AMHERST – Head coach Don Brown called his UMass football team’s season opener at Tulane its next landmark after spring practice ended. It’s coming up on the horizon.
The Minutemen closed fall camp this week and began preparations for their Sept. 3 trip to New Orleans to face the Green Wave (7 p.m. ESPN+) with a 24-play segment Thursday.
“It’s not rocket science, and our offense isn’t rocket science, either,” Brown said. “There’s some similarities. So that makes it a little bit easier to do our deal, but we really work their plays in a 20-minute period and took steps in that deal.”
With attention turning to game action, UMass will focus its practice reps toward its starters, backups and specific sub packages.
“Because you don’t know who’s gonna make it through the game, who’s gonna play well, who’s not gonna play well. So you give them about 50-50,” Brown said. “Trust me at the end of the week there’s enough reps for everybody to go around. “
UMass knows which players comprise those groups and had them face scout team offenses and defenses during that period. Which quarterback belongs where remains a state secret, however. Gino Campiotti, Brady Olson and Zamar Wise have largely shared starting repetitions throughout camp.
“We’re fairly close. We know who the culprits are. It’s just a matter of slotting them in,” Brown said. “When you keep people alive through competition, it’s a beautiful thing. You get their best.”
All of the quarterbacks and offensive players will be prepared for Tulane not just because of their work over the next week but because of what they’ve faced every day in practice since the spring. Converting against Brown’s defense simplifies plays on Saturdays.
“We’re fortunate. I’m not just saying this because he’s the head coach and he’s my boss. We get to coach against the best defensive coaches in all the college football, if not one of the best in the history of college football,” UMass offensive coordinator Steve Casula said. “We get to coach against, first of all, schematically high-level stuff every day in addition to our great players that we have on defense. We certainly aren’t in the business of reinventing the wheel because we’re getting ready to play somebody new. We get to go against a wide style of defenses every day, so we’re very comfortable. We feel like we’re ready.”
But Brown’s most important lessons have had little to do with zone coverage or blitz pickups. He’s focused on elevating the team’s adversity response.
“Belief in one another. The ability to handle adversity and continue to play hard, the ability to function at a high level, whether we’re winning or whatnot. That one right there. That’s how you win,” Brown said. “You just coach as hard as you possibly can, and you don’t get distracted when something goes wrong. You just move to the next play.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter
@kylegrbwsk.