UMass football: Minutemen cap successful camp with annual Spring Game at McGuirk
AMHERST — Late in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s UMass football spring game, Team Maroon worked the ball inside the Team White 10-yard line trailing 17-10. Team Maroon quarterback Grant Jordan received a shotgun snap from the 4-yard line, faked the ball to his running back and scrambled right.
With nobody open, Jordan dashed for the right pylon and beat the defense there for a touchdown – putting Team Maroon within one, 17-16. They chose to go for two, and a broken play led to a tip drill that fell in the hands of running back Rocko Griffin. Team Maroon jumped in front 18-17 with about two minutes left to play.
AJ Hairston led Team White down the field and into field-goal range, setting up kicker Marcus Lye with a 48-yarder for the win. Lye missed it wide right, and Team Maroon stormed the field in celebration as it knocked off Team White in a close and competitive spring game at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
“Maroon and white was a great decision,” new Minutemen head coach Joe Harasymiak said. “Great job by the recruiting staff, and [General Manager Jared Osumah] split them up. That was pretty even… 18-17, can’t get much better than that. It was great to get out there, and staying healthy was the main key today and I thought they did a great job of taking care of each other. There were some flashes all around. That was good.”
Harasymiak wanted Saturday to play out as close to a real game as possible. The only major difference? He instructed UMass not to tackle each other. That can often cause players to coast through the game, or play slower because they don’t want to be the one to accidentally bring someone to the ground.
There was no lack of intensity or competitiveness on either side however. Overall, the spring game was a great success – and several players stood out making terrific plays.
“I thought guys competed,” Harasymiak said. “I mean, it’s hard when you don’t go to the ground, just usually your tempo and your speed slows down a little bit because you’re not going through people. But I thought the operation was clean both sides and they competed. We had a couple great catches and I think overall, they did a good job with just the cleanliness of the game.”
Here are a few quick-hitters from Saturday:
Both AJ Hairston and Grant Jordan had high and low moments on Saturday. Hairston was poised in the pocket, but missed on a few reads and forced the ball into traffic more than Harasymiak would probably like. The sophomore did make a handful of beautiful back-shoulder throws down the field, and built a solid connection with wide receiver Tyree Kelly.
Jordan took one bad sack on third and short, but aside from that was sharp. He delivered several strong throws to deep crossing routes over the middle, and hooked up with Jacquon Gibson often.
The two quarterbacks’ stat lines were nearly identical, with Hairston completing 13 of his 26 attempts for 164 yards and two touchdowns while Jordan went 13-for-23 and 165 yards. He added the aforementioned touchdown on the ground. Each QB led three scoring drives apiece.
“With the running clock, it’s kind of harder,” Harasymiak said. “We talked, both coordinators and myself, [about keeping] it clean, let them play fast. I thought they both managed the game, I thought they both made good throws. We had the one mistake on that third and short, we got to throw the ball away there. But other than that, they were clean.”
Will Perry and Zach Lawrence also saw time under center, but only got two drives apiece before Jordan and Hairston came back in. Utah transfer QB Brandon Rose is still out with an injury but is expected to be good to go come summer practice.
Several pass catchers made highlight-reel plays on Saturday, and South Florida transfer Tyree Kelly came down with multiple. Kelly caught a back shoulder ball down the right sideline in traffic that led to a Team White touchdown. Toward the end of the first half with Team White trying to execute a 2-minute drill, Kelly snared a one-handed grab on third-and-10 that moved the chains and resulted in a field goal to tie the game at 10.
Early in the fourth quarter he ran a solid comeback route and reached out to grab a contested hands catch. Kelly, who wrapped up rehab on his knee not long ago, finished with five catches and 79 yards on a game-high 11 targets.
“I felt great, man,” Kelly said. “I’m coming off an MCL sprain, first time being out there. I come from South Florida, and I didn’t really get an opportunity to show my talent. I came to UMass, [offensive coordinator Mike] Bajakian, Coach Harasymiak, they believe in me and just give me opportunities.”
Harasymiak had high praise for the junior transfer.
“He’s got our best catch radius on the team,” Harasymiak said. “He can go out and get it, and we just need to get him playing faster at all times, being more consistent with that. But today, there was guys that flashed, and he certainly did. He catches the ball away from his body, and he’s long and athletic… He’s done a great job and he’ll only continue to grow.”
Elsewhere, redshirt sophomore Dallas Elliot made an impact on Saturday – most notably when he made a spinning catch in the back of the end zone to give Team White a 17-10 lead. The touchdown catch went for 24 yards, and he pulled the ball away from a defensive back to secure it. Elliot is from Leeds and played his high school ball at Williston.
It may be tough for him to find consistent playing time in a loaded wide receiver room that features Kelly, Sterling Galban, T.Y. Harding, Pittsburgh transfer Jake McConnachie and Jacquon Gibson, but if he keeps making plays like he did on Saturday (four catches, 57 yards, TD), it’ll be hard for Harasymiak and Bajakian to leave him off the field.
“That was a great catch,” Harasymiak said. “He’s got great body control. He’s a guy that just continued to get better, and I’m excited... Stuff like that certainly helps his case and I think he’s done a great job.”
Defensively, it was the Josh Nobles show. He was only awarded one sack from Harasymiak, although he lived in the backfield all day and probably had at least three. Nobles, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound senior transfer from future MAC opponent Western Michigan, proved to be too much for Team White’s offensive line to handle.
“Josh Nobles was one of them,” Harasymiak said when asked what players stood out to him. “He was around the quarterback today. I probably could have had him for three sacks. I think I only gave him one. But he was someone that flashed.”
Aquan Robinson was another standout on defense, as the 6-foot-4, 235-pound redshirt junior out of New Jersey wreaked havoc throughout the day as well.
Defensive coordinator Jared Keyte and Harasymiak seem to have a good grip on the defense through spring ball.
“I think just from an overall standpoint, we’re understanding the defense,” Harasymiak said. “We’re learning. There wasn’t too many explosives today… I think we’ll be all right.”
Daily Hampshire Gazette
