UMass Expecting Battle From Northern Illinois
UMass head coach Joe Harasymiak previews Wednesday's MAC game against Northern Illinois.
For some UMass Football fans, the end of the 2025 season probably can’t come soon enough.
But head coach Joe Harasymiak understands the finality of every football season represents the end of football careers for several players.
“Some guys in this room this morning will play three games for the rest of their life,” Harasymiak said on Thursday. “They won’t get an opportunity to play at the next level.”
UMass hosts Northern Illinois on Wednesday night before playing at Ohio next week and back home again against Bowling Green a couple days before Thanksgiving.
“My job is to make sure we put the best plan forward for those three games, especially this NIU one that we’re focused on and kind of taking it one step at a time,” Harasymiak continued. “Certainly, we’re doing everything we can to teach it as fast as we can, but I think it’s like anything, I think some things take a little bit more time than you want.
“No one’s ever happy with progress. It always takes longer than people want. So we’re going to keep fighting, keep putting our heads down and keep going to work.”
Northern Illinois sits at 2-7 on the season, but Harasymiak is expecting a great challenge from head coach Thomas Hammock’s squad.
“Tremendous respect for Coach Hammock,” Harasymiak said. “He has won a MAC title, has built a program. I was able to catch up with him at Media Day a little bit. So I’m excited about getting with him before the game. I listen to a lot of the stuff he talks about and it’s powerful stuff. So I respect that.
“Defensively, they play at a very high level. They’re downhill, they’re physical. Their Mike (linebacker) a very good player…(Quinton) Urwiler, I think he leads the league in tackles versus the run, which we need to establish to run to have any opportunity to loosen things up. And then offensively, their backs are difficult to tackle and we’ve had issues tackling bigger backs. Their yards after carry is pretty impressive and we’ll have to stop that to have a chance to compete. Impressive.
“I know they’re probably not where they want to be, kind of like we are. I haven’t watched every game, but they might feel like they let some slip away there. Coach Hammock-coached teams are going to come in ready to play violent and physical and we’ve got to be ready to match that.”
UMass will once again be short-handed because of injuries.
Harasymiak announced that linebacker Timmy Hinspeter would likely be sidelined for the rest of the season.Cornerback Ryan Barnes will be out again. The coach expressed varying degrees of confidence regarding the availability of players like running back Rocko Griffin, receiver Jacquon Gibson, offensive linemen Luke Painton and Kyle Brown and defensive linemen David Onuoha and Shambre Jackson.
“Unfortunately the biggest one there obviously is Timmy just from a leadership standpoint and what he’s provided,” Harasymiak said. “I mean he was like a leading tackler in the MAC. He’s getting everyone lined up. He’s checking everything. I feel for him.
“But hopefully also with that, a lot of these young guys that are getting reps, this will be Week three or four of their progress too, so they’ve got to step up as well.”
Harasymiak also acknowledged the quarterback shuffle we’ve seen all season could continue on Wednesday. AJ Hairston has been the starter for the past several games, but the Minutemen’s only touchdown against Akron last week was set up by a 47-yard run by backup Grant Jordan.
“We’re just trying to create a spark any way that we can. Certainly, I believe Grant did that early in the game and we’ve just got to keep playing better, got to keep pitching and catching. We’re not throwing the ball well just in terms of the results. A lot goes into that; protection and routes and progressions and stuff.
“I was happy with AJ. He checked the ball down a couple of times, put us in some situations, had a big 4th-and-4 conversion there. And again, we had our opportunities in terms of the explosive plays…I think it’s just how can we best move the ball consistently and a lot will go into that.”
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