The Minutemen's defense took a step back in their 45-6 defeat at the hands of Indiana.
FOXBOROUGH — Bill Cosby is a legendary stand-up comedian and actor.
After Saturday, he can add football nostra damus to his resume.
A little more than an hour before he participated in the coin toss at Gillette Stadium, he diagnosed the problems that ended up undercutting the University of Massachusetts football team in its 45-6 loss to Indiana over the course of roughly 90 seconds.
“We need wrap,” Cosby said, referring to UMass’ tackling. “Wrap is what we’re looking for. Just don’t aim your body to hit. Keep your feet moving in the opposite direction of where the opposing player wants to go.”
Wrap is exactly what the Minutemen couldn’t find in their debut at Gillette Stadium as a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision.
It began on Indiana’s first scoring play less than three minutes into the game. Hoosiers quarterback Tre Roberson took off up the middle. UMass linebacker Tom Brandt tried to slide back toward the middle and make the play, but Roberson slipped away from his outstretched arms, not to be touched again until his teammates mobbed him in the end zone 50 yards later.
Though no one got close enough to Roberson on his second long touchdown run to blame the tackling (the back seven bit so hard on a zone read play Roberson could have walked in from 39 yards out), the disturbing trend continued throughout the game.
“Our tackling was just atrocious,” UMass coach Charley Molnar said. “I saw more missed tackles today than I ever expected to see.”
It was especially disturbing because of how positive the vibes were about the UMass defense after last week’s game. After holding UConn to 5.3 yards per play and forcing three turnovers in the opener, the Minutemen yielded 6.8 yards per play Saturday and forced just one turnover.
“I was hoping that we would play darn near perfect in that area just because we tackled well in the first game, which is usually the worst tackling game of the year for a defense,” Molnar said. “We tackled well in practice, so I expected that we would continue to move forward in that area.”
Roberson rushed for 105 yards on four carries before a broken left leg in the second quarter ended his season. Running backs Tevin Coleman, Isaiah Roundtree, D’Angelo Roberts and Stephen Houston combined for 219 yards on 42 carries, as the UMass defense had no answer for Indiana’s zone-blocking running style.
So when backup quarterback Cameron Coffman stepped in for the injured Roberson, even without Roberson’s running ability, the UMass defense was already on its heels.
“What really hurt us was their run game,” Molnar said. “Their ability to dominate us up front was really the big difference defensively. As linebackers, everybody tightens up to the box and now it’s just a little easier to throw the ball.”
Coffman was 16-for-22 for 159 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Cosby’s other point prior to kickoff was the following:
“We’ve got some challenges coming on our schedule with new players and a coach putting in his system,” Cosby said. “The challenges are great. We just expect them to play and look well coached.”
As most coaches will tell you, part of looking well-coached is discipline, and the Minutemen struggled in the penalty department mightily Saturday.
They racked up nine penalties for 85 yards, eight of which were in the first half. The Minutemen had two offside calls in fourth-and-short situations that resulted in Hoosier first downs to go along with a delay of game on offense on third down for the second straight week — this time turning a third-and-one into a third-and-six.
“Some of them were aggressive football mistakes or errors, and some of them were, as we call them, stupid penalties,” Molnar said. “The stupid penalties are easier to address because most of the time once that happens to a guy, and he gets the proper behavior modification during the week, they tend not to do them. And if that doesn’t work, they just don’t play.”