UMass Searching For No. 2 QB Behind Pop Watson
Logan Inagawa, Ty McCutcheon and Aedan McCarthy are competing to become the Minutemen's top backup.
AMHERST, Mass. - UMass knows who will take the first snap at quarterback this season.
Head coach Joe Harasymiak also knows the Minutemen need to be prepared for the possibility that Pop Watson won’t take every one after that.
That’s why Monday became an important evaluation day for Logan Inagawa, Ty McCutcheon and Aedan McCarthy as UMass works to determine which quarterback is best prepared to step in if Watson needs to come out.
Watson was given a scheduled rest day for the most part on Monday, allowing the three quarterbacks competing behind him to receive the bulk of the work during a practice filled with unscripted, situational periods.
Harasymiak and offensive coordinator Max Warner wanted to see how each would respond without knowing exactly what was coming next.
“Obviously Pop’s our 1 and now we really got to figure out over this next week who’s going to go in the game if they have to as the 2,” Harasymiak said.
Monday provided an opportunity to accelerate that evaluation.
“We gave all the one reps to those three guys,” Harasymiak said. “We just rotated all the 1s and 2s with those three guys because we knew all these situations were coming up and that’s why we did that.”
The results were mixed.
“I think it’s been up and down,” Harasymiak said.
Inagawa had some of the better moments Monday, including a sweet touchdown pass during one red-zone period and another drive that put the Minutemen in position for a last-second field goal. McCutcheon and McCarthy each had turnovers, but also flashed talent at different points during the day.
But the purpose of the exercise wasn’t necessarily to see which quarterback could make it through practice without a mistake. Harasymiak and Warner wanted to create the type of pressure each could face if suddenly forced into a game.
“You got to get them in there and you got to let them do it,” Harasymiak said. “We kind of called it like the bullpen day today. Starter goes down, like who’s going to step up and be the guy?
“Because it’s more than likely at some point it’s going to happen. Rarely do you go through a whole year, whether that’s the one gets nicked up or he’s out, whatever that happens and we got to kind of go.”
Watson’s limited duty on Monday wasn’t injury-related.
“Just give Pop a blow,” Harasymiak said. “Nothing’s wrong with him. He’s been doing great.”
Instead, the timing of the practice offered an opportunity to remove Watson from the equation and put his potential backups into situations they may eventually need to handle.
“I thought it was a perfect day to do that for him and kind of let him step back and throw these guys into the fire,” Harasymiak said.
Determining which quarterback responds best is only part of the evaluation.
Inagawa, McCutcheon and McCarthy possess different skill sets and arrived at UMass with considerably different levels of experience.
Inagawa arrived in May and McCutcheon followed in June. McCarthy, meanwhile, enrolled in January and participated in spring practice, giving the true freshman a significant head start in learning the offense.
“Aedan has kind of had the front row to this because he was here in January and he’s pushing,” Harasymiak said. “I’ll tell you what, he’s pushing.”
McCarthy may have the least college experience of the three, but probably has the most physical tools.
“Aedan obviously is what you want in terms of all the skills; height, weight, arm strength, running ability,” he said. “But he’s a freshman. He hasn’t played college football. So that learning process is a little bit behind at times than the other two that have done it.”
Inagawa offers a different dimension.
“Logan, he can hurt you with his legs,” Harasymiak said. “He’s certainly capable of making all the throws.”
McCutcheon brings more experience throwing the football, although his previous offense didn’t require him to do some of the things Warner will ask of him at UMass.
“Ty comes from an offense that he threw it a lot,” Harasymiak said. “So some things that are new in the run game, like handing the ball off, going under center, all those things are kind of new.”
Those differences mean UMass isn’t simply evaluating which player is performing best. Harasymiak and Warner are also determining how the offense would need to change depending on which quarterback gets the call.
“I think they’re all unique,” Harasymiak said. “That’s good for Max in these unscripted periods. He gets to call plays with those guys and see what they’re good at.”
That’s particularly important because Harasymiak doesn’t want UMass unprepared the first time if Watson is forced from a game.
“That’s really helping us figure out, ‘OK, if this does happen, how do we formulate the offense to have the best chance to win?’” he said.
There is no uncertainty about Watson’s status.
“Pop’s our guy and he’s growing,” Harasymiak said.
The uncertainty is over who comes next.
Monday gave Inagawa, McCutcheon and McCarthy an extended opportunity to make their cases, and Harasymiak expects the competition to become clearer over the next week.
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