UMass and Army are coming off comparable lopsided beatdowns towards ranked opponents, however the Minutemen had an additional week to recuperate.
The Minutemen went into the bye week after being blitzed 63-0 by No. 6 Penn State on Oct. 14 at Beaver Stadium. Army suffered an analogous destiny when it was obliterated 62-0 by No. 15 LSU final Saturday at Tiger Stadium.
Both Independent packages will look to regroup when the Minutemen (1-7) interact the Black Knights of Army (2-5) on Saturday (midday) at Michie Stadium. Army beat UMass 44-7 final season at McGuirk Stadium.
“The good thing is obviously the guys get a chance to recoup in terms of the physical piece,” mentioned UMass head coach Don Brown. “On Monday we reviewed the (Penn State) contest after which moved on to get a bounce on Army.
“Sometimes that (bye week) goes in a positive direction and sometimes in a negative direction and there is no predicting it. It all depends on what kind of health you have coming out of the contest and how well you played. Obviously, they ran into the SEC and took on the LSU challenge, not an easy process.”
The Cadets had completely run the Flexbone triple possibility assault for many years however have been compelled to put in a prostyle a number of offense over the summer time. Army and nearly each different triple possibility assault needed to make a transition when the NCAA banned the lower block exterior the deal with field after the 2022 season.
“Army is a huge deal because they have made a transition in their offensive style so that helped us prepare as well,” mentioned Brown. “They don’t run the triple anymore and we are preparing ourselves for their scheme. All of the triple option teams had to make that adjustment because you can’t cut block.”
Brown feels twin risk quarterback Taisun Phommachanh could possibly be again to full well being in time for Army. Phommachanh led UMass to its 41-30 victory at New Mexico State on Aug. 26 however was injured the next week at Auburn.
Phommachanh, a redshirt junior switch from Clemson, missed the subsequent three video games. He began the final three video games and, on the season, has accomplished 73-of-116 passes for 813 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
“He is getting very close,” mentioned Brown. “I can’t say 100 percent but each and every week there has been no setbacks so that has been a positive.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com