The Wolverine Now

SEPT. 12, 2012 boro to Amherst, Mass. — the distance between Gillette Stadium and campus — following a 45-6 loss to Indiana Sept. 8 and was greeted by a chorus of positive chatter. The Minutemen may have been discouraged by their performance, but they weren't showing it. "It's a resilient bunch of STEEP LEARNING CURVE C harley Molnar stepped off the bus af- ter his team's 94-mile trek from Fox- guys," said Molnar, in his first season as a head coach after 28 years as an assistant. "They don't like losing, or accept losing, but by the time we got back, they all said the same thing — they all took a real per- sonal accountability for the defeat, and they all said they can't wait to get ready for Michigan." Along with the University of Texas- at UMass for a long time," beat writer Matt Vautour said. "When the basketball program was doing really well in the 1990s, there was discussion then, and there have been committees and study groups looking at it for awhile. Having a confer- ence that was interested and a stadium they could play in made it something where a real opportunity was suddenly there." While the Minutemen and MOLNAR their coach are excited about their new status, it has thus far been a tremendous learn- ing curve for a UMass team that hasn't looked up to the challenge yet, losing to Connecticut and Indiana by a combined score of 82-6 in two games. "Guys aren't happy, especially with San Antonio, South Alabama, Texas State and Georgia State, Massachusetts is making the transition from a Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA) pro- gram to a Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) program this season, in its 130th year of college football. It has joined the Mid-American Conference and will start MAC play when it travels to Miami (Ohio) Sept. 22. "It's been a conversation talked about the outcome of the game against Indi- ana," redshirt freshman signal-caller Mike Wegzyn said. "We came in looking at this team and thought we could have done better things. We didn't execute like we prepared. Now we're looking forward to Michigan, and this week we'll just have to polish up." "I expected better from us in all phases," Molnar said after his team was outgained 596-264 by a Hoosiers offense that averaged 360.4 yards offensively in 2011. "We prepared very hard in prac- GAME FACTS Massachusetts' Adjustment To The FBS Level Has Been Arduous BY MICHAEL SPATH tice, we were mentally ready, we had a good feeling at the beginning of the game, but momentum got away from us and we couldn't get it back. "At the end of the day, most of our breakdowns are first-year guys — fresh- men, redshirt freshmen or sophomores — getting out on the field for the first time. And they're [Indiana] Big Ten foot- ball players. "That's a football team that is a little bigger, stronger and has played tougher competition, so those guys are used to playing big, tough, hard football on a regular basis, and our guys just aren't there yet." Most recently the offensive coordina- tor at Notre Dame, Molnar knows his task is great, and that he cannot expect the Minutemen to compete with BCS conference programs immediately. "Our progress, I'd like to think we'd measure it in big steps, but right now we have to find small things to measure it by," he said. "Offensively, we controlled the ball better against Indiana. We only had one turnover, no fumbles. We pro- tected the quarterback better. "Defensively, it looks like we took a step back because we gave up a ton of points and yardage, but we see guys playing hard. We were just mismatched and couldn't overcome those things Sat- urday. the broadcast live. The game can be heard on the Michigan Sports Network (950 AM in the Detroit area, SiriusXM channel 203) with longtime partners Frank Beckmann and Jim Brandstatter, and sideline reporter Doug Karsch. Coaches: Michigan: Brady Hoke (12-3, sec- What: Michigan vs. Massachusetts. When: Sept. 15 • 3:42 p.m. Radio-TV: The Big Ten Network will carry ond season). UMass: Charley Molnar (0-2, first season). History: Michigan leads the series with Mas- sachusetts 1-0, beating the Minutemen 42-37 in 2010. Massachusetts Notes: An attendance of 16,304 was announced at UMass' first FBS home game at Gillette Stadium (home of the New England Patriots) when the Minutemen hosted Indiana Sept. 8 … The Big Ten is 5-1 against the Mid-American Conference this season (with four games on the schedule this weekend) — its lone loss Penn State's 24-14 defeat to Ohio … Massachusetts was the Co- lonial Athletic Association's top program from 1998-2008 with a record of 83-44 (.654 winning percentage), won 22 overall conference cham- pionships in the CAA and was the I-AA national champion in 1998 … 2012 Super-Bowl-win- ning New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz is UMass' most famous NFL alumnus.

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