Shorthanded UMass Will Shorthanded Again Vs. CMU
Injuries mount for the Minutemen as head coach Joe Harasymiak will return to the gridiron himself this week
UMass football’s newest scout team cornerback: Joe Harasymiak.
Yes, you read that correctly. UMass’ injury list seemed insurmountable going into the Buffalo contest with five Week One starters on the offense and two starters on the defense reported as out. However, the Minutemen made it a very competitive contest, losing on a last-ditch Bulls effort after various UMass errors.
After the game, head coach Joe Harasymiak reported that the injury report had grown to a number we hadn’t seen before. A number so big that Harasymiak himself would have to provide a body at practice.
“You’re looking at the scout team corner this week,” Harasymiak said at his Monday press conference.
“I wasn’t terrible. Division III corner, so here we go. This is what is needed. We’re going to have some coaches doing some defensive back and wideout stuff.”
On the offensive side of the ball, UMass is still without captains and playmakers Rocko Griffin and Jacquon Gibson.
They are fighting to get back to full health, according to Harasymiak, but both have been out multiple weeks now.
At running back, Brandon Hood remains the lead back until Griffin returns. Hood powered the Minutemen offense on Saturday with a career-high 24 carries and 179 rushing yards, highlighted by a 90 yard touchdown run.
At wide receiver, Kezion Dia-Johnson has made strides after he caught Hairston’s first touchdown pass of the game on a 27-yard reception. Tyree Kelly hasn’t been part of the offense for multiple weeks now, and Jake McConnachie didn’t get many snaps late against Buffalo.
Harasymiak decided to go with a mix of Dia-Johnson, Northwestern transfer Donnie Gray and redshirt freshman Kenyon Massey.
At tight end and offensive line, more injuries have been added to the devastation from the previous week. Against Kent State, UMass lost Mao Glynn, who sustained a season-ending injury.
Sullivan Weidman also went down in the contest, and now tight end Reece Adkins and offensive lineman Kyle Brown have been added to the list after Saturday. Adkins started every game this season, and Brown was the first backup off the bench at offensive line.
At tight end, UMass will have to rely on Max Dowling, who caught the spectacular 77-yard touchdown pass last Saturday, as well as freshman Jax Markovich and redshirt junior Owen Anderson.
In the trenches, without Weidman, Glynn and Brown, Harasymiak will be forced to role with Mike Entwistle, who has started one game all year, and either redshirt freshman Brock Taylor or Peyton Miller.
At linebacker and the star position as of today, UMass is without leading tackler Timmy Hinspeter, starter Rashad Henry, Dartmouth transfer Zachary Farris and captain Derrieon Craig, according to Harasymiak. Also, Yale transfer and Week One starter Dean Shaffer has medically retired due to a hip injury too difficult to overcome.
If the game was played midweek, the only experienced player UMass has at linebacker is Tyler Martin. Alongside him would be Donovan Dyson, who hadn’t played a major role until Saturday’s game against Buffalo, and Boise State transfer Nick Hawthorne, who has assisted on just two tackles all season long in mop-up duty against Missouri.
The supporting cast would be freshman Dinos Drossos, redshirt junior Kyle Ott, and redshirt sophomore Payton Andrade. None of those three have played any meaningful snaps this season.
At defensive line, the Minutemen lost captain defensive tackle Shymell Davis, replacement edge Shambre Jackson and Rutgers transfer David Onuoha. Going into the season, UMass lost star edge rusher Josh Nobles, and now they’ve lost some of his key backups.
The Minutemen will still have Aquan Robinson, Tim Passmore Jr., Tim Grant-Randall and Marques White across the line, but it isn’t nearly the same without the likes of Davis and Onuoha who have started almost every game this season for the Minutemen.
Now, the secondary, where injuries have been the biggest issue all season. More than seven players have missed time due to injury, and three still remain banged up. TJ Magee and DD Snyder are still recovering from injuries they sustained weeks prior and starting cornerback Ryan Barnes has been added to the injury report again. Barnes missed the first two weeks of the season, and was out for an extended period of time right before the bye week.
This will force the Minutemen to play redshirt sophomore Brennan Bailey, Kamren Watkins-Hunter and an out-of-position Malcolm Greene.
Out of all these injuries, Glynn and Shaffer are the only ones officially listed as season-ending, but the Minutemen have an uphill battle to climb the rest of the season, now powered by youth and inexperience.
“We have no other option (to play young guys),” Harasymiak said. “We’re going to have some guys that were on scout team that are going to be taking some one reps, some two reps.”
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