The Massachusetts football team's quarterback will likely never be forgotten in UMass sports lore. Liam Coen became the school's all-time leading passer Saturday in the Minutemen's 27-7 victory over New Hampshire.
Coen threw for 191 yards on 21-of-28 passing and a touchdown to Michael Omar. That lifted his career total to 7,133, enough to pass Todd Bankhead's 7,018, amassed in two seasons at UMass (1998-99).
"It's really special to do something like that with the group of guys that we have on a day like today," Coen said after the game. "To be mentioned with the likes of guys like Todd Bankhead and Jeff Krohn (fourth all-time), it's a great thing. I'm really appreciative of the whole system and the coaches."
Coen entered his junior year third all-time on the UMass passing list, passing Dave Palazzi (5,402 yards from 1985-88) and Bankhead during the season. Coen became No. 1 in touchdown passes earlier this season, passing Bankhead's 51. To date, Coen has thrown 55 touchdowns as a Minuteman.
On a day when Walter Payton Award winner Ricky Santos was getting most of the attention as people waited to see how he would fair against the powerful UMass defense, Coen turned out to be the quarterback putting up numbers.
"There were two quarterbacks out there today, and we happen to have a pretty good guy here, too, who just happened to be 21-of-28," UMass coach Don Brown said of Coen.
With a season-plus remaining in his already illustrious career, Coen is now 2,867 yards away from being the first UMass quarterback to pass for 10,000 yards.
Interestingly, four of UMass's top six passers in history all played within the last decade. Coen (2005-present), Bankhead (1998-99), Krohn (2002-03) and Tim Day (sixth, 2002-2005) all played out their careers at UMass in the last 10 years.
Palazzi and Peil Pennington - fifth all-time with 4,687 yards from 1971-73 - are the other quarterbacks on that list.
This season, Coen ranks sixth in the Colonial Athletic Association with 1,942 passing yards, but tops the league with 19 touchdown passes. His 148.1 efficiency rating is fourth overall.
Koepplin gets his kicks
UMass place-kicker Chris Koepplin earned this week's CAA Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his pair of field goals in the win over UNH.
The senior nailed a career-long 51-yard field goal in the first quarter to give UMass the early 3-0 lead. The kick was a yard short of the UMass record of 52 yards, accomplished twice in school history.
Denis Gagnon kicked the first 52-yarder in 1971, also against UNH. Sandro Vitiello tied the mark in 1978 against Boston College.
Koepplin tied his career-long of 48 yards in the season-opener against Holy Cross. Asked if he was aware of the school record before attempting the kick, Koepplin shrugged off the thought.
"I was more worried about just getting out there and getting my spots and making sure I was on the line," Koepplin said. "I knew what the record was, I just wasn't thinking about it when I went out there."
Lawrence leaving mark
Lawrence finished the day with 139 rushing yards, pushing his season total to 1,274. His best season prior to 2007 was last year - when he racked up 174 yards on 34 carries.
His total this year is the ninth-best in UMass history, two yards behind Frank Alessio's 1,276 in 1995. He will likely pass that mark and Rene Ingoglia's 1,285 in 1993 next week at Hostra. Ingoglia's 1,505 yards in 1994 would be next at No. 6 in the list. Of course, Marcel Shipp's 2,542 yards during the national championship season in 1998 is easily the top single-season rushing mark … The Minutemen's eight sacks of UNH quarterback Ricky Santos included two on consecutive plays by defensive end Michael Hanson. He is now tied for second in the CAA with seven sacks … Fellow defensive end David Burris leads the conference with nine sacks.
Jeremy Rice can be reached at jeremyr@student.umass.edu.
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