Sixteen straight losses will do strange things to a fan base. You stop expecting wins and start hoping for competitive quarters. That was UMass football entering Thursday night, a program so accustomed to losing that its last win over an FBS opponent, Army in 2023, had started to feel like ancient history.
Then the Minutemen went to Rutgers and won by 16.
Not a moral victory. A 37-21 win, built on a 24-7 halftime lead, against a Big Ten program with a coach in his second decade at the helm. Vegas had this game lopsided enough that Rutgers laid a five-touchdown spread, and reportedly paid UMass $1.5 million just to show up and play it. Instead, the 30-point underdog beat that number by such a staggering margin that you have to go back to 2012 to find anything comparable: Texas State over Houston, in the Bobcats' very first game as an FBS program, as 35-point underdogs. That is the company Thursday's result now keeps.
Pop Watson III Looked Like a Quarterback Nobody Should Have Overlooked
The Virginia Tech transfer torched Rutgers for 197 yards and three touchdowns through the air, adding 40 yards on the ground on six carries. What stood out wasn't just the box score, it was the distribution. Watson spread his 19 completions across eight different receivers, connecting twice with Elijah Faulkner and once with Joseph Griffin Jr. for scores. That balance made UMass nearly impossible to key on.
The Minutemen scored on seven of their ten drives. For a program that has spent years searching for offensive rhythm, that efficiency number is the real headline underneath the headline.
Rutgers' Defense Is Still the Same Problem It Was Last Year
Greg Schiano's postgame assessment didn't leave much room for spin: "We got outlicked, outplayed and outcoached. There is no other way to say it. I didn't have them ready." That kind of blunt self-indictment tells you everything about how lopsided this felt from the sideline.
The concerning part for Rutgers fans is the pattern, not the single game. This defense allowed at least 30 points in eight of twelve games last season, and Thursday looked like a continuation. New quarterback Dylan Lonergan threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns in his debut, including three touchdown grabs from All-America receiver KJ Duff, but he also threw three interceptions and lost a fumble before getting pulled in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury.
The Coaching Angle Made This More Than Just an Upset
Joe Harasymiak spent 2022 through 2024 as Rutgers' defensive coordinator before taking over at UMass. He grew up roughly 40 miles from SHI Stadium, and Thursday's win happened in front of his parents and brothers, with his wife and kids watching via FaceTime from home. There's a version of this story that's just about numbers and spreads. The better version is a coach beating the program that employed him, in the state where he was raised.
UMass entered the week as one of the sport's punchlines, a program that existed mostly as a reminder of how hard the jump to FBS football can be. One night in New Jersey didn't erase that history, but for a fan base starved of anything to point to, getting paid to win might be the sweetest outcome college football offers.
