AMHERST – The thud of Ellis Merriweather’s shoulder pads against a linebacker in the hole elicited “oohs” and cheers from both sidelines on Thursday at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. The UMass football team practiced live tackling reps with 11 players on each side of the line of scrimmage for the first time since last season.
The Minutemen kept themselves off the ground in the spring to mitigate injuries and slowly built to live tackling in the fall.
“The live period is the crescendo. Every day you build into that, that point where you’re trying to get to competitive environments, that’s game-like,” UMass defensive line coach Ben Albert said. “We try to put them in situations that are going to basically simulate a game experience as best as we can. When we get to that point, we want to be at our absolute best.”
Both sides appeared sharp. Missed tackles were absent, and ball carriers finished runs. Don Brown has regularly praised new NCAA rules that allowed the team to do more football activities earlier, which allowed the Minutemen to establish a foundation to build pads and contact on.
“When we told the guys live, everything went up a notch,” Brown said. “The thing about our guys is they go and do it properly.”
Brown emphasized keeping players off the ground for most of the past few weeks to mitigate injuries. He referenced hearing about season-ending injuries in other camps and outlined UMass’ preventative approach.
“You don’t want to see that happen to anyone. We’re trying to minimize that. You can’t stop it. Can you control it?” Brown said. ”I think you can get semi control by how you practice and the mindset that the players have. It’s an athletic game… play the game on your feet and stay on your feet.”
The live period also provides a more level playing field for the staff to evaluate its quarterback competition. Zamar Wise is one of the team’s best athletes and thrives out of the pocket. Gino Campiotti has shown a knack for crafty option reads and beating the defense to the corner. Brady Olson, who has the best pure arm of the group, looks more comfortable running the ball this season.
“Every time you go out there as a quarterback, you try to make it as realistic 11-on-11 football as humanly possible,” UMass offensive coordinator Steve Casula said. “The best evaluation tool is 11-on-11 football. We talk all the time about everything we do matters, but only 12 count.”
That goes for every position, as well. It showed Brown, et al, how players worked together, passed off coverages and in general functioned as units.
“Nothing replaces 11-on-11 football,” Brown said.
TAKE A BREATHER – As intense and passionate as Brown is, he understands when to lay off the gas. The Minutemen were off last Thursday through Saturday and will take another break Sunday before beginning preparations for the season opener against Tulane on Sept 3.
“That’s my whole world. I can beat them up pretty good, you know, and they’ll respond to go give me what they got. But that’s that doesn’t help you get better and win games,” Brown said. “Now there’s a fine line, because you need to get seasoned, you need to get hard and all that stuff. But you really need to know what the hell you’re doing so that you can play fast and good things will happen to your team.”
SET YOUR CLOCKS – ESPN will broadcast all five UMass home games live as part of a new three-year rights agreement announced Wednesday. The home opener against Stony Brook (3:30 p.m.) will be on ESPN3, while the remaining four games will either stream on ESPN3 or ESPN-Plus.
“UMass football games and special events will be showcased on a widely accessible streaming platform with ESPN also producing linear opportunities annually that enhance the visibility of our program,” UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford said in a release. “In totality, this agreement, and ESPN’s relationships with the Atlantic 10 and Hockey East provides UMass fans with one consistent central media home for Massachusetts athletics content for the foreseeable future.”
At least one home game in the 2023 and 2024 season will be broadcast on an ESPN network as well as streamed online.
UMass also announced the kickoff times and promotional events for its home football schedule:
■Sept. 17 vs Stony Brook, 3:30 p.m. (Youth Day and Hall of Fame Celebration)
■Oct. 8 vs. Liberty, 3:30 p.m. (Band Day)
■Oct. 15 vs. Buffalo, 1 p.m. (Family Weekend)
■Oct. 29 vs. New Mexico State, 3:30 p.m. (Homecoming)
■Nov. 26 vs. Army, 12 p.m. (Military/First Responders Appreciation Day)
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.