusting and shows the unfortunate underbelly of Division I athletics. Williams is a true freshman, and he made a mistake. As Molnar said after the game: “He made a mistake and he’ll suffer the consequences, it’s not a death sentence by him in any sense.”
Williams has already said he’s sorry, and to be honest, the kid really was “ballin’” out there.
https://twitter.com/dee13williams/status/259751355462324224
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Rob Blanchflower was Missed: When Rob Blanchflower isn’t playing, UMass doesn’t have a tight end. In this offense, with this quarterback, that’s a bad thing. Throughout the first half of the season, Blanchflower served as Wegzyn’s security blanket. He is a tough blocker at the point of attack and has no problem going over the middle. Molnar said that Blanchflower is still hurt, and he and his staff were hoping to get him back this week, but the medical staff determined that he needed another game off.
“I need Blanchflower. We need Blanchflower,” Molnar said.
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Twister Problem: After the game, Molnar said that his young offensive linemen are having a hard time picking up twists, a problem that has allowed defensive ends to get after Wegzyn. He added that his linemen are holding after getting burned on the twist, and it’s something that he hopes gets figured out with experience.
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Fan Failure: 10,846 people walked into Gillette Stadium, and I would say there were another several thousand in the parking lot. Throughout the week, UMass hyped this game as the biggest homecoming ever. However, there were only about 800 more people this year against Bowling Green than last year against Villanova at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. In 2010, more than 16,000 showed up to watch the Minutemen lose to Richmond.
Meanwhile, UMass’ new roommate – the New England Revolution – drew 25,534 for its nightcap against the Chicago Fire.
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Colter Johnson Punted a Quarter Mile: UMass punter Colter Johnson booted 10 punts for 478 yards, in what was a pretty solid game for the JUCO transfer. Johnson still makes a few mistakes here and there, and on occasion boots a complete dud, but for the most part he has been steady.
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Return to Sender: Jordan Broadnax continues to impress as this team’s kick returner. In limited action, Broadnax had two returns for 54 yards, including a tough 34-yard gashing run. Meanwhile, the Minutemen can’t get anything going on punt return and once again finished with negative yardage. Molnar mentioned that there were individual breakdowns on special teams, and one has to imagine that the biggest problem is at punt return.
Crowd 10K+ was a sure sign of how much of a mess that day was to sum it up, if the alumni doesn’t want to back the players and support, then the players aren’t going to want to play for anyone! Also, Defensive doing a good job especially with battling injuiries and academic issues. Offense, don’t really need to get into it, a mess is an understatement and both QB’s that played clearly just aren’t ready and it’s not there fault they need time to prepare. Hopefully, Molnar makes the adjustments that need to be made!
What happens if/when UMass does not meet the NCAA attendance requirement of 15,000 per game? Can they be dropped from the FBS?
More than a few programs have failed to meet this “requirement” without that consequence. So, for all practical purposes, the answer is no.
Since Umass has done a poor job in getting the facts out there to the average resident of Massachusetts, as to why we are playing in Foxboro for the next few years. It’s simple!— We had a chance to join a Division 1 Conference,which required us to improve facilities in order to join. This means decent locker rooms for visiting teams,a press box that is up to par,and handicap accessible,improved and modernized bathrooms for the general public. Foxboro obviously meets these requirements and gives us time to improve the stadium in Amherst. The reason we wanted to move to the MAC was we have a chance to be in the black financially, or lose less, which will enable the school to continue to compete long term in football. Being the best in the CAA was like being the tallest midget. Umass needs to tell the masses to be patient, and understand the process,because most people think Umass expected to draw 68k in Foxboro in year one of a transition from 1aa-to Division 1. When even hard core fans don’t understand what is going on,we have a problem that needs to be addressed. I’m staying with Umass football during these growing pains and am confident the program is heading in the right direction.
Had a great time hanging with good friends before that game as always. I thought the D played great. Everyone I talked too knows we are a few years away. Turned out to be a very nice day. I bet if we played that game in Amherst we would have had 13-15k easy. It’s where we need to be and more importantly its where we should be.
I’m starting to think your right about McGuirk, but it has to have a different look/feel or it will just be more of the same old. No one outside of the MAC will ever come visit.
Totally agree. It needs to be updated. We don’t need a 40k stadium, we need a decent 20-25k seat stadium. If the school wants to make more $ then charge $5 a car. New England is a pro sports area. We will avg more fans playing in Amherst. If we get 15k a game that will be a good # in the MAC, this isn’t the SEC.
Just to add I’m all for playing that one game against a BCS school at Gillette every year.
My preferred set up is 4 in Amherst and 2 in Foxboro post 2014. Is this possible with the home scheduling requirements?
Thanks for the review. Coming off the bye week this wasn’t the performance anyone was hoping for. 23 passing yards? Almost impossible to convert third downs and just a rough afternoon for the running game. This season started off with the hopes of small steps of progress each week, but I’m seeing that slip away right now. I’m not saying it would’ve been a game changer had they played, but having players sit due to academic suspension couldn’t have helped matters. As for the crowd of under 11k, I think it is what it is until the team starts winning. At first I was 100% behind the Gillette move (and for some damn selfish reasons living just 15 minutes away), but I’m having second thoughts now about the idea of “igniting” the E. Mass fanbase. Bad weather was the excuse the first couple of times. Was there too much sunshine yesterday? Deep down I know we’re at least a couple of recruiting classes away from being on a more “level” playing field with MAC brethren, but these losses have to be taking a psychological toll on the guys who are currently playing. Was also a pretty crazy suggestion by Masslive’s Harry Plumer, hinting that the next two games are pretty much unwinnable, so why not rest players not even caring if you get completely blown out, all for the “possibility” of saving bodies for more winnable games which come in the last three weeks of the season. WOW!
That’s a pretty spot on breakdown, Andy.