The UMass football team have prepared all week for its first venture into primetime play in the Mid-American Conference against Akron on Tuesday night.
The Minutemen (0-8, 0-4 MAC) begin ‘MACtion’ with a trip to Ohio to play the Zips (3-6, 2-3 MAC) on national television. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network at 7 p.m.
“We ‘re excited about it,” UMass coach Joe Harasymiak said. “This is why we added to this league. Crazy stuff will happen. Hopefully we can be on the good side of it. We have a great opponent that’s been playing really, really well and that I have a lot of respect for.”
The MAC uses the weeknight exclusive games as a platform for the conference.
“I think there’s excitement,” Harasymiak said. “We could use a little bit of change. A little shakeup probably. Playing in the middle of the week, national television. There’s two games on. Get to go out and show people that we can be the team we want to be. It’s a great venue that this league provides.”
Besides practicing on a different schedule of days, the timing of the practices remained the same for the players academic responsibilities. The Minutemen will travel on the Monday prior to the game. UMass is dealing with a rash of injuries.
“We have what we have in terms of players,” Harasymiak said. “Nothing is going to change there.”
Running back Rocko Griffin and leading receiver Jacquon Gibson played in a limited capacity last week. With extended time between games their roles could increase against Akron.
“We gave them a rep count,” Harasymiak said. “We’ll get them back for a better performance and a longer performance.”
The Minutemen also hope to have starting safety Derrieon Craig back this week. UMass lost on the road to Central Michigan, 38-13, last week. The Zips rank ninth in the MAC standings. Akron defeated Buffalo last week, 24-16. Quarterback Ben Finley has 1,678 yards on the season with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He is completing 51 percent of his passes for Akron.
Jordan Gant leads the rushing attack with 697 yards on 141 carries with three touchdowns. Four different receivers have 20 or more receptions for the Zips. Kyan Mason has 25 catches for 380 yards and four touchdowns.
Harasymiak lauded the play calling ability of Akron head coach Joe Moorhead. Especially at the outset with a series of scripted plays. Harasymiak has a long history of crossing paths with Moorhead coached teams.
“More than likely one of the top play callers in the country,” Harasymiak said. “He’s gonna get you. No matter what you do. He’s going to have a play or a scheme…he’s great with the eye candy.”
As Rutgers’ defensive coordinator, Harasymiak defeated Akron, 49-17, last season.
“He’s got confidence,” Harasymiak said. ” The way he calls it always. But I think his players have confidence. That’s the biggest difference I see between the Akron team I faced last year and this year. There’s a confidence between the entire organization and team.”
Akron will attack on defense with multiple looks along the defensive front.
“I think they do a good job of everything they do,” Harasymiak said. “They did a great job of getting after the quarterback against Buffalo, especially in critical situations. They will bring a lot of five and six mans.”
Quarterback A.J. Hairston gets the start again for the Minutemen. For the season, Hairston is 82-for-174 for 812 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions.
“A.J. does a little bit better with our up-tempo stuff,” Harasymiak said. “He’s done a good job in a couple of the two minutes that we’ve had in the last couple weeks. Just operating that.”
Between getting a career game from Brandon Hood and the return of Griffin in a more healthy role UMass should me more effective in the ground game against Akron.
“We got to hang in the game longer to make sure our run game can stay effective,” Harasymiak said. “Which I think has been a bright spot.”