Recapping Don Brown’s weekly UMass press conference

October 2, 2023

By Ryan Barry NEFJ Correspondent UMass Minutemen (1-5) head coach Don Brown took the podium at his opening week press conference to discuss this past weekend’s 52-28 loss to Arkansas State, as well as break down what’s to come when they welcome the Toledo Rockets (4-1) to Amherst this Saturday afternoon. On slow starts “Well you know, if you look us at from the beginning of the year, the one…

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Arkansas State 52, UMass 28 — Red Wolves blow out host Minutemen

September 30, 2023

By Ryan Barry NEFJ Correspondent AMHERST — The first ever game in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the Arkansas State Red Wolves (3-2) ended in a 52-28 rout of the UMass Minutemen (1-5) at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. From start to finish, the Red Wolves had control of the game, leading by double digits at the end of every single quarter. Arkansas State true freshman quarterback Jaylen Raynor (20-for-25, 383 yards,…

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New Mexico 34, UMass 31 – Minutemen lose in overtime after comeback

September 23, 2023

By Ryan Barry NEFJ Correspondent AMHERST – In their farthest ever trip east New Mexico outlasted UMass 34-31 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium Saturday afternoon in a game the Minutemen were favored to win. Another disappointing day, but the luck at quarterback also continues to bury UMass. The Lobos (2-2) led 28-14 going into halftime but didn’t register a single point in the second half, allowing the Minutemen (1-4) to chip…

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Recapping Don Brown’s weekly UMass press conference

September 18, 2023

Image courtesy of UMass Athletics By Ryan Barry NEFJ Correspondent UMass Head Coach Don Brown took the podium is his opening week press conference to discuss this past weekend’s 19-17 loss to Eastern Michigan, as well as what’s to come when they welcome New Mexico to Amherst this Saturday afternoon. On the status of Taisun Phommachanh “Everything is going smoothly so we’ll see, again it’s monday. Everything seems to be…

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Eastern Michigan 19, UMass 17 — Minutemen fall just short

September 16, 2023

Oh, so close. UMass had a chance to win its second game of the season Saturday at Eastern Michigan. But the host Eagles had one last big play to earn a 19-17 victory over the Minutemen. With the loss, UMass drops to 1-3, while Eastern Michigan is 2-1. UMass led, 17-13, in the fourth quarter following a Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams 8-yard touchdown run with 2:42 to play. But Eastern Michigan applied…

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Miami (OH) 41, UMass 28 – Redhawks outlast Minutemen in weather plagued matchup

September 10, 2023

Image courtesy of UMass Athletics  By Ryan Barry NEFJ Correspondent AMHERST- In one of the more bizarre games you’ll see across all of college football this season, the Miami (OH) (1-1) Redhawks took down the UMass Minutemen (1-2) 41-28 in an all day affair.   Around 15 minutes before the scheduled 3:30pm kick-off time, fans were told to clear the stadium due to a severe weather warning. The only problem was…

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UMass, Don Brown ready to move on from Auburn loss

September 4, 2023

UMass has been all over the country in the first two weeks building a 1-1 record. First was out to the Southwest in an opening win over New Mexico State. Then, over to the Southeast in a loss to Auburn. Now, the team is back in Amherst for Saturday’s game with Miami of Ohio, and coach Don Brown is happy for that. “It’s good to be home,” Brown said simply…

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Auburn 59, UMass 14 – Minutemen can’t contain Tigers in blowout loss

September 2, 2023

Coming into Saturday’s game with Auburn, UMass knew it would be a heavy underdog. So, in some respects, what transpired was entirely predictable. The host Tigers were basically unstoppable on offense, and rolled to a 59-14 win at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Although UMass found some success at times on offense, it was not enough to pull off the upset. Auburn, under first-year coach Hugh Freeze, had its offense clicking in its…

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10 Observations from UMass Fall Camp

August 7, 2023

After going 1-11 last season, UMass Head Coach Don Brown upped the ante this off-season. He added some much needed talent and experience through the transfer portal, beefing up the roster in key spots.  We visited UMass on Saturday as part of our camp visit series. The physicality and intensity Brown expects from his team were in full display. Today’s practice just had a different feel. Here are my ten…

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Quarterback race heats up at UMass

August 5, 2023

AMHERST — Stop if you have heard this before: it’s August and we don’t know who will start at quarterback for UMass. It seems like that is the case every year. Generally, you’d like to have at least some idea by now. That said, as we watched practice Saturday at McGuirk Stadium, you can’t help but feel good things are around the corner in that respect. Compared to last year,…

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