UMass Begins Midweek MACtion Schedule
Change - at least in terms of schedule - on the horizon for the Minutemen
Midweek games for the 0-8 UMass football team present a sense of change that might help the team get over its grumbles.
Head coach Joe Harasymiak’s era in Amherst has started grim to say the least, but he’s hoping maybe something different could lead the Minutemen down a positive path.
One of the perks of joining a conference is the extra funding that comes with it, but the specific perks of joining the MAC are four midweek games on national television at the end of the year. The Minutemen end the season with three Tuesday games and one Wednesday game.
For UMass, that starts Tuesday with a game at Akron (3-6).
“Listen, we can use a little bit of change and shake up probably,” Harasymiak said at his Thursday press conference.
“Hopefully playing during the middle of the week, national television, there’s two games on, to get to go out and show people that we can be the team that we want to be, so I’m excited about it.”
Harasymiak harked back to his time at Rutgers and Minnesota preparing for Saturday games late in the year, having MACtion on in the background.
“I remember game-planning over the last seven years, the game’s on in the background a little bit when I’m at my other schools and it’s kind of cool to peek up and watch to see some of the stuff that happens,” Harasymiak said. “They call it ‘MACtion’ for a reason. I’m excited about being a part of that against a great opponent, so it should be fun.”
However, despite knowledge of what the conference provides, not many players or coaches on the roster have experienced a midweek MACtion game. According to Harasymiak, DD Snyder, Josh Nobles and Tim Grant-Randall are the only players who have been a part of one.
Snyder did it at Ball State, Nobles at Western Michigan and Grant-Randall at Eastern Michigan.
The rest of the roster didn’t have a grip on what that meant for the overall structure at first, but are adjusting.
“(The response from the players) has been a little offset at first because again, it’s Tuesday, but really it’s Saturday, and that’s kind of how we’re laying it out for them,” Harasymiak said. “They are excited about it. This is our first time going through it.”
Harasymiak, however, has no experience in any sort of regular season midweek football.
“I played a couple Monday freshman games when I was in high school, but that’s about it,” Harasymiak said. “I’ve had a couple bowl games in the middle of the week. That’s kind of what our mindset is.”
The practice schedule shifted four days later due to the 10-day break from action, making the schedule change a bit more gradual. Even though the games are at night, the Minutemen will still be practicing at the same time due to class schedule.
“At my Big Ten stops, we played on Saturdays and then had to go play on Friday nights on the FOX game, so we’ll use a similar thing there and then we reset,” Harasymiak said. “The structure will stay the same. We’ll still be (practicing) in the morning and then we just got to work through it.”
The mini bye week also helped the UMass injury report decrease from the 20 names it included last Saturday against Central Michigan.
“Hopefully the 10 days here not doing anything since Saturday, really physically in terms of contact, will get (Jacquon Gibson and Rocko Griffin) back for a better performance and a longer performance,” Harasymiak said.
Gibson was targeted here and there, but a big drop and a lack of snaps left him without a reception against Central Michigan.
Griffin attempted just seven rushes for 58 yards and a touchdown. While he was effective when he ran, Harasymiak admitted he wasn’t near the physical state to carry the ball 20 times.
Harasymiak always noted back to the valuable change the MACtion schedule could create.
“I think it kind of provides a spark potentially when we need one,” Harasymiak said. “A change up for the night games with it being under the lights. I talked about it being one of only two games on in college football, so I think their response has been good so far.”
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