AMHERST — The UMass football team enters the biggest home game of its FBS era without its head coach.
On Sunday, athletic director Ryan Bamford announced a one-week suspension for Minutemen coach Mark Whipple after the veteran coach used the word “rape” in postgame comments while describing a play that didn’t draw a pass interference penalty. Bamford and defensive coordinator Ed Pinkham — who was named the acting head coach for Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game against South Florida — held a press conference Tuesday to address the news.
Pinkham said the team handled the news well Sunday when Whipple addressed the team before leaving on his suspension, and had a good day of practice Monday.
“The way we approached it was to say there’s nothing within our control, so let’s focus on the things we can control,” Pinkham said. “The things we can control is the intensity in which we practice, and it’s going to be important if we’re going to give ourselves the best chance for victory, we can’t waste a day. We can’t be sulking, we can’t be distracted, we have to go in and have a high-energy day.”
The Minutemen (2-4) will be looking to capture some momentum before its bye week. After snapping a three-game losing streak with a dominant 49-31 win over Charlotte two weeks ago in Amherst, many of the same issues from that skid re-appeared in the 58-42 loss to Ohio. The Bobcats went up and down the field against the Minutemen, scoring on nine straight possessions at one point while racking up a school-record 664 yards.
Pinkham said the defensive coaches have been limited for most of the season by injuries and suspensions, which has forced certain players to be playing out of position. The second-year defensive coordinator said he believes that problem will be resolved this weekend.
“One of the things we’ve been trying to deal with is we’re trying to get our best 11 guys on the field,” Pinkham said. “Sometimes when you have injuries or you don’t have the option of playing a guy, you take a guy from one position and put him in another position, feeling like this is the best 11 guys we have. He hasn’t had all the experience, the amount of time we’ve invested for a guy in a particular position, it does take awhile for them to play. In addition to when I do that, I look at the guy I replaced him with and he’s not as good at that position as the guy I moved from one to the other.
“This week, we’re going to have an opportunity to play some guys that have naturally played where they were recruited to play and where they’ve played all spring long.”
Pinkham also admitted there are other issues that have hindered the UMass defense this season. A big issue has been struggling to tackle well, which in turn has led to a series of explosive plays that have hurt the Minutemen. Last week, UMass surrendered 11 plays of 20 yards or more to Ohio, bringing the total to 31 in its four losses this season, including Florida International’s Maurice Alexander’s 69-yard punt return touchdown.
That could prove problematic against a team like USF (4-0), which has feasted this season on its opponent’s mistakes in the form of those explosive plays. The Bulls have 17 through four games, and that doesn’t include the two kick return touchdowns they had against Georgia Tech that turned the game.
“It’s the type of offense where they get nothing, they get nothing, they get nothing, they’ll punt, they’ll get the ball back, nothing, nothing, then they’ll break through a guy will get 80 yards,” Pinkham said. “They’ve been able to generate (big plays), they’re very, very patient, they like to run the football, they’ll take time off the clock by doing so. But they’re a fundamental football team, and I don’t like to use the term old-school, but they’re a let’s get in your face and know you down football team.”
Josh Walfish can be reached at jwalfish@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshWalfishDHG. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.