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The MAC East is so down this year that technically we could still win it. BGSU still has to play Akron and Toledo, and Akron lost to Ball State today.

Great game. Sad we lost but I'm not hanging my head in any way. Our guys gave 110%. We came up a little short against a superior foe, but not so superior that given a few turns we couldn't have beaten. This team is on the right track. We need some additional pieces, but given what Whipple has accomplished in one year, I think we have a strong shot at being a threat next year.

Bob McGovern said no moral victories, but I disagree. To me, this was a moral victory for UMass and shows the team is improving substantially on both sides of the ball despite the loss.

^ While I can't say I'm happy with a moral victory, this team is so far ahead of the last two years it's beyond description. One more recruiting class (O line, D line, D backs and a kicker) and we're over .500 next year.

Whip confirms what a couple of us posted right away when it happened:

Matt Vautour @GazetteUMass · 3 hours ago
Whipple told radio he did let Toledo score to get ball back

69MG wrote:^ While I can't say I'm happy with a moral victory, this team is so far ahead of the last two years it's beyond description. One more recruiting class (O line, D line, D backs and a kicker) and we're over .500 next year.

Well, entertaining game again. Tackling and kicking are weak. There simply has to be a kicker wanting an FBS scholarship.

A good punter wouldn't hurt either.

You know what we should do? We should go recruit a soccer player out of high school that has a great leg. Then, we convince him to come kick field goals...PROBLEM SOLVED. Why bother to recruit subpar kickers? Go recruit a soccer player with a cannon of a leg

Marshmont_63 wrote:You know what we should do? We should go recruit a soccer player out of high school that has a great leg. Then, we convince him to come kick field goals...PROBLEM SOLVED. Why bother to recruit subpar kickers? Go recruit a soccer player with a cannon of a leg

The talent of the kicker isn't the problem. Lucas, Wylie, Laurent are playing at the FBS level for a reason. Their struggles must be all mental at this point. I've never played kicker before, but I would imagine that missing a few chip shots would really get to your head and hurt your confidence.

Old Cage wrote:Whip confirms what a couple of us posted right away when it happened:

Matt Vautour @GazetteUMass · 3 hours ago
Whipple told radio he did let Toledo score to get ball back

I'm really surprised no one is questioning this decision. My first reaction when I saw they let them score was it was a pretty risky play given where Toledo had the ball and the time left on the clock. A 36 yard field goal into a solid wind with the game on the line is no chip shot for a college, Mac, kicker and one could argue it could be in the 50% range. The Toledo kicker was 12-15 on season with a long of 41 and 26-27 on pat's. There was 38 seconds left on the clock, Toledo could have run a few more plays and get into chip shot range, but they also could have turned it over or get called for a hold or another penalty. By giving up the score, we had to go a full field with 30 seconds left and 2 timeouts. If Toledo had it inside the 10, the strategy makes more sense. Also, if you're going to give it up from the 19, it would make more sense if there was a minute+ left on the clock. Making your offense score a td in only 30 seconds is a lot to ask.

Camby4Life wrote:

Old Cage wrote:Whip confirms what a couple of us posted right away when it happened:

Matt Vautour @GazetteUMass · 3 hours ago
Whipple told radio he did let Toledo score to get ball back

I'm really surprised no one is questioning this decision. My first reaction when I saw they let them score was it was a pretty risky play given where Toledo had the ball and the time left on the clock. A 36 yard field goal into a solid wind with the game on the line is no chip shot for a college, Mac, kicker and one could argue it could be in the 50% range. The Toledo kicker was 12-15 on season with a long of 41 and 26-27 on pat's. There was 38 seconds left on the clock, Toledo could have run a few more plays and get into chip shot range, but they also could have turned it over or get called for a hold or another penalty. By giving up the score, we had to go a full field with 30 seconds left and 2 timeouts. If Toledo had it inside the 10, the strategy makes more sense. Also, if you're going to give it up from the 19, it would make more sense if there was a minute+ left on the clock. Making your offense score a td in only 30 seconds is a lot to ask.

It is alot to ask. So is asking your offense to score a game tying FG w/only no seconds left on the clock. Allowing Toledo to run down the clock to 5 seconds and kick for the game winning FG was the other option. Whip made the decision he thought gave the team the best chance to win the game. It didn't work out. Tough call either way and Whip's choice was a reasonable way to go so I'm not going to question/second guess the decision. Chances are you go the other way - Detmer kicks the FG w/no time left.

For me, Whip's decision is just one more reason I'm so happy he's the UMass coach. Sure, there was some chance that Toledo missed the field goal but had they made it there was no chance of a UMass win. Whip gambled for the win and I loved it.

Camby4Life wrote:

Old Cage wrote:Whip confirms what a couple of us posted right away when it happened:

Matt Vautour @GazetteUMass · 3 hours ago
Whipple told radio he did let Toledo score to get ball back

I'm really surprised no one is questioning this decision. My first reaction when I saw they let them score was it was a pretty risky play given where Toledo had the ball and the time left on the clock. A 36 yard field goal into a solid wind with the game on the line is no chip shot for a college, Mac, kicker and one could argue it could be in the 50% range. The Toledo kicker was 12-15 on season with a long of 41 and 26-27 on pat's. There was 38 seconds left on the clock, Toledo could have run a few more plays and get into chip shot range, but they also could have turned it over or get called for a hold or another penalty. By giving up the score, we had to go a full field with 30 seconds left and 2 timeouts. If Toledo had it inside the 10, the strategy makes more sense. Also, if you're going to give it up from the 19, it would make more sense if there was a minute+ left on the clock. Making your offense score a td in only 30 seconds is a lot to ask.

After the 36 yard pass play, Toledo ran only one play that got them to the UMass 19. It was at that point UMass took the timeout and made the decision to let them score, with 38 seconds remaining on the clock before the scoring play ran. So they didn't really have much chance to exercise that option before the play from the 19.

I think our D was gassed and had shown little ability to stop Toledo in the second half. Another play or two and it would likely have been the chip shot from the 10-ish yard line anyway, and we'd have had no time to respond. It was a lousy situation to be in, Whip gambled and lost. But UMass' biggest asset this year is our explosive offense, so better to put it in their hands and hope for a miracle that almost surely lose on chip shot field goal.

It would have been great to have won this one, but I think we gave it all we had. The only thing I'd like back are some of those penalties which I think hurt us in some key situations.

I've got no problem with the decision. Toledo was in FG range. The odds of Toledo fumbling or the the kicker missing a FG were pretty small. The odds of us marching down the field to tie the game (or, who knows, win with a two-point conversion) were equally small. Teams go into prevent defenses in those cases and you can move down the field and potentially get two shots to the end zone. Whipple likes offense and preferred to control his own destiny, so he went with it. If nothing else, they got game practice for any future similar situations.

Anybody complaining about Whips decision doesn't know him well. This is how he coaches like it or not. To me the offense once again had a chance to win this thing with less than 4 minutes to go(score tied) and couldn't get it done after the defense forced a punt. For all the good the offense and Froh have done, this has happened in every one of the 5 losses . . we can't seem to make that final drive to win it!

Toledo is probably the best team in the MAC and UMass nearly beat them on their home field. I'm not satisfied w/losing to good teams b/c Since the arrival of Whip and the installation of Whip's philosophy and approach - this program has now improved to a level where we should expect to beat most MAC teams. On the flip side - if you took the points and the over like I did - you're smiling. 17 points? it was like shooting fish in a barrel.