Whipple never up in the hair on UMass QBs
NEW ENGLAND FOOTBALL
One would think having a pair of quarterbacks sidelined by injury might prompt a coach to start ripping out his hair.
Not so for UMass coach Mark Whipple, who didn’t lose a lock off his mane with the Minutemen taking a convincing 49-31 home win over Charlotte on Saturday.
“I feel better about our quarterback position than ever,” said Whipple, who arrived at the press conference after the win missing no additional strands of hair, “because I know those two guys can play.”
The coach has high confidence in seniors Andrew Ford and Ross Comis, who were both out with upper-body injuries and listed day-to-day.
Whipple plugged in red-shirt junior Michael Curtis, who is third on the depth chart. The 6-foot-2 transfer from Trinity Valley College completed 12-of19 attempts for 189 yards. A native of Richardson, Texas, and graduate of Prime Prep Academy, Curtis passed for two scores and rushed for two others. It was his debut start after mopping up a week earlier when Ford and Comis each went out at Florida International.
“I was focused. I really wasn’t (nervous). I was prepared. I was ready to go out there and have fun,” Curtis said later.
Like any astute offensive guru, Whipple wisely pulled back on the game plan to insure his newest prospect would be comfortable.
“I thought Michael did a really good job. I was nervous the whole game. I didn’t want to put him in harm’s way. Like anybody going in the first time, you never know how they’re going to do,” Whipple said. “We wanted to give him some easy throws and move him around. I liked his progress.”
Making matters easier was the fact the Minutemen jumped out to a commanding 21-0 lead in the game’s first 3:14 of action. Senior Marquis Young, who had 12 carries for 74 yards from scrimmage, jump-started the hosts by returning the opening kickoff 93 yards for the first of his three TDs.
“One block at FIU the week before and he would have found the seam. When you have a weapon like that, you don’t really need to take the (opposing) man out, you just have to get in his way,” Whipple said. “There was improvement all the way around.” UMass (2-3) visits Ohio (1-2) on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Harvard scores milestone
Harvard (2-0) opened its Ivy League schedule by defeating Brown, 31-17, in Providence. It was Harvard’s eighth straight win at Brown Stadium and the Crimson improved to 20-5 in Ivy openers under coach Tim Murphy.
Harvard has scored in 200 straight games, a school and Ivy League record.
Senior Justice Shelton-Mosley had six catches to move to fourth all-time in the school’s pass receiving history with 137 catches.
Rough start for Stonehill
Stonehill (1-3) was doubled-up, 42-21, by Southern Connecticut as junior Kyle Smith made his first start of the season for the Skyhawks. He connected on 12-of30 passes for 184 yards and two scores. Junior Andrew Jamiel hauled in eight catches for 94 yards and caught his 22nd career TD in only 23 games. Jamiel, a Yarmouth product, has 195 receptions, one shy of the program mark held by Nate Robitaille . . . .
In a NEWMAC showdown, Springfield (3-1) edged WPI (2-2), 17-14, with Chris Humulock’s thirdquarter 28-yard field goal being the difference. Springfield junior Hunter Belzo rushed for 113 of the Pride’s 233 rushing yards with two scores. WPI had only 86 rushing yards but outgained Springfield, 210-36, through the air . ...
Grant Buchanan of Holliston booted a 20-yard field goal, his fifth of the season, for Bentley’s only points in a 38-3 loss to LIU Post.