Edge UMass linebacker Da’Sean Downey looked like an All-American on the field Saturday night, recording a forced fumble and a huge 4th-and-1 stop at the Minutemen five-yard line to turn the ball back over to the UMass offense.
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Pineiro hit kicks of 40, 48 and 49 yards while nailing his lone extra-point attempt in Florida’s 24-7 season-opening win over the University of MA. Florida will honor its first Heisman Trophy victor and its first national championship coach by renaming the field Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Playing a UMass team that gave up 31.4 points per game last season could help jump start the team’s scoring, but will it matter in the long run?
Florida will almost certainly improve at quarterback this fall, if only because it would be nearly impossible not to.
“I just planned it myself”, Spurrier said. “That falls on me, so we’ll all learn”.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Ross Comis, making his first start for UMass, wasn’t fazed by the pressure of facing an SEC powerhouse. Defensively, Florida yielded 181.6 yards in passing and 128.6 yards in rushing.
McElwain named Del Rio the starting quarterback after competing with a Purdue graduate transfer Austin Appleby and freshman Feleipe Franks during the spring.
Offensively, big plays were at a premium: After a failed deep shot on the first play from scrimmage, Luke Del Rio settled for dinking and dunking while running for his life for much of the night, completing no passes over 30 yards and just one, a 26-yard catch-and-run touchdown by Brandon Powell on a screen, of more than 20 yards. I didn’t feel too nervous out there.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – There was no way Richard Ward was going to miss this game. But through a driving rainstorm, UMass answered with an inspired nine-play, 75-yard TD drive led by Comis.
On UMass’ best days against elite caliber teams before Florida, the Minutemen have played well for a half or most of a half, before getting blown out. They lost their last two games in blowout fashion, including 41-7 to MI in the Citrus Bowl.
Remember when we thought college football would be a little but more boring without Steve Spurrier roaming the sidelines?
Vautour: I’ll be curious to see how Del Rio looks. “When I kick, I block everything out and just think about my family and stuff”.
Eddy Pineiro made all three of his field-goal attempts, successful kicks from 40, 49 and 48 yards. “I thought they did better in the second half, but that energy has got to be – that’s all part of it”.
“Those tackles have to get up and get set so we can execute and get more plays than what we did in this game”.
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Have fun defense. You’re going to have to carry the team again this year. They have pretty fast guys.
