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Journal-News, Hamilton, Ohio
Dayton native plays big part in UMass upset of Rutgers
- Story byJournal-News, Hamilton, Ohio
- Dayton native plays big part in UMass upset of Rutgers
A kicking journey that began in grade school on the soccer fields of Dayton continues at the University of Massachusetts for Derek Morris.
"I was a center back," Morris said, "and would always boot the ball and goal kicks all the way up to the front line. I had an assist off of a goal kick once, just because I hit it all the way up to the other end of the field. My dad saw that, and he was like, 'We've got to create something out of this.'"
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His dad John made him attend a kicking camp at Welcome Stadium in Dayton in fifth grade. Morris didn't want to go but learned the form fast and made a 40-yard field goal. The experience fueled a kicking career that continues to rise.
Morris, a Dayton native and Bishop Fenwick High School graduate, made 3 of 3 field goals, including one from 52 yards, and 4 of 4 extra points for UMass in a season-opening 37-21 upset of Rutgers on Sept. 3. He also forced touchbacks on all eight of his kickoff attempts.
"Derek doesn't care where he kicks, doesn't care what the weather's like, doesn't care this or that, his mindset is just great," UMass coach Joe Harasymiak said in his postgame press conference. "To have him as a weapon, especially late in the year, when it's a little cold out and it's not going to affect him, I have all the confidence in him in the world."
Morris was named the Mid-American Conference special teams player of the week. He also was one of three kickers from across the nation to earn a Lou Groza Star of the Week award.
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The performance by Morris helped UMass end a 16-game losing streak. It was 0-12 in 2025. For the first time since it joined the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2012, it beat a current power conference opponent.
"It was pretty surreal," Morris said. "Being here last year and then coming back for a new year, I knew something was different heading into the spring and the summer. We were more unified as a team.
"The everyday stuff was the biggest difference. Every day, in the morning, dudes were saying, 'What's up,' to you and not being so standoffish. Heading into that game, I had no doubts in our leaders and our captains and everything that we were going to go in there and compete and fight and go get a win. We've never done that before as a program, and to do it with that group was pretty incredible. I wasn't surprised at all, just because of the guys we have and the type of people that I'm playing around. It showed how good our character is as a team."
This is the second season at UMass for Morris. After a successful career at Fenwick, where he gave up soccer to concentrate on football, he started his college career at California.
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Morris didn't have many options as a senior at Fenwick. Most Division I kickers find landing spots by February of their senior years. By March 2024, Morris still didn't have an offer. A logjam of players who had an extra year of eligibility because of the pandemic hurt high school seniors.
"That was the thick of it for high school players wanting to get to the next level," Morris said, "because you have to be picked over all these adults that have already been there, so it was hard."
Then Morris heard from Ryan Longwell, a retired NFL kicker who played college football at California and then joined his alma mater as an analyst.
"It honestly felt too good to be true because he's like an 18-year NFL veteran and knows what he's doing," Morris said. "I have a two-step kick when I do field goals, and so did he. We talked for hours, and then I ended up visiting there, got an offer and committed. Then my dad, at the same time, found a job in Sacramento, so we moved the whole family over."
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As a freshman walk-on in 2024, playing for the same team that featured Fernando Mendoza, who would win the Heisman Trophy a year later at Indiana, Morris made his college debut in the seventh game of the season against North Carolina State. He took the job from a senior kicker.
In that game, Morris made 3 of 4 field-goal attempts in that game and 2 of 2 extra points. He also missed a 28-yard field goal that would have given Cal the lead in the final minutes. The Golden Bears lost 24-23.
"The lesson I learned is just go out there and swing with everything I have and trust I will be good enough to keep it consistent," Morris told reporters the following week. "I don't want to ever miss not giving it my all."
In the next game against Oregon State, Morris tied a school record with five made field goals on five attempts, including one from 46 yards.
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Over the course of the season, Morris made 11 of 15 field goals and 13 of 13 extra points.
When Longwell left the program after that season, Morris decided to enter the transfer portal. He needed to find a scholarship opportunity because he was paying close to $40,000 a year in tuition.
Morris entered the portal in December and soon received a call from Joe Castellitto, the special teams coordinator at UMass. He visited UMass the following weekend and committed during his visit.
Morris joined a program that had won eight games in the previous six seasons and that had never won more than four games in a season. A chance to be a part of a turnaround appealed to Morris.
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Although UMass didn't win a game in his first season, Morris made 10 of 16 field goals. He twice set school records with kicks of 53 and then 55 yards. He also saw potential in the new players.
"Knowing that half the guys that we had last year were going to help and progress this team into what we're becoming is pretty incredible," he said.
UMass returns to action in its home opener against Sacred Heart on Saturday, Sept. 12. The Minutemen have never started 2-0 in their FBS era.
"We know we can't take in all the hype because it's just a disease and it'll kill everything," Morris said, "so we have to really be humble in the whole process and treat every team like they're going to be better than us and go up there with a chip on our shoulder. The record never really does disappear. We have to prove ourselves every single time."
