Situational preparation has crept its way into the UMass football team’s practice plans during the second week of preseason camp. The Minutemen have begun running through everything from first-down plays to the two-minute drill, however head coach Joe Harasymiak accentuated the team’s work in the red zone following practice on Thursday at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
“When that happens, you really either sink or swim, so we’re finding out what some of the guys can handle and what they can’t,” Harasymiak said.
During the 2024 season, UMass treated scoring touchdowns from the red zone as more of a suggestion than an assertion. The Minutemen reached the end zone 26 times a season ago from within the attacking 20-yard line, which marked a 58% clip of their 45 total scoring opportunities.
UMass tacked on a few more field goals throughout the campaign to bring its overall red-zone scoring percentage to 82% last year and Harasymiak revealed nabbing at least three points is the goal whenever the Minutemen make it onto enemy territory moving forward.
“The red zone is an interesting place,” Harasymiak said. “The field, once you hit the 17 [yard line], gets twice as wide as it is long, so I think understanding those situations and that’s something that we do in the team meetings every night. Whatever’s going in the next day, we talk about that and more situational stuff will come up.
“Certainly there, offensively, you got to protect the points,” Harasymiak continued. “We should have three no matter what, especially with our kicking game. Then understanding when to take the risk and not. I think Coach [Mike Bajakian] and the offensive staff do a great job.”
Of the 26 TDs UMass registered from the red zone, 18 came from the air attack and another eight were had through the run game. To put those numbers into perspective, Pittsburgh and Texas tied for the nationwide lead in red-zone passing touchdowns (24), while Army led the country with 39 red-zone rushing touchdowns.
Given UMass’ ongoing quarterback battle between returner A.J. Hairston and transfers Brandon Rose and Grant Jordan, whoever emerges will be expected to be a threat with the ball from within prime field position.
Although, wide receiver Jacquon Gibson expressed confidence in the team’s ability to put points up on the scoreboard from the red zone, regardless of who is under center.
“It’s a big adjustment because the red zone, you got to make money down there,” Gibson said. “I trust our kickers. Coach [Joe Castellitto] has some specialists, some guys from Australia, so I like messing around with them. Every time we get in the red zone, I feel like we got points, then with Coach [Bajakian], we try to get six, if we can. I feel like we’ll be good in the red zone.”
That leaves UMass’ running backs with quite a bit of room for improvement since it was only able to rack up single-digit TDs a season ago. Expect to see that become a priority under Harasymiak through transfer RB Rocko Griffin, specifically.
“To be effective, we got to run the ball down there, first and foremost” Harasymiak said. “Then we got to win one-on-ones, so a lot of man-coverage on there, those types of things.”
The Minutemen’s 82% red-zone conversion percentage would have slotted them into a tie for eighth-best in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in 2024 with Bowling Green. Central Michigan topped the list at 92%, while Toledo finished at the bottom within the conference at 74%
