Something to cheer about, even in defeat
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Your state university was back on national television last night. Playing for the national championship.
Attempting to win their second Division 1-AA football crown in eight years, the Minutemen of UMass-Amherst were beaten by top-ranked Appalachian State, 28-17, under the Friday night lights of Finley Stadium. Don Brown's men simply could not stop Mountaineer running back Kevin Richardson, who ran for 179 yards and made four trips to the end zone.
No disgrace in this one. UMass finished 13-2 and brought some college football drama into our homes on back-to-back Friday nights in December. And it looks like they're going to be good for years to come.
"They're a great bunch of guys," said the coach, choking back tears when asked about his seniors. "The big thing about our guys -- they compete to the bitter end. I've got great people. I wouldn't trade any of them. We came in here as a team. We're going home as a team."
This would be a time for the students and alums of the University of Massachusetts to stand tall. Go to an alumni club meeting. Reminisce about the good old days at the Blue Wall. Buy a little UMass garb and wear it when you go Christmas shopping. Brag about your school at the office. Send along a little donation, maybe.
We live in an elitist corner of the nation, a region peppered with some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the world. It costs well over $40,000 per year to matriculate at those places, and there are status-hungry boomer parents who'll happily pony up the tuition and maybe bankroll a new science lab if said snobby school will allow Boomer Junior to pass through its gates.
Which brings us back to our state university, which was plenty good enough for Bill Cosby, Jack Welch, Richard Gere, Joseph Abboud, and Julius Erving. UMass is getting the job done at reasonable rates for students of our state and now the success of the football team brings some of the trappings that make schools trendy for high school kids making college plans. Seeing your team on ESPN2 in HD enhances the college experience for a lot of young people. Makes the alums happy, too.
This is not to suggest that UMass go all Michigan on us. The state university at Amherst is never going to be a Division 1-A football factory, even if the chancellor's name is Lombardi. The Minutemen play one Division 1-A opponent each season (Boston College next year) and that's enough.
We all know UMass plays Division 1 basketball and made it to the Final Four in 1996, but that little trip to the Big Dance came at a hefty price. Transcripts were ignored, jewelry was handed out, and agents were hired as used car salesman John Calipari compromised all standards to make himself look good. UMass's Final Four appearance was ultimately erased -- Kremlin-style -- from NCAA Tournament history. No need to go back to those dark days.
The beauty of Division 1-AA football is the tournament system that allows UMass to play for a national championship in the most high-profile of college sports. The Minutemen won the whole thing under coach Mark Whipple in this same stadium in 1998 and there's every indication coach Don Brown can put the school in postseason play on a regular basis.
UMass looked good on its opening drive. Riding the Steve Baylark bus out of the gate, the Minutemen rolled 80 yards in eight plays, consuming a little more than three minutes to jump to a 7-0 lead. The ease of this drive made one wonder if we were in for a repeat of the UMass-Georgia Southern shootout at this same stadium eight years ago, when UMass prevailed, 55-43.
It was pretty quiet when the Minutemen scored. More than 20,000 fans filled Finley, but most of them were from Boone, N.C., which is a handy 270 miles from Chattanooga. Let's face it: if you live in Boone, a trip to Tennessee to see the Mountaineers in the championship game has to be the highlight of your year.
Every time Appalachian State got the ball, it went to trusted running back Richardson. Richardson is the talented junior who insulted UMass players and fans Thursday when he said his team was preparing to play Montana. For those of you who haven't been studying your Division 1-AA playbook, Montana was ranked second in the country, but was taken out of the tournament last Friday night by Massachusetts. Richardson's slip of the tongue no doubt was an innocent mistake, but it was guaranteed to motivate players from a school that's been looking for respect since it was founded in 1863 under the Morrill Land Grant Act (one Boston columnist used to call the place "Hooterville").
Richardson and the Mountaineers didn't go anywhere the first two times they had the ball, but they tied the score just before the end of the first quarter when Richardson broke one up the gut for 45 yards into the end zone.
With 49 seconds left in the half, Richardson went in again on a 6-yard run to give Appalachian State a 14-7 halftime lead. UMass pulled even on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Liam Coen to Brad Listorti late in the third quarter, but Richardson wasn't done. He scored two more touchdowns. Montana, Massachusetts, it didn't matter. No one could stop the guy.
There were no excuses from the Minutemen after the game. They saluted Appalachian State. They saluted one another. Senior James Ihedigbo said he was "blessed" to be able to play for a national championship in his final game. Quarterback Liam Coen said, "I'm proud of the guys I played with today." Baylark, who had his parents in the stands for the first time in his career, noted, "They're not my only family. The team is my other family."
After all the words were spoken, the Minutemen got on a jumbo jet in Tennessee and flew home to Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee without the Division 1-AA trophy. It no doubt made for a blue night at the Blue Wall, but Massachusetts was well represented by this team. Sometimes there is dignity even in defeat.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is dshaughnessy@globe.com. 
