Analyst ponders Week 1 Auburn opponent’s gameplan

The War Rapport’s Mike Gittens openly pondered what the gameplan would be for Week 1 Auburn football opponent UMass against the Tigers after Minutemen quarterback Taisun Phommachanh went for 192 passing yards — but none of which were at least 20 air yards.

“Passing chart for Taisun Phommachanh from last night’s game vs New Mexico State,” Gittens wrote with Phommachanh’s passing chart included in the post. “He went 10-17 for 192 yards. Only 1 pass beyond 20+ yards. It will be interesting to see if there is more of an effort to push the ball down the field against AU.”

Phommachanh helped lead UMass to a shocking 41-30 upset over New Mexico State as a touchdown underdog. If he can continue to damage with screen passes and slants, laying 40 on the Tigers is going to be tough to justify.

Analyst believes UMass can catch Auburn football sleeping in Week 1 matchup

The Daily Hampshire Gazette’s Garrett Cote believes UMass can catch Auburn football sleeping in Week 1 — though he also acknowledged that the Minutemen don’t stand much of a chance to actually win.

“UMass isn’t expected to keep this one close, let alone win it,” Cote prefaced before saying, “However, the Minutemen have given SEC schools a run for their money over the last near-decade, and they won’t be going into Jordan-Hare Stadium playing scared. Being huge underdogs, UMass has nothing to lose. With veterans in the Minutemen’s secondary and lots of defensive talent returning, they could certainly catch Thorne and the Auburn offense sleeping in what is the Tigers’ first game of the season.”

Ron Roberts claimed in the offseason that his Tigers will make more substantial plays in games; as in force turnovers at a much higher rate than the last several seasons. Phommachanh and the seemingly hot but antithesis-of-air-raid UMass offense is a fair first test for a unit with mass turnover in the trenches.