The News from Amherst

We're looking to face the Minutemen for the first time ever on Saturday, and I know that we don't have very much information on their club.  Of course, we're going to work to remedy that in the next couple of days, but in the meantime, we should look at a few news items from out there.

First, we all remember Kellen Pagel who was a backup QB here and transferred to UMASS.  We won't see him Saturday though, as he was injured in practice and is suffering from concussion symptoms.

He isn't the only injured player.  In fact, this report in the Daily Hampshire Gazette indicates there are seven players in various levels of being injured and who could miss the BG game, and that's coming off a bye week.  Two of them are on the offensive line, and they're thin at TE, according to the article.  I'm not going to go through them since you and I don't know who they are anyway, but you can check it out here.

Beyond that, three players were suspended for academic reasons and two of those guys were starters.

UMass coach Charley Molnar said the status of the three players suspended for academic reasons — wide receiver Alan Williams, offensive guard Nick Speller and reserve running back Jamar Smith — wouldn’t be finalized until the middle of the week. 

“Some are on track to be back and some won’t,” Molnar said. “Some guys still have a few more hurdles to get over before they’re cleared.”

I'm not sure what the word "some" means when you are talking about 3 guys, but that is what they're coach said.

They have played some close games, and I'm sure Coach Clawson will have nice things to say about them at his presser today.  In the meantime, it would appear that the M-Men are a little less healthy and a little more suspended than the Falcons are.