Sunday and Monday
#112 Massachusetts Minutemen |
Independent |
The transition from the 2018 team, that underachieved relative to its talent, to 2019, was going to be heavy no matter what. That’s why making a coaching change away from Mark Whipple made a lot of sense. Walt Bell, a noted big time recruiter, also hit the transfer portal hard, bringing in guys from Penn State, Notre Dame and West Virginia. After a miserable season, in which UMass won just one game, the battle for the FBS basement against Akron, the transfer portal only went one way out of Amherst, with 13 players already leaving. Is that a sign of a changing culture? Mark Whipple has always had a good offensive mind, you can credit him for how Ben Roethlisberger’s early career took off. But he was also a 62 year old man, in his second go round with the school, and I don’t think he was running a cutthroat program, or killing it on the recruiting trail. Bell is the opposite of all of that, and that probably is not what Whipple’s signees valued when they committed. I was skeptical about how Bell’s strengths would translate to a school like UMass, and compared it to Mike Locksley going to New Mexico. This year, rather than the transfer portal to get the quick talent infusion, Bell looked to different means, taking 4 JUCO players (Including the #9 JUCO quarterback), 2 prep school kids, and a defensive end from Germany. The Minutemen used three different starting quarterbacks last year, but only Andrew Brito returns in 2020. Brito saw the most action of the three, but averaged just 4.88 ypa, second worst in the FBS among qualified passers. So to say JUCO transfer Kyle Lindquist is in the mix is an understatement. Bell thought he at least had one offensive stud returning in Bilal Ally, who averaged 5.1 ypc, despite playing behind an offensive line that was decent in pass blocking but was abysmal in every run blocking metric. For comparison the team otherwise averaged 2.4 ypc. But Ally put his name in the transfer portal, and while he hasn’t committed anywhere else, those things rarely turn around. Hope there comes in a pair of early enrolees. Ellis Merriweather from Garden City Community College and Jared Cole, from Ashburn, Virginia, for the nucleus of a potentially decent thunder-lightning combination. Merriweather was rated as the #14 JUCO running back, and Cole was the #33 all-purpose back. Won’t mean much if the interior line doesn’t get better, and considering Bell started four underclassmen on the line, including a pair of true freshmen last year, it should. There may also be push from guard Aaron Beckwith, UMass’ highest rated high school recruit. Bell needs the newcomers to contribute immediately, because while he did not shy away from starting youth last year, most of the production came from guys who are now gone. The one exception is at receiver, led by breakout freshman O.C. Johnson Jr., who led the team in receiving, but hit a late freshman wall. His game log is amazing. He had 4 receptions for -15 yards over the final three games. Three of his four receptions lost yardage.
| KEY PLAYERS |
QB | Andrew Brito, Junior |
WR | O.C. Johnson Jr., Sophomore |
T | Larnel Coleman, Senior |
| . |
LB | Chinedu Ogbonna, Senior |
LB | Cole McCubey, Senior |
LB | Mike Ruang, Senior |
#111 UNLV Rebels |
#10 in Mountain West |
At least geographically Tony Sanchez made some sense, after going 85-5 in six seasons at Bishop Gorman and winning six state titles. But...much like I just discussed with Walt Bell, a mid-major going after a coach for his high level recruiting makes little sense. No high end recruit is saying no to Clemson or Georgia or USC to go to New Mexico or UMass or UNLV, at least not enough, and access to those high end recruits was the biggest selling point for those coaches. That said, Sanchez had finally delivered, securing not only easily his best class, but the school’s highest rated class in the 247 era. It’s headlined by linebacker Brennon Scott, the school’s highest rated recruit since 2006, who did, in fact choose the Rebels over schools such as USC, Florida, Georgia and Texas. But, on the other side, maybe now is the perfect time to cash in on the improved roster with a better coach. That hopefully better coach is Marcus Arroyo, who has never been a head coach, but certainly knows the west coast football landscape. He played at San Jose State, then his coaching career has included 5 years at his alma mater, 2 years at Wyoming, 2 years at Cal, and the last three as offensive coordinator at Oregon. The downfall of the Rebels in 2019 was sorting out the quarterback room. Armani Rogers, who looked so promising as a freshman in 2017, continued his career downward trajectory, and was eventually benched in favor of true freshman Kenyon Oblad. Oblad improved dramatically as the season progress, and had the best game of the season in the finale, an overtime win over rival Nevada, where he completed 73% of his passes, with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. That gave the Rebels their first back to back wins over Nevada since winning five straight from 2000-2004. But UNLV also added TCU transfer Justin Rogers. So from budding star as a rising sophomore to a third string quarterback as a senior is how Armani Rogers’ career has gone. It seems likely that it will either be Oblad or Justin Rogers winning the starting job. Rogers just announced his transfer destination in late January, when Arroyo was well aware of what he was inheriting. So that would suggest, in spite of the flashes he showed, Oblad has an uphill battle ahead of him. The one gift that Arroyo did inherit was a treasure trove of returning skill positions to surround whoever wins the quarterback battle with, led running back Charles Williams. Williams’ decision to return for his senior year, to run behind an offensive line that returns both starting tackles, to bookend all-conference guard Julio Garcia, after finishing second in the Mountain West in rushing yards per game, rushing touchdowns and yards per carry was surprising. That goes with a deep stable of receivers and tight ends that returns 17 of 18 players (including some running backs, and one defensive back in a trick play) who caught a pass last year. That’s why Bill Connolly ranks UNLV as having the most returning production in the conference (80%), and top 20 nationally. So why so low? Because by that same metric, the Rebels return just 29% of their defensive production, second worst in the FBS. The only school with less returning defensive production is Utah. The Utes were a senior-laden elite defense last year. UNLV finished #11 in the Mountain West in both points and yards per play allowed, ahead of only New Mexico. And now new defensive coordinator Peter Hansen gets to figure out how to coach their backups.
| KEY PLAYERS |
RB | Charles Williams, Senior |
WR | Randal Grimes, Junior |
G | Julio Garcia, Senior |
| . |
LB | Farrell Hester II, Senior |
S | Bryce Jackson, Junior |
S | Greg Francis, Senior |