AMHERST - Joe Harasymiak met with the media Friday ahead of Wednesday night’s MACtion opener against Ball State at McGuirk, and the biggest news had nothing to do with the game.
Harasymiak announced that wide receiver Dallas Elliott will miss the rest of the season after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Elliott began treatment at Dana-Farber in Boston this week, and Harasymiak said a GoFundMe from the family is coming for those who want to help.
“He’s a local walk-on that has earned a scholarship, earned a starting role and was the hardest worker on our team to put himself into that,” Harasymiak said. “He stuck with us, stuck with this place through some really, really hard times and now we’re going to do that for him and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.
“He’s a fighter. If you’ve ever talked to him or met him, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to win this matchup.”
Harasymiak opened by thanking Dan and Diane Riccio for their $3 million gift to the Script U Scholarship Society, saying it frees up scholarship dollars for revenue sharing and helps UMass retain its best players and recruit at a level it has not recruited at before.
“I think this is really the pivotal moment,” Harasymiak said.
The Minutemen essentially did not practice during the bye week, leaning on strength and conditioning work and walkthroughs, and Harasymiak said the team is in a really good spot health-wise. Joseph Griffin Jr., Pop Watson and William DePaepe were all back for UConn, and the offensive line, defensive line and secondary got a needed reset after eight to nine straight weeks.
The self-scout came back to one word: consistency. Harasymiak pointed to a board with green check marks across the first four games and red and black dashes across the last four, and said the Minutemen have to run the ball better, protect better, rush the passer and force takeaways, and clean up the two blocked punts from the first eight games.
Ball State (3-5, 2-2 MAC) has won two straight, and Harasymiak said the Cardinals are better than UMass statistically in conference play, led by a dynamic quarterback who creates second plays and a defensive line that can create havoc.
UMass (4-4, 1-3 MAC) needs two wins in its final four games to become bowl eligible, and one more win would be the program’s most in a season since it moved up to the FBS level. Harasymiak said he has not mentioned any of that to the team.
“The only thing that matters is Ball State,” Harasymiak said. “The only thing that matters tomorrow is that practice.”
Your one-stop-shop for all your sports marketing needs… Owned and Operated by UMASS Grads.
We specialize in providing top-quality marketing & printing services for coaches, athletic directors, and sports marketing professionals.
Get Fan Ready!
