Costly mistakes doom Corsairs’ home opener

On the afternoon of September 9, UMD went head-to-head with Bridgewater State in their home opener at Cressy Field. Despite valiant efforts, the Corsairs fell to the Bears, 31-17, bringing their total to 0-2.

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. — Bridgewater State took advantage of five turnovers by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth football team and came from behind to defeat the Corsairs, 31-17 and spoil their 2007 home opener at Cressy Field Saturday afternoon.

Trailing, 10-7 in the first quarter, the Bears scored 17 consecutive points to take the lead, and then put the game away when reserve quarterback Steven Clark ran 13 yards for a score on an option keeper with 2:09 remaining.

UMass Dartmouth broke on top when junior quarterback Alex Garro connected with junior running back Aaron Russo on a three-yard touchdown pass to cap a 98-yard, 14-play drive early in the second quarter. The Corsairs forced a punt on BSC’s ensuing drive, but freshman James Green muffed it. The Bears recovered at the UMass Dartmouth three-yard line, and starting quarterback Greg Borsari scored from a yard out to tie game less than two and a half minutes later.

Green returned the ensuing kickoff to the Corsair 49, and UMD drove 39 yards in eight plays, with sophomore George Vasiliadis’ 29 yard field goal putting UMass Dartmouth ahead, 10-7. Bridgewater then drove 78 yards in 12 plays, all on the ground, with Teigan Pina scoring from seven yards out to make it 14-10, BSC, at halftime.

UMass Dartmouth stopped BSC on their first possession of the third quarter, but a personal foul penalty set the Corsairs back. Bridgewater started their next possession on the UMD 47 after a 41-yard punt by Vasiliadis and Chris Joyce’s nine-yard return. Bruce Burley raced 35 yards for a score on the sixth play of the drive to make it 21-10 with 8:11 remaining in the third quarter.

The Corsairs got the ball back but Garro was hit and fumbled at the UMass Dartmouth 20 on the second play of the drive, and Brian DiCristoforo kicked a 33-yard field goal to make it 24-10.

In the fourth quarter, BSC drove to the UMass Dartmouth 23 before turning the ball over on downs. Three plays later, Garro connected with junior wide receiver John Henry for 65 yards and a touchdown to make it 24-17 with 9:18 to play. The teams exchanged punts, and BSC drove 63 yards in seven plays, with Clark scoring from 13 yards to make the score 31-17 with 2:09 remaining.

“We did a lot of very good things, but once again, we made mistakes, and they cost us,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Mark Robichaud. “Our defense played better than they did last week, and Alex threw the ball well to several different players. We did have some trouble shutting down the dive on the option, but we played hard the whole game. We just made too many mistakes against a good football team.”

Bridgewater State gained 310 yards on offense, 285 of them on the ground. They did not turn the ball over, and didn’t commit a single penalty. Burley had 120 yards in 21 carries, while Clark rushed 13 times for 96 yards.

The Corsairs gained 452 yards on offense, 222 on the ground. Junior running back J.T. Harold rushed 24 times for 135 yards, Garro completed 14 of 22 passes for 130 yards, Henry caught five passes for 108 yards, and senior tight end Charles Gryska caught three passes for 72 yards.

UMass Dartmouth fell to 0-2 with the defeat, while the Bears improved to 1-0, winning their 2007 season opener. UMass Dartmouth will return to action when they visit Fitchburg State next Saturday afternoon, while Bridgewater will host Salve Regina next Saturday.

PROFESSOR'S NOTES

Professor Torch’s impressions from week one of the NFL

By Adam K. Ellis

From discussing the finer points of beer pong to breaking down a wacky and wild week one of the NFL season, your favorite UMass Professor was at it again with a busy weekend. But for the sake of my underage collegiate classmates who know nothing about indulging in alcoholic beverages (wink wink), let us keep curbing this column toward five impressions that I gathered from week one of the NFL:

1. He’s Baaccckkkk! He, as in Randy Moss. As fans we ventured from a pre-season where we were wowed for all of five minutes until Moss’ fragile hamstrings limped around for the remainder of the month. Questions arose daily until in a rare moment of candor from the Patriots’ locker room, Randy Moss sent the local journalists into a frenzy by openly discussing his injury status. This in turn prompted Belichick to remove Moss from the opening day injury report. Nine catches, 183 yards and a beautiful 51-yard

Brady raindrop later, any doubts we had around this region were gone. Minus a bit of a limp, Moss looked every bit of his old self: out-leaping defenders, tip-toeing sidelines and leaving cornerbacks in the dust. If he is half the receiver he was yesterday, we are in for a pleasant surprise with jersey number 81 running the sidelines.

2. I hate to break the news to y’all, but Peyton Manning isn’t going away anytime soon. Commercially and competitively, we must gear ourselves for another season of the NFL marketing attempt to shove their best player down our throats, each and every week. But no commercial brought me as much pain as watching the Colts raise their championship banners. Yes, the one we should have been raising next week if it weren’t for Reche “Coke-Eyes” Caldwell!!! (Breathe Adam. Breathe. Remember what the therapists talked about. Just let it go.) All painful regressions aside, the Colts are once again a team to be reckoned with in the AFC. They didn’t add many pieces, but Reggie Wayne has developed into a top 10 receiver and Joseph Addai looks poised for a monster year. If San Diego’s offense continues to stay in neutral as they attempt to get acquainted with the new coaching staff, I have no doubt we are in for an Indy-Pats AFC championship rematch in a couple of months.

3. The Jets are what I thought they were! My apologies to Dennis Green for stealing his infamous line, but as I said last week, I don’t see the New York Jets as a playoff team this season. On Sunday they played the part of just an average team, getting embarrassed in their home opener, 38-14. For optimistic Jets fans, well, they don’t have to play the Patriots every week. And to their credit, the Pats may have been tampering with league rules by stealing signals and calls during the game. Unfortunately, the loss stands and so do some of the Jets upcoming opponents: at Baltimore, Miami, NYG, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati.

4. At the age of 37, in his 17th season, Brett Favre can still play the game better than most quarterbacks in this league. On Sunday, Favre willed a pesky, young Packers squad to a last minute victory in their home opener. Favre’s numbers weren’t spectacular (23 for 42, 206 yards, INT and a fumble), but the skills he has possessed for the better half of two decades, were on full display as he consistently found a way to keep plays going and led the squad to difficult win against a strong Eagles defense.

5. Jon Kitna may be onto something. At the beginning of training camp, he predicted his Lions may win 10 games. After a 36-21 road win over the Oakland Raiders in which Kitna’s offense put up 392 total yards against a Raiders defense that was highly-touted as a top five pre-season defense, the Lions have a reason to be optimistic. Let’s not get too crazy and remind ourselves that the Raiders were the team with the worst record last season. But they may just be scrappy enough to pull out a respectable record in a mildly competitive division. We’ll know more about this team after next week’s home opener versus Minnesota.

Off-season puts Pats in driver’s seat for Super Bowl

By Jason Sarro

Key acquisitions

The 2007 Patriots embark on a season filled with high expectations. After going 12-4 last year, the Pats had an eventful off-season. With the key acquisitions of some big-time players, the Patriots are expected to be even better. On the defensive side of the ball, the Pats picked up Adalius Thomas, the versatile linebacker, who will be a force in the Patriots 3-4 defense. Wes Welker, the speedy slot receiver is just the weapon the Patriots needed. Don’t look past the acquisitions of Sammy Morris and Kyle Brady either. Brady is a large blocking tight end that will fill the void missed by Daniel Graham in the blocking scheme and Morris is a powerful downhill runner that will complement Laurence Maroney.

Questions to ponder

On paper the New England Patriots look phenomenal. Vegas oddsmakers have the team listed as the most heavily favored pre-season team ever. But before we hand over the Lombardi Trophy, let us ponder a few questions:

Laurence Maroney — the biggest question mark. Maroney has always split time, even when he played at the University of Minnesota, sharing carries with Dallas Cowboys running back, Marion Barber III. There are also durability issues as to whether he can withstand the pounding of an NFL 16-game schedule. Whether he can be a premiere back for the Patriots offense, has yet to be shown.

Asante Samuel — I don’t care if you’re Champ Bailey, no corner can come into a season without training camp and make an immediate impact. Asante’s six-week hiatus from the team will most likely hurt him in the beginning of the season. He won’t have the luxury of spending practices to get in playing shape, so he will have to work twice as hard to get back to the level he played at last season.

Patriotic predictions

Overall, the team has the most star power in years — possibly in the history of the team. And fortunately for the Patriots, they have enough veteran leadership to keep the young players on track.

The offensive line which has been solid the past few years will give Tom Brady the time to step up in the pocket and allow for downhill runners to hit holes untouched. The defense is going to be dominant as usual, not missing a beat without Richard Seymour (PUP list) and Harrison (suspended four games for HGH).

This will be a memorable season for Patriot fans if the chips fall correctly. They’ll finish 14-2 as Brady throws for 4,000 yards, Wes Welker leads the team in catches, Moss has more than 10 touchdowns, the Patriots are top 10 in overall offense and defense, and Belichick is the Coach of the Year. Last but not least, count the Pats as a Super Bowl shoo-in!

MMA

Say goodbye to boxing

By Timm Freitas

Over the past two-and-a-half years, the sports culture has been blindsided by the rapid growth of Mixed Martial Arts, also referred to as MMA. Most casual fans of the sport probably know it as the UFC, but there is so much more behind MMA than one fighting organization.

MMA is surpassing boxing popularity by leaps and bounds and has

pay-per-view sale ratings so high that boxing promoters can only dream of seeing their sweet science sell as many views. The question is, why is MMA becoming such a big hit and replacing boxing in the hearts of full contact sports fans? Well, I have a couple answers to that.

First, MMA fights are much more exciting than boxing fights. Because there are so many more skills involved, the action is unpredictable. One moment the fight may be standing, and in a flash second, it could be on the ground. In an MMA bout, fighters cannot only win by knockout or decision but also by submission. The multiple ways of winning add a new, never before seen dimension to fighting that fans love and boxing can’t offer.

Another reason MMA is becoming so popular is due in large part that fights never go more than five rounds. This means there is bound to be a decision before 30 minutes pass. In boxing there are at least 10 rounds in most fights, and pretty soon you are watching two tired dudes hug each other for 40-45 minutes, maybe even longer if the fight is a 12 rounder.

Lastly, MMA is marketed the right way. In the past four months I have not seen one advertisement for the next big boxing match, but I can rarely go three days without seeing an advertisement on television for a UFC event.

Not only that, but there are other smaller MMA organizations that are broadcast all of the time. These organizations include Pride Fighting Championship on Fox; WEC on Versus; Bodog Fight on Pax; and IFL, which can be found floating between smaller sports channels.

This constant exposure to MMA is what contributes to the sport’s rapid growth. It has been years since I have seen a boxing main event on free television, and MMA organizations, like the WEC and most recently the UFC, have broadcast title fights on free television.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have been witnessing an MMA take-over, and personally I am enjoying every minute of it. In the following weeks, I will be covering MMA stories, analyzing pay-per-views and discussing some statistics. I will be focusing on the UFC because it is the largest and most popular MMA organization in the country. If information about smaller organizations proves to be big news, that will be covered as well. So for all of you sports fans who want to know what’s going on in the world of MMA, just pick up a copy of The Torch weekly and read the MMA section!