Good morning!
The Walt Bell era begins Friday night against Rutgers at the 52,454-seat SHI Stadium, or HighPoint.com Stadium, or Rutgers Stadium. Call it what you want, the Scarlet Knights are 14½ -point favorites to beat UMass on the 150th anniversary of intercollegiate football. The Big Ten Network will air the game, including a live pre-game show outside the stadium, and the kickoff is at 7:15 p.m.
UMass is 15-65 against FBS teams since it “upgraded” in 2012. As Minnesota Gophers coach Murray Warmath once said, “If lessons are learned in defeat, we’ve gotten a great education.”
Rutgers is paying UMass $1.3 million to play in Piscataway, and it’s reasonable to believe the Scarlet Knights will win. UMass is 0-6 in season openers against FBS teams, outscored by a 222-70 margin. The Charlie Molnar era began with a 38-0 loss at UConn; the Mark Whipple Reunion Tour kicked off with a 30-7 loss at Boston College. Afterward Whipple said, “We’re a work in progress.”
The 35-year-old Bell comes from a family of medical doctors, and is the third coach summoned to stop the bleeding. It’s his eighth stop in 10 years, and his first as a head coach. Quite likely the sooner he starts winning, the sooner he’ll leave town. In 1984, Bob Stull arrived in Amherst from the University of Washington and won two games his first season, seven the next year and left to coach at UTEP.
The Minutemen won four games last season, largely because Andy Isabella was a record-setting receiver. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals and is returning punts and kickoffs and had a 59-yard touchdown catch in the second preseason game against Oakland.
Quarterbacks Andrew Ford and Ross Comis both graduated, leaving Bell with senior Michael Curtis, who posted decent stats in 2018, or any of the other six QBs on the preseason roster.
Whoever’s taking the snaps will be protected by 6-foot-5, 320-pound senior lineman Ray Thomas-Ishman, who was shot five times one day after high school in the Philadelphia projects.
UMass was 125th in rushing defense (274 yards per game) last season but 49th in passing defense (210 ypg). “We are fast and we will strip the ball,” said a sideline observer. “If it comes to conditioning, we’ll be the last team standing.”
Rutgers’ last winning campaign was in 2014 when the Scarlet Knights went 8-5, and fourth-year coach Chris Ash is on the hot seat. The team’s lone win last year was against Texas State in the season opener, and Rutgers comes in riding an 11-game losing streak.
After they’re finished with UMass, the Scarlet Knights play Iowa, Boston College and Michigan. Ash will likely start grad transfer McLane Carter over incumbent Artur Sitkowski. According to Rutgers beat writer James Kratch of NJ.com, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound southpaw from Texas Tech is a gunslinger with limited throwing range. The team’s third-string quarterback is Johnny Langon, a BC transfer who won his appeal to be eligible for the 2019 season.
It’s hard to build a brand around a crumbling stadium, but give ’em credit, UMass is trying. When fans come to the season opener against Southern Illinois on Sept. 7, they’ll see a bright green synthetic practice field on the west side of the stadium and new bathrooms on both sides.
The cinder block restroom on the west side had yet to be finished. Wheel loaders and excavators were busy hauling and grading dirt around the four walls. Asked if it would be ready for opening day, a worker smiled and said, “Supposed to be. No excuses.”
UMass fans hope the same goes for the team.
Five days ago, Turners Falls football coach Chris Lapointe leaned against Mark Sullivan’s pickup truck on a distant practice field behind the high school. It was the same spot where Lapointe had gathered his first group of players. “That’s right,” he remembered. “Back here, 10 years ago.”
Sully and Lapointe talked about the days when there were tryouts and cuts and junior varsity teams. The numbers were low when Lapointe took over but going up; now they’re low and going down.
Only 10 students showed up for practice on Monday, and one left early for a family emergency. While his mother waited, he paced around the back of the building looking for an unlocked door. “My phone’s in there!” he exclaimed.
During the practice break, a player told Lapointe the recruiting outlook was bleak.
Up the road in Buckland, the word was that Mohawk coach Doug McCloud had from 16 to 18 players and was hoping for 20. “I’d love to have 16,” chuckled Lapointe. He became somber and looked at the ground. “I don’t know,” he said. “I got a bad feeling about this.”
After an item appeared in last week’s column that Mohawk grid coaches had been given a weekend ultimatum, Mohawk AD Greg Vouros responded, “That was never established. We never issued a 48-hour deadline.”
Now the two coaches are trying to band together like enemy kings from Game of Thrones. Here’s hoping they pull it off, because though some might argue otherwise, without football players there would be no cheerleaders, no band members and no townsfolk standing together under the Friday night lights.
Northfield residents were shocked to see the “For Sale” sign hanging from the railing at Mim’s Market last week. The popular hangout serves fresh coffee and warm blueberries muffins, and owner Kim Farmer said she’ll miss hearing the camaraderie when town workers come in for their morning break. “It’s like having a bunch of bratty older brothers in the house,” she said.
The New Hampshire Lottery Commission hopes to have sports betting up and running ahead of schedule. An RFP was posted on August 7, and bidders have until September 16 to respond. The state wants to have 10 sports books, a mobile betting platform and betting machines in stores that offer lottery and Keno.
“The law says that revenue is not expected until Fiscal Year 2021,” said Maura McCann of the NH Lottery Commission, “but we hope to get this product up and on sale prior to that.”
Ideally, Governor Chris Sununu would place the first legal bet in the Granite State on Super Sunday, Feb. 3.
SQUIBBERS: After running back Cedric Benson’s death in a motorcycle accident last weekend, former NFL GM Pat Kirwin said on SiriusXM: “I hate motorcycles. I used to try and take them out of our players contracts. Back in the day you could.” … Garry Brown reminded readers in his Hitting to All Fields column that East Longmeadow’s Nick Ahmed was named the NL Player of the Week, and that Springfield’s Christian Wilkins is getting rave reviews in Dolphins training camp. Wilkins played at Suffield Academy and anchored Clemson’s defensive line. … Army gridiron fans think the Black Knights can run the table if they can beat Michigan in Ann Arbor on Sept. 7. Otherwise the schedule is Cupcake City with games against VMI, Morgan State, San Jose State and UMass on Veterans Day. … The winner of last Saturday’s bicycle race up Mt. Washington made it to the top just 10 minutes faster than the winner of the foot race. Steep is steep no matter the method. … The venerable D. Wayne Lukas saddled a 22-1 longshot named American Butterfly at Saratoga last weekend. As he always does when he wins a race, Lukas picked a stranger from the crowd to join him in the winner’s circle. … British-born jockey Sophie Doyle was the sentimental choice in last Saturday’s Alabama Stakes. She rode Street Band to a respectable third place finish at 7-1 odds. …If Jay-Z is the new image of the NFL I’m going to be watching a lot of college games this fall. … John Elway told reporters that new coach Vic Fangio is “everything I thought he would be. I like his style, the way he goes about it with no music and the focus he’s brought back to the practice field.” Fangio replaced Vance Joseph, who played music during practice. “I don’t like music,” said Fangio. “I don’t like to have to yell to communicate to a player.” … Top of the fourth inning on Tuesday, 48 seconds between pitches for Brian Johnson, who stared down at the mound, looked in for the sign, stared down at the ground. … How about this trade? Mike Trout to the Yankees for Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Sanchez and Clint Frazier. Stanton loves California, and Aaron Judge/Mike Trout in the order would be the greatest tandem since Mantle and Maris. … Mantle biographer Tony Castro spoke of the slugger’s alcoholism on Chris Russo’s show this week. “In the mid-’80s,” said Castro, “he was no good to anyone after 3:30-4 o’clock in the afternoon.” …The NFL Network’s Charley Casserly might have been right about Kyler Murray. “Leadership — not good. Study habits — not good. The board work — below not good.” Murray was all that and less in his preseason game against Oakland. … Indians reliever Oliver Perez pitches like a Luis Tiant windup doll, and long-haired side-armer Adam Simber flings the ball like Huck Finn skimming stones on the Missouri River.
Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for four decades in the Pioneer Valley.