Ellis Merriweather – New England Football Journal®

UMass: Buffalo charges past UMass 34-7

October 15, 2022

Courtesy of Chris Tucci/UMass Athletics By Ryan Barry, NEFJ Corespondent AMHERST – The beautiful fall backdrop of McGuirk Alumni Stadium was the setting for a Buffalo Bulls 34-7 win over the UMass Minutemen. An early 17-0 hole proved too much to overcome, as a sputtering offense and inconsistent defense doomed the Minutemen before a crowd of 13,378 fans. Known for their solid secondary play so far this season, the Minutemen…

UMass four down preview: UMass Minutemen (1-2) @ Temple Owls (1-2)

September 24, 2022

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Photo – ESPN By Ryan Barry NEFJ Correspondent Kickoff: UMass heads back on the road Saturday to take on the Temple Owls in Philadelphia. The quick flight to Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles, offers the Minutemen the chance to play in an NFL stadium, and square off against a fellow Northeast FBS college football team struggling to get its feet in recent years. While UMass sits 131st…

UMass: With time for talk finally over, Minutemen eager to show just how much things have changed

August 30, 2022

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Photo: Anthony Roberts AP/@kstone06 How many more “things are changing” stories can you possibly read? Lord knows everyone in the media is sick of writing them. Thankfully, all the talk about the Don Brown era beginning again and how the culture has completely shifted at UMass will finally turn into real football analysis this weekend. Fans will finally get to see Steve Casula’s offense, Keith Dudzinski’s defense, Alex Miller’s revamped…

UMass: 10 takeaways from training camp

August 12, 2022

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We visited with the UMass Minutemen on Thursday. It was their first day in pads and as you can imagine, it was a lively, spirited practice and that is putting it mildly. Here are ten takeaways from UMass camp. 1. Don Brown is as intense as ever: When it comes to intensity, very few coaches can match Don Brown. He was in mid-season form as soon as we walked into…

UMass: Minutemen open camp Friday with plenty of buzz around the program

August 4, 2022

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By Jake Klein, NEFJ Correspondent In his first four seasons at UMass, Josiah Johnson was a part of just six wins. He stuck with the Minutemen, even after the school hired the third head coach of his tenure. Even after he was forced to switch positions from tight end to wildcat quarterback, then back to tight end. Even after rumors of his potential transfer swirled last winter. “All I want…

UMass: 3 things to watch for as UMass kicks off fall camp

August 1, 2022

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The UMass Minutemen kick off fall camp this week. It is the first camp for old friend Don Brown and his staff. After a busy off-season which saw Brown and his staff upgrade the talent through the transfer portal and raise the bar, UMass is ready to put it all together on the field. The Minutemen kick off on September 3rd at Tulane. Here are three things I will be…

College: 14 Division One New England draft prospects are featured in the East-West Shrine Game 1000 for 2023

July 16, 2022

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The East-West Shrine Game announced their top 1,000 draft eligible prospects list for 2023 yesterday. 14 players from New England made the list. Here is who made the list and from which school: Boston College Josh DeBerry, CB Jaelen Gill, WR Zay Flowers, WR Elijah Jones, CB Phil Jurkovec, QB Jaiden Woodbey, S Holy Cross Liam Anderson, ILB Merrimack Darion McKenzie, CB UConn Jackson Mitchell, LB UMass Ellis Merriweather, RB…

UMass: Ahead of what could be a huge year on the field, Merriweather is immersing himself in day-to-day athletic duties off of it

April 15, 2022

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Photo: UMass Athletics To fans of the UMass football team, star running back Ellis Merriweather is arguably the most recognizable, popular player within the program. To the folks that work in the athletic department in Amherst, he’s just another student athlete trying to navigate his way through classes, tests and papers, all while being yelled at by Don Brown, Damian Mincey or Steve Casula at practice on a regular basis….

UMass: Spirited practice on Saturday proves the culture change is already taking shape for the Minutemen

April 3, 2022

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AMHERST – At about 9:55 on Saturday morning inside the practice bubble just outside of McGuirk Stadium, ACDC’s Thunderstruck blared over the loud speakers. With local recruits and their families on hand, the UMass football team quickly brought the energy level from a 10 to a 15 as the offense and defense split up for some early two-minute work. By 10:11, Brown called the team together around the 35 and…

UMass: Minutemen lose shootout to New Mexico State, look forward to next season

November 28, 2021

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The UMass Football team ended a tough 2021 campaign with a 44-27 loss to New Mexico State. The Minutemen had their chances but the defense once again failed to get stops when the team needed them most. After playing fairly well by their standards the week before, the defense was torched in this game. When asked why the defense struggled, Miller said it was more about the secondary struggling to…

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