For the third time in three weeks, UMass offensive coordinator Max Warner is designing an offense around a different quarterback.
For the first five weeks of the season, it was Pop Watson, the veteran dual-threat who opened the season completing 74 percent of his passes, led UMass to a 4-0 start and placed a MAC Offensive Player of the Week award on the shelf along the way.
Last week, it was 6-foot-5 freshman Aedan McCarthy, and the plan tilted vertically - double moves and deep concepts designed to stress Miami’s defense over the top.
“We had a lot of plays that we want back over the top,” Joe Harasymiak said during his Monday press conference. “We were very, very close to hitting.”
Now, with Watson unlikely to play and McCarthy likely out, Warner is building around some combination of Logan Inagawa and Ty McCutcheon, two quarterbacks with contrasting skill sets and one half of meaningful FBS football experience between them. But Harasymiak isn’t discounting actual playing experience regardless of the level.
Inagawa is a transfer from Drake who brings mobility. He rushed for nine touchdowns as a backup last season, and his 6-for-6, 83-yard relief stint Saturday - capped by the 91-yard touchdown drive - showed poise when the plan broke down.
“Logan has played college football,” Harasymiak said. “He’s got games under his belt, and what he did to be able to come in there and do what he did was great.”
The 6-foot-3 McCutcheon is a junior college transfer from Southwestern College who is a traditional pocket passer who has yet to take a snap for the Minutemen. If he plays, the offense almost certainly has to live on timing and structure rather than broken-play creation or designed QB runs.
“We have to make in-game adjust always, but putting together a plan that not only schematically fits what you’re seeing, but also plays to the strength of your players, I think is very important,” said Harasymiak.
Warner has a recent model for exactly that kind of tailoring on the other sideline.
Buffalo has spent the last month reshaping its offense around a backup quarterback.
“They’re on their backup quarterback,” said Harasymiak. “He’s started a bunch of games. I’ve watched his last three games, Robert Morris, Western and Toledo, and he’s gotten better.
“Their offensive staff has done a great job getting him in position to play to his strengths.”
Warner faces the same assignment as the Minutemen try to snap back-to-back conference losses.
And what he’s seeing is a Buffalo defense that has transformed over the last two weeks.
The season numbers are still rough, 389 yards and 26.8 points allowed per game, but the Bulls just held a Toledo offense averaging 485 yards to 308 yards and 8 points, stuffing the run for 105 yards. A week earlier they limited Western Michigan’s ground game to 115 yards on 37 carries. Linebacker SaVeon Brown leads the MAC with 26 solo tackles.
That’s got to be a concern for a UMass squad that ran for just 65 yards against Miami. If Buffalo’s front does the same to UMass’s ground game Saturday, it’ll be a long day for whoever is behind center for the Minutemen.
Quarterbacks who get the ball out on time and don’t give it away can move it against a Bulls’ defense allowing 240 passing yards per game.
Watson is still listed atop the UMass depth chart McCarthy, Inagawa and McCutcheon all separated by ORs behind him. We’d expect Inagawa to get the first crack if neither Watson nor McCarthy can go based on what he did in the final few minutes last week.
“We got the two-headed monster right now of Logan and Ty that got to go in there,” Harasymiak said.
“It’s going to be all hands-on-deck operation in that position room.”
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