Minutemen find their main man at QB http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/college/football/view/20220822minutemen_find_their_main_man_at_qb/ srvc=sports&position=recent_bullet August 26, 2012
AMHERST — There will be a lot expected of redshirt freshman quarterback Mike Wegzyn as the UMass Minutemen make the transition to Football Bowl Subdivision play this season. First-year coach Charley Molnar was aware that incumbent Kellen Pagel had lingering concussion issues coming out of spring ball. So more of the workload went to the 6-foot-5 Wegzyn, who yesterday was named the starter for the season opener at UConn on Aug. 30. A.J. Doyle, a true freshman out of Catholic Memorial, will be the backup. During last week’s media day Molnar said, “It would take a disaster right now for Mike not to be quarterback for the opening game. He knows that. We all know that. He’s had a lot of good days and some that were not so good over camp. We’re going to try and minimize the bad days and have all good days and get him into a good rhythm as we go into our first game.” Yesterday, Molnar was even more convinced that Wegzyn was the right guy. “He’s actually better than a week ago,” Molnar said. “He’s really embraced the starting role. His confidence has grown by leaps and bounds.”
While Molnar now turns his attention to the heated running back competition between Dorchester’s Michael Cox and Pitt transfer Chris Burns — “Right now, I don’t know who’s going to be running out there with the first unit” — Wegzyn has kept a low profile. “I’ve been just working hard, staying in the film room, making sure that I have everything down. So it’s been looking pretty promising from the start,” said Wegzyn, 19. “Camp is always hard but this one has been especially difficult, most of it because of the fast tempo of our offense. When we run up to the ball we’re trying to get plays off as fast as possible. So that kind of adds to your conditioning a little bit. You’re running around a little more than normal.” Last year, Pagel, playing from a pro-style set, completed 153-of-267 passes for 1,725 yards, with nine touchdowns and nine picks in eight games. Wegzyn hopes to up the ante. “When I heard coach Molnar was coming and bringing the spread, no-huddle, I couldn’t have been more excited,” Wegzyn said. “It’s the perfect style of offense for myself. I love to run it. It’s perfect. I don’t feel like there are too many extra pressures. I always try to strive for perfection. “I ask myself for perfection and hold myself to that standard, so I train at the same intensity. I’m in the film room watching my opponents, making sure I have the offense down to a ‘T’ because I feel like as a quarterback out there you almost have to be like a second coach. You have to know everything that’s going on and be able to relay that to the other players when they’re not able to do so.” UMass offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Mike Kruczek, a former Boston College star who won two Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers, likes what he has observed from Wegzyn.
“I think the potential is fantastic,” Kruczek said. “He has physical size. He’s (6-foot-5). He’s 228-230 pounds. He’s vertically fast. He has a strong arm. But there are a lot of little nuances playing the position with these young guys because he’s only a redshirt freshman. “You have to understand, I’ve talked to quarterbacks all my life and there are lots of things he’s learning right now about his feet and movement and being efficient to get himself in a position to make all the throws that are part of his learning curve. So I think he’s picked up the offense very well, and we have installed at a very quick rate, and we’re still installing. “There’s a thought process going on every day with new stuff. Once we stop installing and start to hone in on what we’re doing, he’ll be fine because he’s an intelligent kid and understands the concepts we’re putting in.”