Umass Football Team Celebrated the 2005 Season Had Gained More Than 291 Yards (Richmond on Sept
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Review NOTEBOOK Minutemen Hand Out 2005 Honors Prior to Maine’s 413 yards of offense on Oct. 22, no team The UMass football team celebrated the 2005 season had gained more than 291 yards (Richmond on Sept. 1). UMass and looked ahead to 2006 campaign at a banquet at the held Rhode Island, which came into the game averaging 495.0 Campus Center Auditorium. Three seniors - running back yards per game to 249 yards on Sept. 24. Then-No. 4 James Steve Baylark, safety James Ihedigbo, and center Alex Madison was held to 157 yards after coming into the Oct. 15 Miller - were named captains for 2006. Baylark and Miller game averaging 467 yards per game. were both named to the Atlantic 10’s first team last year, UMass was also fifth in passing yardage defense giving while Ihedigbo earned a spot on the third team. up just 145.09 yards per game. Prior to the Maine game, UMass Other award winners from the banquet for the 2005 was the only team allowing less than 100 yards of passing per season included Baylark as the Outstanding Offensive Player game. and safety Shannon James and defensive tackle Keron The rushing defense has not far behind ranking in the Williams as the Outstanding Defensive Players. Punter top 10 all season prior to week 10. UMass finished 17th, al- Christian Koegel was named the team’s Outstanding Special lowing 116.09 yards per game. Delaware picked up a season- Teams Player. high 202 yards on the ground against UMass, which was allow- The Vic Fusia Most Improved Offensive Player Award ing less than 100 yards on the ground per game. went to Miller, while the Vic Fusia Most Improved Defensive Against Albany, UMass held the Great Danes to minus-37 Player Award was shared by linebacker Jason Hatchell and yards rushing, the second best mark in school history. In 1963, defensive tackle Justin Schweighardt. The Coaches’ Award UMass kept Vermont to minus-58 yards rushing. UMass has went to offensive tackle Brent Caldwell and middle held four of its last five opponents to fewer than 100 yards in linebacker Serge Tikum. both rushing and receiving. The team’s Academic Achievement Award was Despite the loss at Colgate, 17-14 on Sept. 10, the Min- presented to linebacker L.A. Love and the Marcel Shipp utemen held the Raiders to just 167 yards of total offense (85 Ironman Award was shared by Steve Baylark, Jason Hatchell, rushing yards and 82 passing yards). Rhode Island had just 78 and John Hatchell. passing yards and 171 rushing yards -- which was more than The Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year was shared 200 less than their average of 395.0 entering the game for by lineman Biff Gottehrer and quarterback Scott Woodward. the option-running Rams. The Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year was shared by UMass had three players with 10 or more career inter- linebacker Darrlyn Fenner and linebacker Anthony Monette. ceptions: Shannon James (20), Steve Costello (12) and Tracy The keynote speaker was former UMass defensive Belton (10) when the season finished. lineman Joe Abasciano, who graduated in 2000. Abasciano Leading the way on defense was UMass’ superb second- lettered for four years and was a member of the 1998 ary led by senior All-American and Buchanan Award Nominee National Championship team. Abasciano spoke of his Shannon James, finished his career as the leader among all experiences in the U.S. Marine Corp, working as part of the active players in the nation in career interceptions with 20 - Presidential Honor Guard in addition to serving in the Persian - after his fourth of the season at Delaware -- along with Gulf. junior safety James Ihedigbo. Ihedigbo finished third the At- lantic 10 in sacks at 7.5 and was second in tackles for loss with 12.0. His sacks per game ranked second in the Atlantic Top-Rated Defense 10 while his TFLs per game was also second in the league. UMass’ defense finished the season first in the nation in Sophomore linebacker Jason Hatchell was outstanding scoring defense giving up just 13.3 points per game, just 146 early with a team-high 107 tackles (9.7 per game) in his first total in 11 games. Through the first six games, UMass had season as a starter. He was eighth in the league in tackles per allowed just 36 points with 15 coming at the hands of the game. He was named the Atlantic 10’s Defensive Player of opponents’ defense which returned both a fumble (Colgate) the Week on Sept. 26 after his 12-tackle game vs. Rhode Is- and two interceptions (Colgate and JMU) for touchdowns. land. Hatchell led or tied for UMass’ lead in tackles nine times Looking at just the defense, UMass allowed 2.5 points per in 11 games with 11 vs. Richmond, eight vs. Albany, 12 vs. game for the first six weeks. URI, seven vs. Northeastern, 12 against James Madison and Through the first six games of the season, UMass al- 11 against New Hampshire. Hatchell posted a career-high 16 lowed just ONE offensive touchdown, a one-yard rush by Rich- tackles at Army (11/12). mond QB Stacy Tutt in the first game of the season in the third quarter. Prior to the Maine game, the Minutemen did Other National Notes allowed an offensive touchdown for a span of 21 quarters dating from Sept. 1 through Oct. 22. UMass did not allow an Punter Christian Koegel finished third in the nation in offensive touchdown for 322:31. punting average at 43.02. That mark pushed his career mark Prior to Maine’s Ron Whitcomb throwing a 57-yard touch- to 40.95 as he took over as UMass’ career punting leader in down pass to Kevin McMahan 6:54 into the game in Orono, 2005. UMass had not allowed a passing touchdown the entire sea- UMass as a team led the nation in net punting with a son (spanning 24 quarters), dating to last season, UMass had 38.35 mark, a combination of Koegel’s booming kicks and great not allowed a passing touchdown for 401:08 -- back to the punt coverage. second quarter of last year’s finale against Hofstra. The offensive line allowed just 11 sacks in 11 games to UMass finished third in the nation in total defense al- rank tied for eighth in sacks allowed per game at 1.0. Over lowing 261.18 yards per game. UMass was No. 1 in the nation the last 22 games, dating back to 2004, UMass allowed just 20 for the first seven weeks prior to giving up 426 yards to New sacks. Hampshire. UMass also led the Atlantic 10 in pass efficiency defense, UMass held two opponents to fewer than 100 yards of which ranked 19th nationally, with a rating of 106.83. offense this season. The Minutemen set the school record for fewest yards allowed in a game holding Albany to just 31. Doing The Safety Dance Against Northeastern, UMass held the Huskies to just 72 yards UMass set an NCAA Division I-AA record with three safe- matching the best performance by the Minutemen against an ties against Albany on Sept. 17. The safeties, one in the second eam A-10 team since 1982, when they held New Hampshire to just quarter and two in the third, were recorded when Albany quar- 67 yards -- the former school record for fewest yards allowed. terback Daniel Bocanegra was caught in the end zone once by Shannon James was a consensus First-T All-American in 2005. 2006 UMass Football • 2005 SEASON REVIEW 100 John Hatchell and when punter Marc Pallozzi was trapped twice Receiver J.J. Moore caught 13 passes in the loss at - all the result of poor snaps from center. It has been done Colgate to set a new UMass record for receptions in a game. twice in Division I-A (Arizona State vs. Nebraska on Sept. 21, Moore snagged 10 of them in the second half once redshirt 1996 and North Texas vs. UL-Lafayette on Sept. 27, 2003). freshman Liam Coen was installed at quarterback. Moore broke the record of 11 set by Tim Berra (Yogi’s son) in 1973 and More Team Records later tied by Jimmy Moore in 1998 and twice by Adrian Zullo in 1999. In the game at Colgate, the Minutemen posted a school- In the regular-season finale at Hofstra, Brandon Lon- record 34 completions on 59 pass attempts. That broke the don tied the mark with 13 games against the Pride. record of 33 set in 2002 at Northeastern. In the Colgate game, Liam Coen completed 20-of-35, starter Tim Day hit on 13-of- 23 passes and tailback Steve Baylark completed an 18-yard McGuirk Magic pass to Coen on a halfback option play. UMass has been tough to beat in the friendly confines of The Minutemen also set a new record for first downs in McGuirk Alumni Stadium since the start of the 1998 season. a game with 34 against New Hampshire on Oct. 29. They broke The Minutemen have gone 36-11 (.766) at home over the last the old record of 33 set vs. Boston University in 1977. Of the six years, improving their all-time record at McGuirk to 144- 34, 25 came in the passing game. 72-2 (.667). 2005 UMASS HONORS Brad Anderson Atlantic 10 First-Team All-Conference Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference New England Football Writers Division I-AA All-Star Team UMass Scholar-Athlete, Fall 2005 ECAC Football All-Star Don Hansen Gazette Northeast All-Region Team Second Team Matt Austin Sports Network First-Team Preseason All-American Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference I-AA.org First-Team Preseason All-American Lindy’s First-Team Preseason All-American Steve Baylark Street & Smith’s First-Team Preseason All-American Atlantic 10 First-Team All-Conference Lindy’s Preseason Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year Don Hansen Gazette Northeast All-Region Team Third Team Street & Smith’s Preseason Atlantic 10 Def.