AMHERST — As the Massachusetts football team looks to take the next step this fall, the UMass defense is far ahead of where it was at this point last year according to defensive coordinator Keith Dudzinski. 

That shouldn’t come as a surprise. With a defensive minded head coach in Don Brown, as well as having a good chunk of the unit returning from last year, the expectations are that the defense will make a jump during the 2023 season. 

Through one week of practice, Dudzinski says his unit is trending in the right direction with just three weeks to go until the Minutemen head out to face off with New Mexico State in the season opener. 

“We’re about where we need to be,” Dudzinski said after Friday’s practice. “We have a handful of new guys in and we’re trying to get those guys caught up. The first week we threw the whole playbook at them and the guys did a good job picking it up. Now we just have to clean it up and repeat it.” 

“When you have as many guys back you’re going to be much further ahead,” Dudzinski added. “That doesn’t mean we’re we need to be just yet. We need to do a better job at stopping the run and limiting big plays. We haven’t done that every practice yet. We’re continuing to work at that but we’re much further ahead than where we were at this point last year.” 

Now in the transfer portal era of college football, bringing in veteran, impact players who are eligible right away presents the issue of building chemistry and getting the new players up to speed. 

UMass brought in five freshman to the defense while adding 10 defenders from the portal. Many of the portal additions are arriving from Power Five programs, and thus far, according to Dudzinski, are mixing in well with the established players on the roster while creating competition at each spot. 

“The good thing for us this year is we do have a bunch of guys who played last year and are still with the program,” Dudzinski said. “It’s not as tough but it’s always hard. You’re trying to get the guys to come in and understand the culture and there’s so much to learn outside the x’s and o’s. Our players that have been here are doing a good job bringing those guys along and they’re buying in. I see a lot of competitiveness in practice.”

As for players who have caught Dudzinski’s eye through the first set of practices? He mentioned a pair of former Arizona players in linebacker Jerry Roberts and corner Isaiah Rutherford, who Brown and Dudzinski coached while with the Wildcats, as well as a third-year defensive lineman. 

“A guy like Jerry Roberts coming out of the Pac-12, he isn’t a big surprise for me,” Dudzinski said. “I was there at Arizona and we saw what he’s capable of. A guy like Isaiah Rutherford is another Pac-12 guy who’s done some good things. Up front there’s so much depth at the defensive line which is good for us. I would say Aaron Beckwith has done a good job. Those guys are emerging.”

Roberts started all 12 games for Arizona at linebacker last season and was second on the Wildcats in tackles (nine). 

The redshirt senior said on Friday that he hopes his leadership and experience can be valuable to the younger players on the UMass defense, as the Minutemen hope to improve on a unit that surrendered 31.1 points-per-game a season ago. 

“The boys are ready to work and flip it around,” Roberts said. “We didn’t have the season we wanted to have last year but we’re ready to attack this season. I just want to work with people who want to win. I feel like I bring a lot of knowledge and experience. Especially being the leader of the locker room, I feel I can bring that knowledge to the younger guys and the incoming freshman.” 

The Arizona transfer says he likes the look of the unit thus far, noting that he’s seen them make strides each day out on the field. 

“I’ve seen a ton of progress,” Roberts said. “Going back to our first day of spring to our first day of fall camp we picked up right where we left off. Our first day had a day five, day six feel. We were on top of it, guys were communicating and we were just flying around and doing the things coach Brown wants us to do.” 

It was the secondary that was a bright spot for the Minutemen last year, as they finished the season with the 10th best pass defense in the country by surrendering just 175.3 yards through the air per game last fall. 

If the pass rush, which was 114th in the country with 18 sacks on the season, can get more consistent production, the strength of the secondary will only be further highlighted. 

“We always feel good about what [junior cornerback Jordan] Mahoney does,” Dudzinski said. “He comes to work every day and works his tail off. He’s competitive and done a good job. At safety when you look at Tyler Rudolf from a year ago to now it’s night and day. He’s way better. [Junior safety Te’Rai] Powell has been really solid. [redshirt senior DJ] Jerkins  has done an outstanding job. I’m really happy with what he’s done. Those guys are giving us some depth to maybe make it up to group one. We’ll find out.” 

One thing that has helped the defense is the strides the UMass offense has shown. 

So far in practice the offense has been able to challenge the defense and give it tough looks, which should pay dividends once the games begin. 

“Our offense has stepped up from last year,” Dudzinski said. “With the influx of guys — especially at the receiver position — it’s given us a challenge on the defensive end. You look at the quarterback situation and any one of those four are throwing the ball well. They’re giving us much better challenges than they did last year.” 

Coming off a 1-11 season, a lot will have to change if the Minutemen hope to take the next step and put themselves in a position to reach a bowl game at the conclusion of the season. 

That will start on the defensive end of the field, where UMass hopes to improve on its run defense (194.3 yards-per-game which was the 16th worst in the country) and creating more turnovers (17 total last season, tied for 82nd in the country). 

“We want to go to a bowl game,” Dudzinski said. “Whatever it takes. We want to find a way to get to a bowl game.” 

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