Harasymiak Explains Decisions

What was UMass head coach Joe Harasymiak thinking against Buffalo? He tells fans exactly what he was thinking.

AMHERST, Mass. - UMass head coach Joe Harasymiak takes fans through the decisions that were made on the Minutemen’s final drive before Buffalo took the lead on Saturday.

Harasymiak understands why some fans may have been critical of the playcalls late in the fourth quarter against Buffalo and felt they deserved explanations the same way his players did.

“Everybody thinks about, ‘Just make them burn their timeouts,’ but you have to understand the situation,” Harasymiak said.

Harasymiak went on to explain why going for a first down was the optimal strategy versus simply trying to get Buffalo to use all three of its remaining timeouts.

“It makes complete sense there to throw the ball,” Harasymiak continued. “I know that’s shocking to some people…because the value of the first down.”

Here’s Harasymiak talking about the sequence that began when UMass got the ball at its own 10 with less than a minute to play.

While Harasymiak is convinced he made the right call in that situation - rightly so - he offered up avenues for criticism that had been previously unknown, acknowledging that the Minutemen only had 10 players on the field for one play on the defense’s final drive.

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