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UMass Minutemen Prepare To Take Next Step

By Blake Yagman

Sep 20, 2014; University Park, PA, USA; Massachusetts Minutemen head coach Mark Whipple along with his son and quarterback Austin Whipple (3) look on from the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Massachusetts 48-7. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O
Sep 20, 2014; University Park, PA, USA; Massachusetts Minutemen head coach Mark Whipple along with his son and quarterback Austin Whipple (3) look on from the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Massachusetts 48-7. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O /
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UMass’ Football Head Coach Mark Whipple Uses Wealth of Experience to Take Minutemen to Next Level.

In a few short weeks, the UMass Minutemen will face the biggest battle in the program’s short history– opening night, against the Florida Gators in Gainesville, Florida. When the Minutemen take on the Gators on September 3rd, keep an eye on the Minutemen: they are prepared to pull of an upset.

University of Massachusetts-Amherst hired Mark Whipple as their head coach in 2012; they lured him away from the Cleveland Browns in 2012. Whipple, a direct descendant of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, brings a superb developer of talent to Amherst; he coached Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh as the Quarterbacks coach there under Bill Cowher and Lamar Miller and Allen Hurns as the Offensive Coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes.

Currently, Whipple’s Minutemen have produced a new class of professional football players, including QB Blake Frohnapfel, WR Tajae Sharpe, and TE Jean Sifrin. If UMass can continue to develop it’s pipeline to the NFL, they should begin to attract some of the best talent in the country to the school affectionately known as “ZooMass.”

If the University of Massachusetts is able to head down to the University of Florida confidently, there’s no reason they cannot pull off an upset. Florida has a notoriously poor offense and will not begin their season with an established quarterback. If the game is kept close, who knows what the outcome could be?

Oct 24, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; Massachusetts Minutemen tight end Rodney Mills (33) celebrates his touchdown against the Toledo Rockets with running back Marquis Young (8) during the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 24, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; Massachusetts Minutemen tight end Rodney Mills (33) celebrates his touchdown against the Toledo Rockets with running back Marquis Young (8) during the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports /

What is known is the chaos that could ensue if UMass opens the season with a win. Although their schedule has several heavy hitters in the following few weeks (vs. Boston College and Mississippi State), the confidence that the Minutemen develop from that win could be a turning point for the program.

The Minutemen will be lead by last season’s leading rusher, sophomore Marquis Young. He had seven rushing touchdowns last season and averaged 6.3 yards per carry (with 960 total yards on the season). The team’s quarterback battle remains ongoing.

Do you think that the Minutemen will show up the Florida Gators at “the Swamp?” As UMass begins’ their summer football camp to prepare for the season, you can bet that the September 3rd game against Florida is all that the team has on their minds.

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Keep it locked here at Chowder and Champions for continued coverage of the UMass Minutemen’s 2016 football season.

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