Bailey-Smith recovered two fumbles, one of which he forced, against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
UMass defensive back Randall Jette can't catch Vanderbilt's Wesley Tate during the first quarter of Saturday's game in Nashville.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The list of freshmen defenders who have made splashes for the University of Massachusetts continues to grow, and the ones who are already on it continue to produce.
This week at Vanderbilt it was Khary Bailey-Smith, a safety from Weymouth, who recovered two fumbles, one of which he forced himself. The other, forced by fellow safety freshman Joe Colton, he returned 53 yards and nearly scored.
“Anytime you lose it’s a sour feeling, but I just try to come out and make plays, and play to the best of my ability,” Bailey-Smith said after Saturday’s loss. “
The one who has made the biggest impact on a consistent basis is linebacker Kassan Messiah, who led the Minutemen with nine tackles, and continued to make an impression on his coach, Charley Molnar.
“Every single game I can look at guys and say, ‘That guy is playing the best football that he’s played,’” Molnar said. “For example, Kassan Messiah today just stepped up. He just played better football today than he’s played.”
All told, six true freshmen recorded tackles for UMass on Saturday on defense (seven, if you include a tackle quarterback A.J. Doyle made after throwing an interception).
“We’re freshmen, it might be hard to come in and really assimilate into the game speed and stuff like that,” Bailey-Smith said. “But I think all of the freshmen have been doing a really good job lately.”
FLAG DAY
UMass and Vanderbilt combined for 22 penalties, a season-high for games involving the Minutemen, for a total 174 yards. Sixteen of those came in the first half, a higher total than all but one of the Minutemen’s full games in 2012.
VIDEO STARS
Defensive tackle Daniel Maynes and linebacker Rob O’Connor became minor celebrities when a video of them receiving scholarships this past August circulated the internet.
Saturday, Maynes got his first career start, while O’Connor dressed for the first time in 2012, but did not get in the game.
LENEUS SWITCHES SIDES
Al Leneus walked onto the UMass team as a defensive lineman.
Saturday, he saw his first playing time of the season — on offense.
Leneus played guard, a move Molnar said he made during the bye week.
“He’s out there getting some real quality reps out there today,” Molnar said of Leneus. “He’s improved tremendously, and is probably very competitive with some of the offensive linemen that we have.”
Leneus is the 29th redshirt or true freshman to see the field for UMass this season.
ONE LINERS
Freshman Bernard Davis made his first career catch, a nine-yard reception from A.J. Doyle in the fourth quarter… The Minutemen went for it on fourth-down a season-high five times, converting twice … A 41-yard screen pass to Michael Cox was the longest reception of his career and the third-longest play of the season for the Minutemen … A 74-yard touchdown run by Brian Kimbrow was the longest UMass has allowed this season … The 28 points allowed by the Minutemen in the third quarter tied their highest total allowed in a single quarter.