The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
An emotional return
Ex-Husky McAllister back at Rentschler with UMass
AMHERST, Mass. — Brice McAllister wasn’t in the mood to celebrate as he walked off of Rentschler Field for what he thought might have been his final college football game last October.
McAllister tied his career high with nine tackles but that didn’t seem to matter as the Huskies surrendered more than 700 yards in a 70-31 loss to Memphis. Making things even worse, McAllister broke a bone in his hand during the game.
“I didn’t know what happened, I didn’t know if I would transfer I just thought the season was over and it was it for me playing football,” McAllister said.
McAllister will return to Rentschler Field on Saturday but this time as a member of visiting UMass.
“It has been a blessing to be able to come back here to UMass to continue to play,” said McAllister, who is pursuing a graduate degree in sports management. “I had my ups and downs with the decision but a lot of my friends had already graduated. Right now at UConn the guys I came in with are Ryan [Crozier] and James [Atkins], 13-14 guys I came in with had left already so I felt like it was time to get out of there.”
McAllister only played three games before being injured last season and since he played as a true freshman, he was eligible for a fifth season of eligibility. UMass was more than happy to bring the native of East Longmeadow, Mass. into the fold.
“He brings experience and has
done some good things,” UMass coach Mark Whipple said. “He started with a bang and unfortunately got banged up, came back healthy last week so the experience factor, he’s a good kid, he has played at this level so we are looking at big things from him.”
McAllister had two interceptions, including one that he returned for a touchdown and a forced fumble in a season-opening win over Duquesne. He registered a career best 13 tackles the following week against Boston College.
“He had some good hits against BC and got nicked up,” Whipple said. “He tried to go against [Georgia Southern] which was a mistake, I didn’t know him that well but we should have protected him from himself. We had to sit him and he is back healthy playing well so we are excited about how he can finish the season.”
There are obviously plenty of emotions for McAllister to deal with this week. His phone has been lighting up with text messages from his former UConn teammates. Long snapper Brian Keating joked that if McAllister plays on special teams, he will run him over. Cornerback Tahj HerringWilson, who also played
with McAllister at Suffield Academy, already suggested a jersey exchange after the game.
“I have been in contact with a lot of them so it should be pretty fun,” said McAllister, who enters the game with 99 career tackles. “It is starting to hit me, I have been playing there for four years and it definitely is going to be a real emotional game, but on the schedule it is just another game so hopefully it should be a good one.
“Those guys down there, we went through a lot together. We look back at the experiences we have been through. I talk to [former UConn safeties] Obi [Melifonwu] and Tony [Watkins] basically every week about everything that has been going on, looking at the future and just a lot of the relationships that I built there really have lasted for a while now.”
McAllister is not the only person from UMass with ties to Connecticut.
Whipple was the head coach at the University of New Haven from 1988-93 and counting his two stints at UMass, has a 2-1 record against UConn as a head coach. Offensive line coach Mike Foley spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at UConn.