Minutemen find their main man at QB http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/college/football/view/20220822minutemen_find_their_main_man_at_qb/

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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.”