AMHERST — The first scrimmage of fall camp gave coach Walt Bell a wide-angled view of the UMass football team rather than a telephoto focus.
Over 130 offensive plays were run at McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Monday. Nearly all 110 Minutemen took snaps in live tackling, situational repetitions.
“Honestly both sides of the football were, operationally, pretty clean,” Bell said. “No personnel issues. Didn’t have any balls on the ground other than a kickoff return. Only one procedural penalty. One jumped offsides once. Guys were pretty locked in.”
It was UMass’ 10th practice of fall camp and one of just nine the team is allowed to conduct in full pads. Licensed referees presided over the proceedings. A year ago, the Minutemen were preparing to play their first game of the season after 10 practices. Now they have another full cycle that leads to a second scrimmage Sunday before two weeks preparation for the Sept. 4 season opener at Pittsburgh.
“We were mixing and matching groups, rolling a ton of guys, trying to play as many guys as we could,” Bell said. “Some guys that we feel great about, some guys we held on defense as well.”
Many of those reps went to new or developing players, as UMass held out some of the veterans it felt confident about, like quarterback Tyler Lytle. Running backs Kay’Ron Adams and Ellis Merriweather only played about 20 snaps each, and offensive lineman Max Longman was limited, as well. Lytle injured his groin Aug. 9 and didn’t participate in Thursday’s practice, which was open to the media, Saturday’s open practice or Monday’s scrimmage.
“He’s going to be fine. He’s got a little bit of inflammation that is not above the [gestures to his waist],” Bell said. “If we wanted to, he could’ve went today. We feel very good about where he is.”
Lytle’s absence created more opportunities for the other quarterbacks vying for the starting position: Garrett Dzuro, Brady Olson and Zamar Wise. There were 18 offensive possessions. Olson and Wise helmed seven each, while Dzuro took four.
“I think as many reps as they take gives them a bigger resume to evaluate. As many reps as we can possibly get them is good for them,” Bell said.
Olson accounted for three touchdowns: a 29-yard touch pass to Isaac Ross that he lofted over a defender, a 26-yard toss to Josiah Johnson and a four-yard bubble screen to Rico Arnold. He also produced the day’s longest play: a 52-yard throw and run to tight end Taylor Edwards.
“(Olson’s) gonna be a real good player. We had to recruit really hard to get him,” Bell said.
Wise wore a white contact jersey as opposed to the black non-contact uniforms of the other quarterbacks. His leading attributes are his athleticism and elusiveness, which he displayed on a 15-yard scramble to set up a one-yard Cyrus Bonsu touchdown plunge. Wise also showed off his arm on a 25-yard rainbow throw to a diving Michael Fitzgerald, stretching out all 6-foot-6 of himself at the goal line to haul in the score.
“His winnable skills, a large part of that involves his ability to move and run around. That’s really what’s best for his opportunity to go earn a spot was to make him live,” Bell said of Wise. “I thought he did a good job managing the line of scrimmage.”
Dzuro hit his first four passes to open the scrimmage and would have made it five if not for a drop. His throwing attempts decreased as the scrimmage progressed, handing off four times in the goal line portion.
“Garrett is kind of on a pitch count,” Bell said. “Garrett is on a bit of a post shoulder recovery right now, so his throw count is way lower.”
Bell was in no hurry to make an official proclamation on who will top the quarterback depth chart but said other positions are solidifying. The staff outlined the makeup of the team’s 70-player travel roster after the last “regen” day within 10 or so players and will further determine places during Tuesday’s large staff meeting.
“I would say for the majority of the positions offensively and defensively, the kids already know, we just want to make sure we see it through and we keep everybody repping and competing until the second scrimmage,” Bell said. “Then we’ve got two weeks to prepare for Pitt.”
RETURNERS ON INVESTMENT — Running back Kay’Ron Adams brought both a kickoff return and a punt back for a touchdown, and receiver Jamir Roberts also took a kickoff to the end zone. Granted, some of them were simulated kicks and kickoff coverage isn’t necessarily running at full speed or with full contact intent, but the Minutemen have some options in the return game.
“If you’re going to start here in our football program, you start on special teams,” Bell said. “If we had to play today, Kay’Ron would be our kickoff returner kind of like when I was at North Carolina and (current Tampa Bay Buccaneer) Gio Bernard was our kick returner and punt returner on top of being a running back. Jamir Roberts could also be our kick returner.”
DRY RUN FOR EVERYONE — UMass’ coaching staff wore radio headsets and called plays from the press box for the first time since the spring game. There are seven new coaches on staff, and it also benefits other members of the program like support staff or student assistants to practice using the equipment and tracking information.
“When we go in and separate as a staff, we can know what do we have to improve on, not only your in-game operation but your postgame operation as well,” Bell said.
IN GOOD HANDS — Whoever starts at quarterback for UMass will have a bevy of capable pass catchers. Multiple tight ends — Eni Falayi and Edwards — had receptions of over 20 yards.
“We’ve got a deep tight end room. We’ve got four or five guys you can count on and each them have their own individual skill set and toolbox,” Bell said.
Three receivers caught touchdowns on different types of routes or plays. Jermaine “OC” Johnson flashed in the middle of the field and on the sideline. Arnold and Fitzgerald showed their talent as newcomers.
“The wideouts are coming along,” Bell said.
WHAT DAY IS IT? — UMass practiced for the 10th time in the past 11 days Monday.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.