The winless streak, the one that felt like it would never end for the UMass Minutemen, is officially over. Massachusetts kicked off its 2026 season by absolutely laying into Rutgers, taking them down 37-21. This wasn’t just any win, either. It snapped the longest losing streak in the entire nation and achieved some serious program history, all while UMass came into the game as a whopping 29.5-point underdog according to BetMGM.
The Weight of History Lifts Off the Minutemen
Let’s be real: UMass has been struggling, hard. Last season, they went 0-12. That was arguably their toughest year yet, finishing last in FBS for both points per game with a measly 11.1 and scoring defense, giving up a brutal 38.6 points per game. Their record since moving up to FBS in 2012 sits at a dismal 28-142. That’s a 19.7% win rate, for crying out loud. The victory against Rutgers finally ended a gut-wrenching 16-game losing streak that stretched back 677 days, to October 26, 2024, when they last beat Wagner. If that wasn’t enough, it also ended a 23-game skid against FBS teams, their last FBS victory way back on October 28, 2023, the same season they last started 1-0. For a team that’s been the worst in FBS for over a decade, this win is monumental. It’s their first time ever beating a Power conference team in FBS history, after only snagging a win against BYU in 2017 when BYU was an independent.
More Than Just One Win: A Program Shift?
This wasn’t some nail-biter, either. After Rutgers scored a touchdown on their opening drive, UMass fired back with their own and then didn’t look back. They dropped 30 unanswered points and pretty much slammed the door on the Scarlet Knights the rest of the way. The 37 points they scored is the most the program has put up since 2024, and the 16-point victory is their biggest against an FBS team since 2018. You gotta love that. There’s been talk of a turnaround under second-year coach Joe Harasymiak, with significant investment into the program. Harasymiak himself put it bluntly, saying, “It’s everything that we have to do in order to put this right.” Quarterback William “Pop” Watson III, making his debut, was a big part of it, throwing for 189 yards and three touchdowns. He even made an expletive-loaded statement during the spring game about not thinking small, and Athletic Director Ryan Bamford backed that up: “We’re not thinking about ‘How do you win a handful, three, four, five games?’ We’re thinking about winning as many games on our 12-game schedule as you can.”
With this historic victory in the books, UMass is already looking to make more program firsts. The big targets? Their first conference title game and, unbelievably, their first postseason bowl game appearance. They’re the only FBS program yet to play in a bowl game, outside of those new guys North Dakota State and Sacramento State. This team isn’t just celebrating one win; they’re trying to build something real. You can bet college football is watching now.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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