UMass seniors wrap it up
The ideal way to wrap up a college football career is to play a December game in Miami.
UMass senior linebacker Steve Casali will gladly take that parting shot when the Minutemen (4-7) visit Florida International (7-4) in the season finale today.
One of the quirks of playing an independent schedule is its flexibility. Today’s game was arranged in September amid numerous Hurricane Irma cancellations.
It’s the second straight year UMass has had a finish like this, after traveling to Hawaii for the finale last season.
“It’s going to be nice to be playing our final game in warm weather,” Casali said. “I’m feeling old a little bit here but it has been a great five years and I’m really sad that it is coming to an end.”
UMass has played its best football in years over the second half of the season. After starting 0-6, the Minutemen have won four of the last five and nearly pulled off a major upset at No. 21 Mississippi State on Nov. 4.
The Minutemen want to close with a win and carry that momentum forward.
Of course, after the finale the fate of coach Mark Whipple, who is signed through next season, must be addressed. Whipple is 12-35 in his second stop in Amherst. A series of tough losses — the average margin of defeat has been just over 7 points — has brought frustration as the Minutemen have remained at the bottom of the Football Bowl Subdivision, to which they moved in 2012.
It will be the final game for a big chunk of the UMass defense. The core of the defensive line, Da’Sean Downey, Ali Ali-Musa, Roderick Jones Jr and ShaKi Holmes, will not be back in 2018.
They are joined by outside linebackers Casali and Tedrick Lowery and middle linebackers Bryton Burr and Colbert Calhoun. The secondary loses redshirt seniors Jackson Porter and Jesse Monteiro. That group has endured lean years and there is a team-wide sense of duty to send the seniors out on a winning note.
“This is a really big group of seniors and really good group of guys,” said redshirt junior quarterback Andrew Ford. “These are guys I am really close to so for me personally I want to send them out the right way.
“They laid the groundwork for the future of this program that is so bright. So, for us it will be to go out there and take this opportunity to play with each other one more time.
“We want to make sure when they look back on their last game in a UMass uniform it is a good memory. That’s really our goal this week and hopefully we can execute.”
FIU is bowl eligible but can negotiate a destination upgrade with eight wins. The Cougars also have a shot to avenge last season’s 21-13 loss at McGuirk Stadium.