2008 Woodie Awards
Football: Coen leads new-look receiving corps
Horne paces group in first test
Jeffrey R. Larnard, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Sports
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With the five receivers on UMass' active roster combining for 18-career receptions, filling those holes stood as a major task for UMass coach Don Brown and his coaching staff.
Redshirt junior Jeremy Horne led the group of receivers with 12-career catches prior to Saturday's game with the Great Danes and was the main target of redshirt senior quarterback Liam Coen in the Minutemen's season opener. Horne led all UMass receivers with four catches, including a 17-yard touchdown reception, and 37 yards.
Beyond Horne, the only receiver with a reception was redshirt freshman Julian Talley. Coen, who completed 10 of his 20 passes for 92 yards and three scores, found his backfield to be targets on three occasions and redshirt senior tight end Ian Jorgensen for the final two.
Of Coen's 20 attempts, his target was a wide receiver for only 11 of them; six for incompletion. Two of the miscues were intended for redshirt junior Victor Cruz, one that was bobbled and then knocked away by the defender while the other was overthrown by Coen. Redshirt sophomore Ke'Mon Bailey dropped another in the end zone.
With the inexperience in the wide receiver corps, Coen looked to veteran targets. Both redshirt senior Ian Jorgenson and redshirt junior running back Tony Nelson caught 2-yard touchdown passes from Coen.
Jorgensen, who is known more for his blocking ability, has been improving his hands to help out the passing game. Apart from the touchdown catch, his reception deep in Albany territory on a second-and-five extended a UMass drive, which resulted in Horne's touchdown.
Jorgensen was one of Coen's favorite targets last season in the red zone, catching 15 passes, with five of them being for touchdowns.
Both members of the starting backfield, Nelson and redshirt junior Chris Zardas, found holes in the Albany defense to extend UMass possessions.
Not only did the backfield help Coen in Saturday's win by catching passes, it opened up the field for Coen and his wide receivers. The Minutemen attacked Albany with a heavy dose of running from Nelson, which enabled the UMass offense to utilize play-action passes. UMass ran the ball almost twice as often as it threw the ball; rushing 38 times to 20 passing attempts. The overload of run made Albany's defense bite when the Minutemen employed play-action plays.
Brown doesn't expect too much from his receivers early just yet, but is confident after Saturday's game that they will make an impact this season.
"Our receiving corps will not be household names, but I still think we have some very talented young men that can help us," Brown said before the season started.
Brown later added that Cruz, Bailey and redshirt junior Joe Sanford, who is fighting for a spot at wide receiver after being converted from a quarterback, are some of those players who were not household names but could be impact players by season's end.
Brown doesn't seem too worried about the development of his young receivers, however - and for good reason.
"We have Liam Coen under center, and anytime you have Liam under center you're going to have a chance to win," Brown said.
Jeffrey R. Larnard can be reached at jlarnard@dailycollegian.com.
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