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No. 3 UMass Plays For 2nd NCAA Football Title Against No. 1 App State
Dec. 11, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
Division I Football Championship No. 3 UMass Plays For 2nd NCAA Football Title Against No. 1 App State • UMass captured its only NCAA football title in 1998 with a 55-43 win over No. 1 Georgia Southern back on Dec. 19. That game marked the last time the Minutemen have faced the No. 1 team in the nation as they will do on Friday. • The game will also be broadcast live on the UMass Sports Network. Veteran Bob Behler will call the action and former kicker Matt Goldstein will handle the color commentary. The pregame show begins at 7:30 p.m. on WRNX (100.9 FM), the flagship of the network. It will also air on WCRN (830 AM) and WATD (95.9 FM). The game can also be heard live online at UMassAthletics.com. UMass broadcaster Bob Behler returns to Chattanooga for the first time in 20 years after he had his first broadcasting job out of college for the minor league baseball Chattanooga Lookouts from 1985-86. • UMass is seeking its fourth overall national championship in its athletic history. The school most recently captured the I-AA football championship in 1998 in addition to the first NCAA women's lacrosse title in 1982 and the 1973 AIAW women's gymnastics championship. • The football team is the second UMass team to play for a Division I national title in seven months. The Minuteman men's lacrosse team lost 15-7 to No. 1 Virginia in the championship game in Philadelphia on May 29, 2006 before close to 50,000 fans at Lincoln Financial Field.
UMass' Road To The Title Game • In the quarterfinal, UMass posted a 24-17 victory over arch-rival No. 9 New Hampshire last Saturday before a sold-out crowd of 17,000 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Steve Baylark ran for 198 yards and became the second UMass back to go over 5,000-yard career mark. He also scored his 45th career touchdown on a 1-yard run to tie for third all-time in UMass history. Junior A-10 First Team linebacker Jason Hatchell imitated his senior brother John Hatchell as he knocked down a Ricky Santos pass on fourth-down in the final seconds to secure the win as the Wildcats were driving. Sophomore quarterback Liam Coen threw for two touchdowns. That included a sensational individual effort for by senior receiver Brandon London, who extended his body to the goal line to cap a 31-yard TD pass which gave UMass the lead for good at 21-17 in the fourth quarter. UMass advanced to the second round by virtue of a 35-14 win over Patriot League champion Lafayette in the first round on Nov. 25. • The No. 1 Mountaineers come into the championship game as the defending titlists. In the NCAA playoffs, they have rolled over their opponents pounding No. 13 Coastal Carolina, 45-28 in the first round, No. 18 Montana State, 38-17 in the quarterfinals and No. 5 Youngstown State, 49-24 in the semifinals. Appalachian State has not lost to Division I-AA/FCS team since 2004.
Southern Exposure
2006 Team Connections To 1998 • Several current UMass assistant coaches were also on that 1998 staff. Keith Dudzinski, the current defensive coordinator and linebackers coach was a defensive line coach with the Minutemen. Current run-game coordinator and offensive line coach Brian Picucci was a graduate assistant with the offensive line in 1998. • Wide receivers coach Brian Smith was a starting defensive back on the 1998 team. He went on a decorated career graduating cum laude from UMass. • The football team's academic advisor Lance Overby was also defensive back in 1998 .
NCAA Champions From The A-10 • The A-10 will morph into the Colonial Athletic Association football conference nest season with the same 12 teams as half of the league members are full-time affiliates of the CAA.
UMass In The NCAA Tournament • The No. 3 seed marks the first time UMass has been seeded in the NCAA Tournament. The Minutemen hosted a first-round playoff game for the first-time ever and just the second home I-AA or FCS playoff game ever (not including the D-II game in 1977). The only other home UMass tournament game came in the 1998 Quarterfinals, when UMass beat Lehigh, 27-21 to reach the Semis. • Prior to this year, UMass last played in the NCAA Tournament in 2003, when the Minutemen dropped a heart-breaking 19-7 decision at Colgate in a snowy blizzard. • Before to that, UMass played in the 1999 tournament, winning a first-round game at No. 8 Furman, 30-23 in overtime to run the Minutemen's post-season wins streak to five games. But UMass fell in the quarterfinals, 38-21 at Georgia Southern in a re-match of the 1998 title game. • On the way to the national championship in 1998, UMass defeated McNeese State (21-19) in the first round on the road, Lehigh (27-21) at home and Northwestern State (41-31) on the road again before beating and Georgia Southern (55-43) in the title game. • The Minutemen advanced to the first ever Division I-AA championship game in 1978, defeating Nevada (44-21) in the semifinals before falling to Florida A&M (35-28) in the title game. • UMass also took part in the tournament in 1988 (falling to Eastern Kentucky, 28-17) and in 1990 (losing to William & Mary, 38-0). • The Minutemen played in the 1977 Division II playoffs, where they hosted Patriot League team Lehigh in a 30-23 loss. • As the Redmen, UMass won the 1972 Boardwalk Bowl, 35-14 over UC Davis and lost the 1964 Tangerine Bowl to East Carolina, 14-13.
Brown Returns To NCAA's • Brown's greatest run in the NCAA Tournament came as the defensive coordinator with the 1998 and 1999 UMass teams. Brown headed up the defensive corps for those two seasons as UMass went 5-1 in the post season in capturing the 1998 title. • Brown is now 8-1 while on the sidelines at UMass in NCAA Tournament games. • He was the head coach at Plymouth State in leading the Panthers to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 1994, reaching the quarterfinals and in 1995, falling in the first round. • Brown's son Zach also had a chance at a national championship this past season as he was the top assistant baseball coach at Wheaton College, located in Norton, Mass. The Lyons lost to Marietta College in the Division III final. Zach Brown is in his fifth season as an assistant at Wheaton.
UMASS' MAROON PLATOON • As the home team in Chattanooga, UMass will wear all maroon. UMass won a coin flip which determines the home team.
Super Senior Class • The UMass senior class has posted an overall record of 36-13 (73.4 win percentage) since 2003, that goes down as the most wins by any four-year class in UMass history. Twice before UMass had 31 wins in a four-year span done from 2002-05 (31-16), 1998-2001 (31-19). • A group of UMass seniors will tie the all-time school record for games played of 50 when they step on Davenport Field in Chattanooga. The record of 50 games was set by four members of the 1998 title team: Kole Ayi, Dan Schneider, Chris Price and current wide receivers coach Brian Smith. On Friday, 2006 UMass seniors tailback Steve Baylark, punter Christian Koegel, center Alex Miller and guard David Thompson. For Koegel, Miller and Thompson, they have started every game at UMass to set a school record for games started.
Making History • UMass head coach Don Brown made history becoming just the second coach to lead two different teams to A-10 titles, as he coached Northeastern to the 2002 championship. He joined Jim Reid, who won three titles at UMass (1986, 1988 and 1990) and followed that with two titles at Richmond (1998 and 2000). • With the 22-16 win over Hofstra, UMass became the first team to post the first undefeated season in Atlantic 10 conference play since the 1997 Villanova team. Of note, UMass defensive backs coach Bob Shoop was the defensive coordinator on that team. • UMass, posted just the fifth undefeated season in conference play since the "recent era" when the Yankee Conference/A-10 played eight league games. UMass joined: Boston University in 1993, New Hampshire in 1994, Delaware in 1995 and Villanova in 1997. • This year's team posted UMass' first undefeated season in conference play since 1978, when the Minutemen went 5-0 in the Yankee Conference. UMass has only gone undefeated in conference play nine times (1951, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1972, 1977 and 1978) with all of those with five of fewer wins. • With 10 regular-season wins, UMass has equalled the school record for regular-season wins, set in 2003, when UMass was 10-2 before heading to the playoffs. This goes down the best regular-season since 1972 (when 11-game seasons started) with a 90.9 win percentage (10-1) as UMass played 12 regular-season games in 2003. Technically, the best regular-season record came in 1963 when UMass went 8-0-1 (.944). UMass did go "undefeated" in 1889 at 2-0 and 1879 at 1-0. • UMass has won a school-record 13 games this season. This is the third time in school history UMass has won 10 or more games in a season, winning a record-setting 12 in the title season of 1998 and 10 in 2003. • UMass is in the midst of a school-record 12-game win streak. With the win vs. Hofstra on Nov. 18, UMass set its longest win-streak of all-time, at nine games. The Minutemen had previously won eight games in a row numerous times, most recently in 2003.
Ihedigbo, Miller Named All-Americans
20 UMass Players Honored With A-10 Honors • Senior tailback Steve Baylark was named the league's Co-Offensive Player of the Year with UNH's Ricky Santos. Baylark is UMass' first Offensive Player of the Year honoree since Gary Wilkos in 1990. • Head coach Don Brown earned his second A-10 Coach of the Year accolade as well. He was Coach of the Year at Northeastern in 2002. • The first team included: senior tailback Steve Baylark, senior center Alex Miller, junior tackle Matt Austin, senior punter Christian Koegel, senior safety James Ihedigbo, senior cornerback Tracy Belton, senior wide receiver Brandon London, junior linebacker Jason Hatchell. • The second team featured: senior guard David Thompson, junior guard Nick Diana, sophomore kick returner Courtney Robinson, junior kicker Chris Koepplin, sophomore cornerback Sean Smalls, junior linebacker Brad Anderson, junior linebacker Charles Walker, senior defensive end John Hatchell and junior defensive end David Burris. • On the third team were: sophomore quarterback Liam Coen, junior punt returner J.J. Moore, junior tight end Brad Listorti.
Six Named All-New England; Brown Honored • Head Coach Don Brown was named the New England Coach of the Year in a unanimous vote of the writers. Brown was also named the AFCA Region 1 Football Coach of the Year. • Austin and Miller lead the UMass offensive line as the Minutemen have allowed just 15 sacks in 14 games (1.1 per game), the best mark in the A-10 and 14th-fewest in the nation. They have led the way for Baylark, who has gained 1,827 yards and nine 100-yard games this season in leading the A-10 in rushing. • On defense, Belton and Ihedigbo headline UMass' secondary while Hatchell leads the team in tackles with 126. UMass leads the nation in scoring defense, giving up just 12.3 points per game. They are also ranked in the top 20 in the nation in total defense and rush defense.
During UMass' 12-Game Win Streak... • UMass has posted a second-half shutout in each of the NCAA Tournament games, outscoring opponents, 29-0 in the last 30 minutes of each game. • The Minutemen have three 40-point efforts in the win streak. The last time UMass scored more than 40 points in three games in a year came in 1998, when they did it six times on the way to the NCAA Championship. That streak includes back-to-back 48-7 wins over Stony Brook on Sept. 23 and William & Mary on Oct. 7, both at McGuirk Stadium. UMass a 41-16 win over Rhode Island on Oct. 21. • UMass had at least 450 yards of offense in each of the first five games of the win streak. • UMass has outscored the 12 opponents 235-87 in the first half alone (average 20-7).
Looking at The Leading Stats
You Need To Know These Guys - Baylark comes into the App State game with a 1,827 yards this season and 5,199 in his career. His career total makes him the leading active rusher in all of Division I (including I-A and I-AA). Baylark has been sensational of late, posting 100 yards or more in nine of the last 12 games and eight of the last 11. - Baylark has been over 100 yards in his last four games including the three NCAA Tournament. He is averaging 173.0 yards in the three NCAA playoff games. That including a stellar 169 at No. 2 Montana in the semifinals. He had a 198-yard outburst vs. New Hampshire in the NCAA Quarterfinals. He opened the NCAA playoffs with 152 against Lafayette in Nov. 25. - This is the second time this year Baylark has had a stretch of four games in a row with 100-plus yards. He averaged 169.0 yards over four games from Oct. 7-28. That was keyed by his career-high 235 vs. Rhode Island on Oct. 21. He has risen to 10th in the nation this season with 127.54 per game, which tops the A-10. He was honored as the A-10 Offensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row after the URI game. - He broke the 1,000 yard barrier with his 152 at Northeastern on Oct. 28. He surpassed the 5,000-yard mark vs. UNH in the NCAA Quarterfinals, joining Marcel Shipp as the only Minutemen to do so. He became the third player in UMass history with more than 4,000 career rushing yards as he racked up 102 at Towson on Oct. 14. - With his nine 100-yard games this season, he now has 25 career 100-yard games -- including the last four in a row with 125 vs. Hofstra and 152 vs. Lafayette in the NCAA First Round. The Minutemen are 22-3 in his 100-yard games. - Baylark has at least one touchdown in 16 of the last 20 games, totaling 27 in those 20 games. In UMass' all-time annals, is now third in career TDs with 47 and third in career rushing TDs with 42. He leads the A-10 in touchdowns with 18 and scoring lead (7.71 points per game). Baylark leads the A-10 in all-purpose yards at 145.71. He had his biggest all-around game at Montana with 245 total yards including a career-high 76 receiving yards. • Sophomore quarterback, a 2006 Atlantic 10 Third-Team selection, Liam Coen led the nation in pass efficiency for virtually all season. This week his now fifth with a 165.54 mark. He has completed an amazing 65.4 percent of his passes (197-of-301) and has 25 TD passes and just eight interceptions. He has 2,795 yards this season after posting 2,175 as a freshman. Until a second-quarter interception vs. Lafayette in the First Round, he had not thrown an interception in five games from Oct. 14 at Towson through the Hofstra game on Nov. 18. He ranks among the all-time greats at UMass in passing with the best career pass efficiency rating (152.17) and completion percentage (64.7). He is also fourth in career completions (372), fifth in passing yards (4,970), fourth in passing TDs (35) and fifth in pass attempts (575). - Among all active I-AA players, Coen is fifth in career pass efficiency and sixth in completion percentage. Coen played one of the best games by a UMass signal caller in history at Towson on Oct. 14. In the win over the Tigers, he threw a school-record tying five touchdown passes and 303 yards as he completed 21-of-27. Coen was bestowed with numerous honors in the wake of his performance. He was honored for the second time this season with the Golden Helmet, presented by the New England Football Writers of New England, as the week's top player in the region. He was also named the A-10's Offensive Player of the week for the second time in 2006. Additionally, he was one of four named to I-AA.org's Weekly All-Stars in the nation after the Towson game. • Coen plays under senior center and A-10 First-Teammer Alex Miller, who has been named an AFCA All-American in 2006. On the line, Miller, along with guard Second-Team A-10er David Thompson set the UMass record for career games started vs. New Hampshire with 48. They will both start their 50th career games on Friday night. Punter Christian Koegel also started his 48th game vs. UNH. Miller and Thompson head up an offensive line that has allowed just 15 sacks in 14 games this season, 1.07 per game (which leads the A-10 and is 14th nationally). UMass has led or tied for the lead in the A-10 in fewest sacks allowed in each of the last three seasons, giving up less than one per game over past three campaigns. • Senior wide receiver and A-10 First Team selection, Brandon London leads the team in catches (46) with and receiving yards with 750. His receiving yards of 57.7 ranks ninth in the league. London is now second in career catches (146) and is third career receiving yards at UMass (1,991). He will be just the third receiver at UMass with 2,000 yards receiving. He had his 15th career receiving TD against New Hampshire in the NCAA Quarterfinal and is now tied for fourth all-time in UMass history. Also in the Towson game, London tied the school record for touchdown catches in a game with four. He was named the UMass/Dinn Brothers Athlete of the Week for his showing. He finished with seven catches for 100 yards with the TDs from 3, 20, 34 and 8 yards out. It was his fifth career 100-yard game. • The defense has been equally awesome as the offense. Buchanan Award Candidate and A-10 First Teammer James Ihedigbo is the senior captain on the defensive side. He is vying for the national defensive player of the year award, following in the footsteps of two-time All-American Shannon James, who was in Baltimore Ravens camp in 2006 and has been starring with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders. Ihedigbo has 66 tackles this season along with two interception, 5.5 TFLs, 5.0 sacks, five pass break-ups and an A-10 leading four forced fumbles. Ihedigbo was named the A-10 Defensive Player of the Week back on Sept. 10 after UMass narrow loss at I-A Navy. Ihedigbo's performance in the fourth quarter at Northeastern on Oct. 28 sealed the UMass win. He tackled NU's Maurice Murray for no gain on a 4th-and-1 at UMass' 8-yard line in the fourth. Then with 1:40 left in regulation he picked up his interception of the season to secure the win. • A-10 All-Conference linebackers Jason Hatchell, Charles Walker and Brad Anderson are the top tacklers at 126, 120 and 108, respectively. Hatchell has lead of tied for the team lead in tackles in 16 of the last 25 games. He posted a career-high 18 tackles at New Hampshire on Nov. 4 as he was named the Bill Knight MVP of the game. Over the last seven games, Hatchell has 70 tackles for 10.0 per game. Walker has 60 over the last six games (10.0) and Anderson has 67 over the last five games (11.1) with more than 10 in three of those games. Over the last six games, the trio has combined for 187 tackles. The trio all tied for the team-lead with eight tackles apiece in the NCAA First Round win over Lafayette.
UMass Team Capsule • The Minutemen are ranked No. 3 in the final regular-season polls by the Sports Network and CSN Coaches Poll. The Minutemen are No. 2 in the Don Hansen poll. UMass has been ranked in the Top 5 since Oct. 23. UMass has been in the top 25 every week since the start of the 2005 season. UMass had been ranked No. 9 in the Sports Network poll for four weeks in a row (from Sept. 4-25). UMass was No. 10 in preseason poll of the Sports Network. In the annual magazines, UMass was ranked the following: No. 6 by Athlon, No. 12 by I-AA.org Consolidated, No. 14 by AnyGivenSaturday.com, No. 16 by Lindy's and No. 23 by Street & Smith's. • The Minutemen finished the 2005 season with a 7-4 overall record, 6-2 in the Atlantic 10 good for second in the North Division. UMass was ranked as high as No. 5 last season after beating handing Delaware its worst home loss in two decades on Nov. 5. But UMass lost its final two games to fall to No. 19 in the final poll and miss out on the NCAA playoffs for the second year in a row. UMass defeated two ranked teams last season, beating No. 25 Rhode Island on Sept. 24 and No. 4 James Madison on Oct. 15. • In the 2006 preseason poll, UMass was picked second to defending champ New Hampshire in the Atlantic 10 North Division. • Don Brown leads UMass into his third season at the helm of the Minutemen. The defensive coordinator of the 1998 National Championship team is 26-10 at UMass and 78-36 overall as a head coach, now in his 10th season as a head man. He has a an 72.2 win percentage at UMass -- the best win percentage of any UMass coach with more than one year of coaching. He coached his 100th career game in the 2005 finale at Hofstra. • This is the 124th season of UMass football. UMass now has an all-time record of 524-500-51 in 1,065 all-time games. The Minutemen won the 1998 NCAA Division I-AA Championship with a 55-43 win over Georgia Southern. The Minutemen have won 21 conference championships including this season. UMass has played in seven NCAA Tournaments with this year's berth.
UMass Vs. Ranked Teams • UMass' last game against the No. 1 team in the nation came in the 1998 title game, when the No. 12 Minutemen beat No. 1 Georgia Southerm 55-43. Since 1990, UMass has only played the No. 1 team one other time, a Nov. 12, 1994 loss to No. 1 Youngstown State, 28-9. • Prior to the NCAA Semifinal game at Montana, last time UMass played a game which featured both teams in the top five was on Oct. 25, 2003, when No. 5 UMass won at No. 2 Villanova, 19-14. That was also the last time UMass played the No. 2 team in the nation. • The Dec. 2nd 24-17 win over No. 9 New Hampshire in the NCAA Quarterfinals was UMass' fourth this season over a ranked team. Back on Nov. 11, UMass posted a 10-9 win over No. 19 Maine was UMass' third win against a ranked team this season. UMass downed No. 9 New Hampshire on Nov. 4, 28-20. The Minutemen blanked No. 22 Towson back on Oct. 14, 2006. UMass has won seven of its last eight games against ranked teams, with the lone loss coming to New Hampshire last season, 34-28. In the last 17 games against ranked teams, UMass is 12-5 going back to mid-way through the 2002 season. The Minutemen have now won eight of their last 12 games against top-10 teams. • UMass is 6-2 in its last eight games against a Top 5 team. It last lost to No. 4 New Hampshire last year on Oct. 29, 2005. Earlier in the 2005 season, UMass beat No. 4 James Madison, 10-7, on Oct. 15. The Minutemen were 2-1 against ranked teams last season, also beating No. 25 Rhode Island on Sept. 24. • In 2004, UMass had three wins over Top 20 teams after beating No. 4 Colgate, 30-20 on Sept. 11 and No. 7 New Hampshire on Oct. 16 along with No. 19 Maine on Oct. 30. The Minutemen went 3-2 last season against ranked teams. • UMass faced four ranked opponents in 2003 going on the road for all four games. The Minutemen earned victories in the first two games against ranked foes that season. • In 2003, they downed No. 16 Maine, 24-16 on Sept. 20, then defeated No. 2 Villanova on Oct. 25, 19-14. The squad then lost a triple overtime affair at No. 6 Delaware and the NCAA Playoff contest at No. 6 Colgate.
Look Back At the Saturday Special At UMass • The day kicked off with a noon women's basketball game at the Mullins Center beating Northeastern, 58-50, to move to 7-1 overall. Following the football game, the UMass basketball team hosted in-state rival Boston College before the first sell-out basketball game since 2001 as BC beat UMass, 84-73. With the sell-outs at football and basketball, close to 30,000 fans were in attendance for UMass sporting events on the same day, which set a school record.
UMass' Stevie Wonder • A-10 Co-Offensive Player of the Year and three-time Atlantic 10 First-Team tailback Steve Baylark is one of the most prolific rushers in history. In his final season in Amherst, he has made NCAA history. He became the third player in I-AA history to gain more than 1,000 yards in each of his four seasons. Jerry Azumah (New Hampshire 1995-98) and Adrian Peterson (Georgia Southern, 1998-2001) were the only ones to accomplish the feat in I-AA prior to this season. Three others have joined the group this season in I-AA/FCS. Six players have done it in Division I-A: Tony Dorsett (Pittsburgh, 1973-76), Amos Lawrence (North Carolina, 1977-80), Denvis Manns (New Mexico State, 1995-98), Ron Dayne (Wisconsin, 1996-99) Cedric Benson (Texas, 2001-04), DonTrell Moore (New Mexico, 2002-05). • He has been on fire in the NCAA playoffs with three 100-yard rushing games, giving him a 173.0 average in the games including 169 last weekend at Montana. • Baylark gained 1,177 as a freshman, 1,138 as a sophomore and 1,057 last season as a junior. He has 1,827 in his senior season, his best season total with one more football game to come -- the national championship. His mark this season is the third-best in a season at UMass. With his 198 vs. UNH in the NCAA Quarterfinals, he moved up passing Garry Pearson (1,631 in 1982), Jerome Bledsoe (1,545 in 1991) and Rene Ingoglia (1,505 in 1994). He is just 19 yards from the second-best season in UMass history as Marcel Shipp rushed for 1,846 in 1999. • He broke the 1,000-yard barrier at Northeastern on Oct. 28 as he gained 152 yards. He went over 1,000 on a 16-yard run with 10:09 left in the fourth quarter. • He has joined current Arizona Cardinal Marcel Shipp (6,250) and Rene Ingoglia (4,624) as the only UMass players with 4,000 career rushing yards, standing with 5,199 and second in UMass history. That makes him the nation's leading active rusher in all of Division I football. • In UMass history, he ranks second in career rushing (passing Garry Pearson vs. William & Mary and Rene Ingoglia in the Hofstra game) and second in career carries with 1,080 (he broke a tie with Pearson at Villanova). He is also third in career rushing touchdowns with 42 after two rushing scoring vs. Stony Brook (9/23), William & Mary (10/7), Rhode Island (10/21), at New Hampshire (11/4), against Lafayette (11/25) in the NCAA First Round and at No. 2 Montana (12/8) in the NCAA Semifinals. He has single TD scores against Colgate (9/2), at Villanova (9/16) and vs. UNH (12/2) in the quarterfinals. • On UMass' all-time touchdown and scoring lists, Baylark is third all-time 47. With his two scores at Montana, he broke a tie with Lou Bush (1931-33). He has scored a league-high 18 this season (three vs. Stony Brook, two vs. Colgate, William & Mary, URI, UNH, Lafayette and Montana; and one at Villanova, Towson and vs. UNH in the NCAA Quarterfinals). With his three-TD game vs. the Seawolves, he passed Adrian Zullo (1998-2002), who had 33 scores. Baylark is also third in career scoring with 284, passing Pearson with two scores vs. Rhode Island and Bush, who had 277 points in the 30s, in the Montana win. • Baylark had his fourth-career three-TD game vs. Stony Brook. UMass is 4-0 in those games. He had his 14th career two-TD game at Montana. UMass is 13-1 in those games. • Baylark has 25 career 100-yard games, including two four-week stretches in a row (Oct. 7-28) and his current run from Nov. 18-Dec. 8. He has been over the century mark in nine of the last 12 weeks -- for all nine of his century-mark games this season. The first this year came at Villanova (9/16) with 104, followed by 187 yards vs. William & Mary, 102 at Towson and his career-high 235 vs. Rhode Island. He had 125 in his regular-season finale against Hofstra on Nov. 18 and followed that up with 152 against Lafayette (11/25) in the NCAAs. He busted out for 198 against New Hampshire in the NCAA Quarterfinals, the second-most in a game in his career. He picked up 169 yards at Montana. Last year he had five century-running games. • UMass is 22-3 in his 100-yard games and 14-10 when he doesn't gain 100. • Baylark has touchdowns in 16 of UMass' last 20 games. Prior to the Navy game, when he was blanked, Baylark had scored at least one rushing touchdown in seven games in a row dating back to last season when he had at least one in the final six games of the year. In the last 20 games, he has 22 rushing scores along with five receiving TDs for 27 total. He has scored five TDs in the NCAA Tournament over the last three weeks. The only games this season he did not score were at Northeastern (10/28) vs. Maine (11/11) and against Hofstra (11/18). • On the active career rushing list in Division I-AA, Baylark No. 1, passing Harvard's Clifton Dawson (4,841) in the UNH playoff game, with his 5,199. In all of Division I-A and I-AA, Baylark is now first after the Montana game, passing Northern Illinois' Garrett Wolfe who was first with 5,136. • Baylark is now second all-time at UMass in all-purpose yards as well with 5,941. He passed Pearson at 5,277 in the Hofstra game and Ingoglia at 4,941 in the Northeastern game. Baylark's number is second among all active players to Harvard's Dawson (6,138). • Baylark is first among all active players in career plays with 1,159 and carries with 1,080. • Off the field, Baylark is an Art major and is an avid artist both with charcoal, pastels as well as with PhotoShop. This summer he did an internship with the UMass Video Services and helped produce and design a commemorate video for the Minuteman lacrosse team which made the 2006 NCAA championship. He also worked on the UMass Athletics Hall of Fame video for 2006. He has his own website www.steverbaylark.com and was featured nationally in USA Today prior to UMass' NCAA Semifinal.
Coen Managing To Be No. 1 • This year, Coen is 197-of-301 for 2795 yards with 25 touchdowns and just eight interceptions in 14 games. He has a sparkling 65.4 completion percentage. His season marks rank on the UMass all-time single-bests as follows: completions (fourth), yards (fourth), touchdowns (tied for third). • In just his second season, Coen is ranked among some all-time leaders in UMass history. He is first in pass efficiency (152.17), completion percentage (64.7) while he is fourth in both passing yards (4,970), fourth completions (372) and fourth in TD passes (35). • Until the Lafayette game, Coen had not thrown an interception in five weeks, spanning the Towson (Oct. 14) game to Hofstra on (Nov. 18). • With 24 career games, Coen is now listed among the active career leaders in Division I-AA. He is fifth in passing efficiency (152.17), sixth in completion percentage (64.7) and 11th in passing yards per game (207.1). • In the NCAA Tournament games, he has thrown for 616 yards on 49-of-76 (64.5 pct.) with five TDs in the three wins over Lafayette, UNH and Montana. • Coen tied the UMass record for TD passes in a game with five at Towson (10/14). He completed 21-of-27 for 303 yards. His huge game led to numerous honors: New England Football Writers Golden Helmet, A-10 Offensive Player of the Week and the I-AA.org Weekly All-Stars of the four best players in the nation. • In first-half action vs. Stony Brook (9/23), Coen was 6-of-8 for 177 yards. The highlight came as he hit Rasheed Rancher from 89 yards out, the second-longest play in UMass history. Coen also hooked up with Rancher for the third-longest play, 84 yards at Delaware (11/5/05). • Coen had perhaps his finest game at Villanova (9/16) in the third week of this season. He completed 21-of-28 for 350 yards and two touchdowns. His great day earned him numerous honors: the New England Football Writers Golden Helmet, Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week and UMass Athlete of the Week all for the week ending September 18. • Last season, he completed 63.9 of his passes to rank second among all freshmen in the nation. The three-time A-10 Rookie of the Week in 2005 threw for 2,175 yards -- sixth-most in UMass history. His pass efficiency rating of 139.60 ranked third in the league and 19th nationally. • He was named the Atlantic 10's Rookie of the Week each week from Oct. 22-Nov. 5, 2005. Coen captured the Golden Helmet as the top player in all of New England College football on Nov. 8, 2005 after his performance against Delaware. He threw for 318 yards on 21-of-26 passing and one touchdown in leading UMass to a 35-7 win at Delaware, the Blue Hens worst loss at home since 1986.
What A Defense! • UMass has not allowed any team to score more than 21 points in a game this season. Navy and Villanova scored 21 in back-to-back weeks in September. Since then only New Hampshire in the regular-season on Nov. 4 scored 20 points. • The Minutemen have dominated their last 12 opponents in the win streak, winning by a combined score of 338-144 (an average score of 28-12). That streak includes back-to-back 48-7 wins over Stony Brook on Sept. 23 and William & Mary on Oct. 7, both at McGuirk Stadium. UMass has outscored its last 12 opponents 235-87 in the first half alone (average 20-7). • UMass has shutout all three of the its NCAA Tournament opponents in the second half, by the score of 29-0. • UMass held New Hampshire to just 17 points -- all in the first half -- on Dec. 2 in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Most impressively, quarterback A-10 Co-Offensive Player of the Year Ricky Santos was limited to just 129 yards. All-American receiver David Ball had just six catches for 54 yards. • They started off on the right foot against Colgate and Navy, giving up just seven points to the Raiders and 21 to the Mids. That 21-point defensive showing vs. Navy was equal to the fewest Navy had scored in more than a year. Last season Notre Dame held them to 21 points in October, but the last time they had less than 21 points was when they had 20 against Maryland on Sept. 3, 2005. UMass led the Atlantic 10 and finished in the top five in the nation in several defensive stats last season. • In addition to the top scoring defense, UMass is again in the top part of the nation in the season in several defensive stats. Notably, the Minutemen are ninth in rushing defense, allowing just 101.5 yards per game. That number was aided by holding Hofstra to just minus-1 yard rushing in the regular-season finale. That was the lowest mark for the UMass defense since holding Albany to minus-37 last Sept. 17, 2005. The Minutemen are 16th in total defense (270.69), and 25th in pass efficiency defense (109.69). • Junior linebacker Jason Hatchell has picked up where he left off this season with a team-best 126 tackles (9.0 per game). He ranks fifth in the A-10 in tackles and 43rd in the nation. He has led UMass in tackles in 16 of the last 25 games. He also has 10-career 10-tackle games and UMass is 7-3 in those games. Over the last seven games, he has 70 tackles (10.0 per game). He had 12 vs. Maine (11/11) after he posted a career-high 18 at New Hampshire (11/4) and 12 at Northeastern (10/28). He had the game-saving play similar to his brother (in the regular season at UNH) against the Wildcats in the NCAA Quarterfinal batting down a Ricky Santos fourth-down pass in the final seconds to secure the win. Hatchell was named the Bill Knight MVP after his huge game at New Hampshire. In 2005, Hatchell led UMass in tackles with 107 (9.7 per game) in his first season as a starter. • Behind Hatchell is junior Charles Walker who has 120 tackles in his return to action, 8.6 per game to rank seventh in the A-10. Walker has been a monster of late with 60 tackles in the last six games including a season-high 17 vs. Maine (11/11). He was UMass' top tackles at Montana with nine. • Senior linebacker Brad Anderson has also emerged with 67 total tackles in the last six games. He is third on the team with 108 total tackles, 8.3 per game. He had a career-high 15 at New Hampshire and 14 vs. Maine and led the team with 12 against Hofstra for three straight games with 10 or more stops. He has more than 10 in four of the last six games after a team-high 10 against UNH in the NCAA Quarterfinals. • Senior captain and Buchanan Award Candidate James Ihedigbo is a leader on defense. Last season he broke out with a career-year. He was among the national leaders in tackles for a loss (12.5) and sacks (7.5), playing from a safety position. With great blitzing Ihedigbo was constantly in opponents' backfield. He continued to dominate in the 2006 with 66 tackles, 5.0 sacks, 5.5 TFLs, five pass break-ups, four forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. His forced fumbles mark is first in the A-10. • The defensive line has received great play from seniors John Hatchell and Jason Leonard along with junior David Burris. Burris has 72 total tackles to rank fifth on the team. He also has a team-high 15 TFLs and 8.5 sacks. Burris was an animal in the regular-season finale against Hofstra as he tied his career high with eight tackles including 4.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks. Burris had a career-high nine tackles and career-best two sacks vs. UNH in the NCAA Quarterfinal. Hatchell also has 8.5 TFLs of his 36 tackles. Leonard a force at the line as five pass deflections and 29 total tackles. • Last year, UMass finished third in the nation in total defense giving up just 261.18 yards per game. The Minutemen gave up just 145.09 passing yards per game in 2005, fifth-best in the country. • In 2005, UMass held two opponents to fewer than 100 yards of offense. The Minutemen set the school record for fewest yards allowed in a game holding Albany to just 31. Against Northeastern, UMass held the Huskies to just 72 yards matching the best performance by the Minutemen against an A-10 team in 1982, when they held New Hampshire to just 67 yards.
5 Strong, The Line Of Protection • The duo will tie the program record for total games played with 50 in the NCAA final along with punter Christian Koegel and tailback Steve Baylark. For Miller, Thompson and Koegel, every game has been a start. • This season has seen UMass continue a trend of the last two seasons, as the Minuteman line has allowed just 15 total sacks (only 14 of quarterback Liam Coen) in 14 games (1.07 per game). UMass is 14th in the nation in fewest sacks allowed this year and first in the A-10. • Last season, UMass was eighth in the nation in fewest sacks allowed with just 11 in 11 games (1.0). Dating back to the start of the 2004 season, UMass has allowed just 35 sacks in 35 games (1.0 per game). • UMass has led or tied for the league lead in fewest sacks allowed in each of the last three seasons. • UMass has allowed just one sack every 28 pass attempt over the last three seasons (36 in 984 pass attempts). In 2004, UMass led the nation in fewest sacks per pass attempt with just one every 38 attempts in giving up just nine sacks all year. • UMass offense has clicked all season. In five games from Sept. 16-Oct.21, UMass picked up more than 450 yards of offense in each game. • Miller and Thompson are joined by junior A-10 First Teammer Matt Austin, who is starting at left tackle this year after playing left guard last year. Sophomore Sean Calicchio was the starter at right tackle after being inserted into the line-up last season, but was injured in the season-opener vs. Colgate. Calicchio made a triumphant return in the NCAA Quarterfinals against New Hampshire after missing 11 weeks. He played minutes at Montana as well. • Calicchio was been replaced by a group including A-10 Second Team honoree Nick Diana, a junior college transfer; junior Chris Hopkins and sophomore Biff Gottehrer. Diana has started the last 13 games in a row at left tackle while Hopkins has been stable at right tackle, also starting the last 13 games. • The line has been solid in leading the way for Steve Baylark has 25 career 100-yard rushing games, including nine this season. He had a career-high 235 yards against Rhode Island on Oct. 21. The line has led for all three of his 100-yard games in the playoffs.
Go Koegel Go • Koegel is also tied with Alex Miller and David Thompson for most career games started with 49. He set the new mark with his teammates on Saturday against New Hampshire. • In 2005, he was named the Atlantic 10 Special Teams Player of the Year in earning numerous accolades. He finished third in the nation in punting average with a mark of 43.02. • ESPN's NFL Draft Expert Mel Kiper Jr., has Koegel ranked among his top 10 punting prospects heading into the 2007 NFL Draft. That list includes all of Division I-A. • Koegel was named the Atlantic 10's Special Teams Player of the Week on Sunday, Sept. 3. The All-American punted four balls for a 46.8 average in UMass' 28-7 win over Colgate. In the win over Colgate, he had a long of 55 yards which was his one punt inside the 20-yard line -- that punt landed at the Colgate 3-yard line. • Over his last 33 games, he has at least one punt of 50 or more yards in 20 of those games. • Led by Koegel and great kick coverage, UMass led the nation in net punting average last season with a mark of 38.35. Again this season, the Minutemen have showed their great prowess on punt coverage with a 35.43 net punting mark to rank 11th in the nation and first in the A-10. • Koegel was named a I-AA.org Weekly All-Star after his huge game at Montana in the NCAA Semifinals on Dec. 8. He punted five times for a 42.4 average. Most importantly, he pinned the Grizzlies inside their 20-yard line on four occasions including three inside the 10-yard line. • Koegel had his longest punt of the season against New Hampshire in the NCAA Quarterfinals, for 66 yards which put the Wildcats back in their own end after they anticipated good field position. • The all-time A-10 record holder for punt yardage in the game (set vs. Boston College in 2004), Koegel has 55 career punts inside the 20-yard line. He opened the season with a punt that landed at the Colgate 3-yard line for his first such kick this season. He has three this year. • UMass has had a long line of great punters who have been four-performers. Koegel is just the third punter for the Minutemen since 1995, starting with Andrew Maclay from 1995-98, then David Sanger from 1998-2002. • Among active punters in Division I-AA, Koegel has the 11th-highest career average with Mike Dragosavich of North Dakota State (44.27) leading the way. • Off the field, Koegel has a tremendous personality and is an aspiring model. He has an electric wardrobe featuring a white and teal suit with tails which he wore to the team's end-of-year banquet this past spring.
Many Making Catches • This season, London leads the team with 46 catches and 750 receiving yards. Moore is right behind with 42 catches for 533 yards. Rancher has 21 catches for 356 yards and leads in average at 17.0 per catch. • London became the seventh UMass player with 100 career catches this season. He has 146 to date to stand second all-time at UMass. He passed Marcel Shipp (126) vs. Maine and passed Jason Peebler (123) with four catches at New Hampshire. He had his fifth career 100-yard game at Towson. He had his fourth career 100-yard game at Villanova (9/16) with 104 yards on five catches. J.J. Moore is currently tied for sixth on the all-time list with 101 catches. • He is also third on the all-time yards list with 1,991. He will be the third UMass player with 2,000 career receiving yards after he gets nine yards against App. State. He passed Chip Mitchell (1680) with 89 yards at New Hampshire. With 55 yards vs. Rhode Island, he passed Bob Simeone (1,571). In the Towson game, he passed Jimmy Moore (1,494 -- all in 1998) and Tim Berra (1,486 -- Yogi's son). London passed 2006 UMass Hall of Fame inductee Steve Schubert who had 1,435 from 1970-72 in the William & Mary game on Oct. 7, the night after Schubert went into the UMass Hall of Fame. Moore is 10th all-time in career receiving yards with 1,259. • London took over as the top receiver once Moore went down last season with an injury and racked up 60 catches and earned All-A-10 Third Team honors. He led the team in catches as well as yards (774) and TD receptions (3). London tied Moore's single-game reception record of 13 in the 2005 finale vs. Hofstra. He had his second 100-yard game in that game with a career-high 122 yards. • London is also rising the career receiving touchdowns charts. With 15, he ranks tied for fifth with Tim Berra and Lou Bush. With his next TD catch he will rise to a tie for third. • With nine TD catches this season, London is also tied for the fifth-best single-season in UMass history. • London has at least one catch in the last 19 games he has played in. • Moore posted his biggest game of the season vs. William & Mary (10/7) with five catches for 118 yards and a spectacular 29-yard TD. He had a season-best six catches in the NCAA Quarterfinal win over New Hampshire (12/2). He equaled that catch mark with six more at Montana (12/8). In his three NCAA Tournament games, he has 14 catches for 118 yards. • Moore returned to action this season after fracturing his left ankle vs. Northeastern on Oct. 8, 2005. He missed the remainder of the season. He was ranked among the top five in the nation in catches and catches per game in the first few weeks. • Despite playing in just five games a season ago, he was still second on UMass with 27 catches and third in 337 receiving yards. • Moore set a UMass record when he caught 13 passes in the loss at Colgate in 2005. Moore broke the record of 11 set by Tim Berra (Yogi's son) in 1973 and later tied by Jimmy Moore in 1998 and twice by Adrian Zullo in 1999. • Moore has been the top punt return man this season earning A-10 All-Third Team honors. for UMass as well with 27 returns for 245 yards and a 9.1 average per return, that ranks third in the A-10. • Rancher's total is aided by his 89-yard reception from Liam Coen against Stony Brook (9/23), the second-longest play in UMass history. • Rancher was the biggest surprise of last season. After barely playing in his first season in 2004, he had 27 catches for 425 yards becoming a vital receiver for Liam Coen. • Rancher had a career-high 126 receiving yards including an 84-yard scoring pass from Liam Coen at Delaware. That play was the third-longest in UMass history. • Rancher had a career-high six catches for his first 100-yard game, with 108 against New Hampshire. He broke out for his first real action in the game at Colgate, when he made four catches for 39 yards. • Junior college transfer Michael Omar has blended in nicely and had five catches after a big game at Villanova. He had a knee injury and missed four games and had not made a catch until the NCAA First Round against Lafayette (11/25), when he caught a 33-yard TD. It was even more special as his parents from California were at the game.
The Right Tight End • He has at least one catch in each of the last 13 games in a row. • Listorti had his first-career touchdown with a 1-yard grab at Villanova (9/16). In that game, he had a career-high four catches for 49 yards as well. He had a career-best 54 receiving yards at Towson (10/14). He had a career-long 44-yard catch vs. Rhode Island. • In the rain at Northeastern (10/28), Listorti was Liam Coen's top target making a career-high tying four catches for 29 yards. • He had a career-high 70 receiving yards on three catches at New Hampshire on Nov. 4.
Return To Big Kick Returns • UMass had two returns of more than 55 yards this season in the first three games after the season long for all of 2005 was just 28 yards. • Robinson had a 57-yard return at Villanova (9/16) while Matt Lawrence had a 65-yard run back against Colgate in week one. That 65-yarder was the longest by any UMass player since Jerome Bledsoe had a 66-yarder on Sept. 23, 1989.
Ball Hawks In The Secondary • UMass graduated its all-time interception leader and two-time All-American Shannon James, who had 20 interceptions in his four years in Amherst. James' 20 picks were the most by an player in all over college football over a four-year span from 2002-04. James signed a free agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens and is now starring for the CFL's Calgary Stampeders. • Even with James gone, the Minutemen have a sensational corps of "Ball Hawks" as they call themselves. Seniors strong safety James Ihedigbo and cornerback Tracy Belton lead the way. Ihedigbo has made his name with a blitzing style that racked him up 12.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks last season. Belton is among the national leaders in career interceptions, now in his senior year. After his interception at Navy (9/9) and vs. Maine (11/11), he has 13 picks, he ranks tied for fourth in the nation in I-AA among all players behind Ken Chicoine of Cal Poly (18), who tops the list. • In the secondary, senior Brandon Smith has taken over for James as free safety while true sophomore Sean Smalls is manning the other corner. Smith has played in many packages over the last two seasons and was the A-10 Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 3, 2005. Smalls is a versatile player who was an impressive freshman last season playing on both sides of the ball as a receivers as well. • Smith has been in the right place at the right time -- twice. He has two fumble returns for touchdowns, the first two scores of his career. He had a 3-yard TD return vs. Stony Brook on Sept. 23 and a 21-yard run back vs. Rhode Island on Oct. 21.
Koepplin, A Keeper At Kicker • Koepplin was named the A-10 Co-Special Teams Player of the Week on Nov. 20 after he kicked three field goals in the win over Hofstra (11/18) from 34, 19 and 31 yards. He was the first UMass kicker with three field goals in a game since Eric Oke in 1993. • Koepplin has four field goals of 40 or more yards this season including a season and career-long 48-yarder against Stony Brook. That was the third-longest in UMass history and longest since 1978 at UMass. • Koepplin is third behind Steve Baylark in the A-10 in scoring with 6.7 points per game on 94 points with 15-of-22 on field goals. He is second in the A-10 in field goals made per game with 1.1 per game.
McGuirk Magic • Since 1992, UMass has had a losing record at home only once, while posting a home mark of 63-23 (.733) during that span. In 2003, UMass went 7-0 at home to set the former record for most home victories in the 40-year history of McGuirk Stadium. UMass has a chance to tie that record on Saturday in the NCAA Playoff game against Lafayette. The 2003 squad also became the first UMass team to go undefeated at home since 1993, when it posted a 5-0 mark at McGuirk Stadium. • UMass has won 12 of its last 13 games at home after dropping the 2005 home regular-season finale to New Hampshire on Oct. 29. They have won 19 of the last 22 dating to 2003.
48-7, 48-7: Are You Kidding?
UMass Piles Up I-A Transfers • UMass has four transfers from both Rutgers and UConn along with one from Syracuse, one from and West Virginia forming a mini-Big East connection in Amherst. Syracuse transfer Tim Washington is actually a graduate student at UMass after earning his Bachelor's Degree from Syracuse in May 2006 in information management and technology. He is pursuing a Mater's in Sports Management at UMass. He earned numerous academic awards while with the Orange as well.
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