UMass received encouraging news on William DePaepe after the defensive lineman was injured Saturday night at Sacramento State.
X-rays showed no fracture, although head coach Joe Harasymiak said Monday he would be surprised if DePaepe is able to play against Eastern Michigan this weekend.
“X-rays are negative, which was really good,” Harasymiak told reporters. “But we’ll have to wait and see. It would be probably a shock if he played this game, but I don’t put anything past him, his mentality.”
DePaepe has nine tackles through four games, including two sacks for 27 yards and has a forced fumble while being a consistent havoc-wreaker for the Minutemen.
“The good news is there’s no fracture,” Harasymiak said. “So we just got to see how well he responds to treatment.”
The outlook is even more encouraging for three other Minutemen who weren’t able to go in UMass’ 35-6 victory at Sacramento State.
Harasymiak expects offensive linemen Brock Taylor and Zach Franks as well as receiver Joe Griffin to be in better positions to return when the Minutemen host Eastern Michigan on Saturday.
“I expect to have all three,” he said. “We went through the week trying…like those injuries that take longer than six days, everyone’s got them…we got them to essentially Friday and Saturday and then when we got to pregame, just couldn’t do it.
“But I expect with another six days that we should be in really good shape for Brock, for Joe, for Zach.”
Safety Zeraun Daniel was also dealing with an injury entering the Sacramento State game but was able to play.
UMass also received contributions from players who were called upon because of the absences. Harasymiak pointed to receiver Jabari Lewis, offensive linemen Nick Dalessandro and Jaxon King along with cornerback Raheim Sexil among those who stepped in for TJ Magee.
“I thought the four guys that stepped up were huge,” Harasymiak said. “Jabari had a big game. Nick and Jackson starting on the O-line. And then Raheim Sexil went in for TJ.”
Sexil finished with two tackles and Harasymiak also credited him with an underappreciated part of the game’s most pivotal play.
“I said to Raheim, I said, ‘I didn’t even really know you were out there,’ which was a good thing,” Harasymiak said. “He made a great tackle and you got to look at his block on (Timmy Hinspeter’s) interception return. He keyed that whole thing.”
As UMass manages injuries elsewhere on the roster, keeping quarterback Pop Watson healthy remains another consideration.
Watson has completed 54 of 73 passes for 610 yards, six touchdowns and one interception through four games. He’s also become an important part of the rushing attack with 154 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries.
The Minutemen leaned into that part of Watson’s game against Sacramento State. He ran seven times for 72 yards and two touchdowns, including touchdown runs of 32 and 13 yards.
“That certainly was the game plan where we were going to run him more,” he said. “It was evident.”
There is an inherent risk in exposing a quarterback to additional contact, something Harasymiak and offensive coordinator Max Warner consider when deciding how to use Watson.
“We talked about when you don’t have to take (a hit), don’t take one,” Harasymiak said. “Pop’s doing a great job. We got hit a little bit too much from a protection standpoint, which we need to clean up, but he’s got to go play.
“At the end of the day, he’s got to go play and we got to trust him to make the right decisions.”
How UMass prepares its backups can also depend upon the Minutemen’s plan of attack each week.
Logan Inagawa served as the backup against Sacramento State because Harasymiak believed he could execute the quarterback-run portion of the game plan had something happened to Watson. Freshman Aedan McCarthy has also served in the backup role this season and has completed two of four passes for 11 yards. Harasymiak also noted he likes what Ty McCutcheon could bring as well.
“I think we have three guys there, especially with the two that have backed up so far, that we feel comfortable with,” Harasymiak said. “I think they’re different.”
The weekly backup decision isn’t solely based on scheme, though.
“I think you got to earn it during the week,” he said. “That was also a main factor in that decision last week.”
Juggling backup quarterbacks throughout the season, even behind the scenes, can seem like a delicate balancing act, but Harasymiak doesn’t see the limited practice reps as an unusual drawback
“Those guys, regardless of where you’re at, don’t get a lot of reps,” Harasymiak said. “That’s just always the way it’s been. There’s not enough time in the week.”
Harasymiak would prefer that preparation remain precautionary, but he understands the odds are his reserves will be pressed into action at some point.
“You never know until you got to get in that situation. Hopefully we can avoid that, but at some point probably it’ll happen. It’s just hopefully it’s not for an extended period of time.”
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