UMass Football News--October 30th, 2025

 Rene and Christian are back with Episode #28 of the Flagship Podcast.

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Associated Press previews the UMass-Akron game stats. 

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College Football News has MAC Conference rankings and predictions before Week #10.

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Sixty-four former UCLA players urge Chancellor to remove current athletic director Martin Jarmond.

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College Football TV rankings are surging in 2025.

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UMass Football News--October 29th, 2025

 UMass-Akron will be televised  by the CBS Sports Network. I get the CBS Network as part of my Comcast Sports package. Check your provider to see if it is available.

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Also available on ESPN+

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Miami (Ohio) is alone at the top of the MAC conference after a win over Western Michigan. 

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Sports Illustrated has a Group-of-Five Top 25 ranking. UConn is #14. The MAC has three teams in the poll. 

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MISERY LOVES COMPANY # VI

One-and-Seven Boston College gets Notre Dame this weekend. The Irish need to win out to make the college football playoffs. BC could spread the misery around by knocking Notre Dame out of same.

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UMass Football News--October 28th, 2025

Keegan Andrews continues his great season.

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Hustle Belt has it's Monday MAC Musings.

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 Akron LB Melvin Spriggs was named MAC defensive player-of-the-week for his 14 tackles and 3.5 TFL in the Zips upset of Buffalo.

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College Football News predicts Akron over UMass in Week #10 and also predicts a 0-12 season for the Minutemen.

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The other MAC conference players-of-the-week. 

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You know how ubiquitous AI's are becoming. And you know that they are prone to "hallucinations", where they just give nonsense. And you know they are all over sports "journalism".

I was search-enginning "UMass Football" this morning and this popped up about the UMass basketball box score of UMass-Miami (Ohio) on Jan 27th 2026..

Note also we are 10th in the MAC in team hoops scoring😛 

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UMass Football News--October 27th, 2025

 Hustle Belt recaps the UMass-Central Michigan game and says the Chippewas cruised to a victory.

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The Daily Collegian reports UMass gashed in loss to Central Michigan.

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Pinal Central recaps the Minutemen-Chippewas game and said Central Michigan extended UMass' losing streak to twelve games.

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Central Michigan Life said the Chippewas trounced UMass.

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In MAC Conference standings, Miami (Ohio) is 4-0 and Ohio, Buffalo, Central Michigan and Western Michigan are 3-1. 

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After firing Brian Kelly, LSU will pay the second largest buyout in college football history. 

It's been an historic season for coach firings.

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UMass Football News--October 26th, 2025

 UMass was handled by a better, more talented Central Michigan team. The Minutemen gave a commendable effort with so many players out.

The defense played with effort and had 7 TFL, which against the Chippewas' "heavy" run game (with a full back), is difficult.  They also had a forced fumble and again UMass failed to score after a turnover. The defense battled all day and I can't complain about their results with so many new starters. 

On offense, AJ Hairston was facing pressure on nearly every throw. He was not helped by at least three or four drops that stalled UMass drives. Jacquon Gibson, playing hurt, had a wide open drop on the first series and did not return to the game. 

The Minutemen did as well as they could against a solid MAC Central Michigan team. If UMass could get some injured players back, I think they could still win a game this year. 

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UMass write-up here. 

Central Michigan's write-up here. 

Hustle Belt reports Central Michigan cruised to victory. 

Minuteman Command says injury-riddled UMass was run over by the Chippewas.

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Temple moved their win total to five with an overtime win over Tulsa. With four games remaining, the Owls should be bowl eligible.

Bryant lost to Rhode Island 38-17. 

Iowa pounded Minnesota 41-3. 

Missouri lost the game and their quarterback to Vanderbilt. 

Western Michigan lost to Miami (Ohio). 

Buffalo was upset by Akron 24-16.

Northern Illinois beat Ball State 21-7 

Ohio beat Eastern Michigan 28-21.

Kent State picked up their second win of the season with a victory over Bowling Green. 

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UConn was upset by Rice in double overtime. The Huskies are 5-3 and all three losses were in overtime..

Boston College made a good effort, but fell to 1-7 with a loss to Louisville.

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Game Day Central Michigan--2025

 Today will be a big challenge for the Minutemen with their injury list. The Chippewas are a strong running team. Last week against Bowling Green, Central Michigan rushed 46 times and threw the ball only five.

Detroit Free Press image

I remember our previous stint in the MAC and watching Central Michigan's Zurlon Tipton run over our asses.  Tipton would go on to bizarrely die of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

UMass played well against Buffalo with about the same number of injuries. The reserves will have to step up to keep the game manageable. If the offense can generate some points, we could keep this game close.

I'll be watching the game and cheering for the Minutemen. Go UMass!

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Hustle Belt has a late edition of the Week #8 MAC power rankings.

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BroBible comments on UMass' injury situation.

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Central Michigan's website says the Chippewas refuse to look past winless UMass.

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UMass Football News--October 24th, 2025

 The Minuteman Command reports UMass will have numerous substitutes playing for Central Michigan game. I've been following Minuteman football for a long time, but I don't think I've ever seen a rash of injuries like this year.

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Hustle Belt previews the Central Michigan-UMass game. 

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Meanwhile the parking at McGuirk is unsatisfactory. 

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Sports Book Wire predicts Central Michigan 33 UMass 13.

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Saturday's game is Homecoming for the Chippewas.   Coach Drinkall says it's time to celebrate.

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UCLA has been struggling for two decades and USA Today says it's the administration's fault.

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UMass Football News--October 23rd, 2025

     Rene  and new Minuteman Command partner Christian McCollum have Episode #27 of the Flagship Podcast.

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Central Michigan has their game notes for UMass up.

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Vegas Insider has the Chippewas a 16 to 15 point favorite over the Minutemen. 

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Hampshire Gazette image

Syracuse calls in Don Brown to help its defense. Good  to see Coach Brown back with college football. 

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Sports Book Wire thinks Central Michigan will cover the spread.

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The Daily Collegian reports UMass takes on Central Michigan for its second conference road game of the season. Coach Harasymiak says some scout teams players may be first team as Ryan Barnes, David Onuoha, Derrieon Craig, Shambre Jackson and Timmy Hinspeter are out.

On offense TE's Reece Adkins and Max Dowling are out and Rocko Griffin and Jacquon Gibson are questionable.

Man, that's a lot of injuries..

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UMass Football News--October 22nd, 2025

 Central Michigan's Jordan Kwiatkowski earns the MAC Defensive Player-of-the-Week.

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The Minuteman Command's Mike and Rene break down  the final minute of the Buffalo game. 

Enough already with the laments about the end of the Buffalo game. The important takeaway was that we were good enough to nearly beat one of the MAC's top teams. We were not even competitive earlier. The Buffalo game showed we can and should win some games.

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UMass and UCF reschedule their 2026 game to 2029 

This makes next year's schedule easier. UCF plays in the Big Twelve. They are 4-3 in 2025 and pounded West Virginia 45-13 in their last game.

So the 2026 UMass schedule looks like:

     09/05 - at Rutgers
    09/12 - Sacred Heart
    10/24 - at UConn
    11/28 - at Hawaii

That's an attractive schedule. Only one Power Five team and Rutgers is not Iowa or Missouri. Hawaii is 6-2 in the Mountain West and should be in our wheelhouse as a Group-of-Five team.

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 Former UMass great Andy Isabella is back with the program working with the wide receivers.

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UMass Football News--October 21st, 2025

 

The Minuteman Command has a post on Coach Harasymiak explaining the sequence of decisions at the end of the Buffalo game.

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WWLP says despite the loss, UMass showed potential. 

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UMass has their game notes for Central Michigan up.

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Hustle Belt has anatomy of a collapse: Buffalo snatches a win. 

Hustle Belt also has their "Monday Musings" after Week #8 in the MAC. 

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The Associated Press previews the UMass-Central Michigan game.

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UMass Football News--October 20th, 2025

 The Minuteman Command points out UMass could have done better with clock management on their final drive.

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The Daily Collegian reports the Minutemen fell short at the end of the Buffalo game.

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We're not last in college football! Or at least College Football News thinks Charlotte is #136.

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Sports Illustrated reports UMass had its first win of the season, but then it all fell apart. 

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Hustle Belt recaps the the game and says Buffalo snatched away a victory. 

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The Daily Collegian reports transfer Brandon Hood had a great game for UMass.

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UMass Football News--October 19th, 2025

 UMass didn't win the game against Buffalo, but it was still a big turnaround from the Kent State game. Against the Golden Flashes, the Minutemen did not look as if they had anything.

Against Buffalo, UMass played with fire and determination. UMass played well with what we have. The Minutemen still need more talent on both sides of the ball, but if the Minutemen keep playing like they did Saturday, we have a chance to win some games this year, especially if we get Rocco Griffin and Jacquon Gibson back.

UMass ended up 5-17 on third downs. One more at the end of the game would have won it. We ended up punting 9 times (for 438 yard in another great game) by Keegan Andrews. 

The Minutemen made plays yesterday. They were one play short of winning. 

And take a bow UMass fans, an amazin' 15,239 fans showed up. Imagine if we were winning!

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 UMass write-up here.

Bulls write-up here. 

The Minuteman Command there was some good, some bad and some ugly. 

The Minuteman Command also reports it was a heartbreaking loss.

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Temple clobbered Charlotte 49-10. 

Bryant had a bye.

Iowa made Penn State's miserable season worse 25-24.

Missouri beat Auburn in double overtime.

 Western Michigan had a bye.

Kent State lost to Toledo 45-10. 

 Central Michigan beat Bowling Green 27-6.

 Akron fell to Ball State 42-28.

Northern Illinois lost to Ohio 48-21.

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UConn crushed Boston College 38-23. 

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Game Day Buffalo--2025

Buffalo was picked by pundits (both Athlon and Lindy's) to contend for the MAC championship and at Week #8 the Bulls are 3-0 in league play.

They also have one the the MAC's best defenses and UMass has the worst offense in all of college football. That's not a good match-up for the Minutemen.

However, the only way to improve is to go out there and grind away. The UMass defense has played decently in spots. Any offensive improvement (maybe score a TD) will be welcome.

I'll be there cheering for the Maroon & White. Go UMass! 

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The Minuteman Command reports Coach Harasyiamk is confident in UMass' recruiting structure.

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UMass-Buffalo live-stream, odds and stats.

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The Action Network thinks Buffalo will cover the 17-point spread. 

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Hustle Belt previews the Bulls-Minutemen game. 

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The Action Network thinks Buffalo will blow UMass out. 

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UMass Football News--October 17th, 2025

 The Minuteman Command has a post on Coach Harasymiak's comments after the loss at Kent State.

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Hustle Belt reports on the new Minutemen-Bulls trophy.

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UMass announces changes in parking for Saturday's Family Day game.

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The Hampshire Gazette reports UMass looks to bounce back after a crushing loss to Kent State.

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Fox Sports reports UMass' 1 passing TD for 2025 is the lowest in all of college football.

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UMass is #119 in FBS in defensive stop rate.

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ESPN reports on the 2025 college football coaching carousel.

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UMass Football News--October 16th, 2025

 Mike and Rene have Episode #26 of the Flagship Podcast. Guest on the podcast is UMass LB Tyler Martin who says he's in it for the long haul.

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UMass and Buffalo unveil the creation of a rivalry cup between the Minutemen and the Bulls.  

Learfield Sports also has a post on the Cup.

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Sports Book Wire predicts Buffalo 28 UMass 17.  I know the spread is not a relative strength of the teams but rather a equal bet generator on both sides of the wager, but UMass has not come within three scores of a FBS opponent..

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The Daily Collegian reports Saturday will bring new beginnings for the UMass Football team. 

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Bet MGM says their model predicts UMass will beat the spread with a 51% confidence level. I do not have a lot of confidence in a 51% prediction.

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UMass Football News--The Ides of October 2025

 Buffalo has  their game notes for UMass up.

Bulls HC Lembo's Monday press conference for UMass. 

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Hustle Belt has their weekly "Monday MAC Musings".  Included is their take on UMass' defeat by Kent State.

Quote from the article " the defense handled UMass’ o-line with four sacks and 13 tackles for loss". Upgrading the UMass offensive and defensive lines should be the top goal for the coming off-season recruiting.

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The Pro Football Sports Network has the Mid-Season All-MAC Football team. Timmy Hinspeter, Kyle Brown and Jacquon Gibson make the squad.

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MISERY LOVES COMPANY IV

Bill O'Brien defends his 1-5 Eagles as they meet 5-2 UConn this weekend.

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UMass Football News--October 14th, 2025

 Buffalo opens as a 17-point favorite over the Minutemen. UMass lost last year to the Bulls by 34-3. 

This year could be worse.

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UMass has their game notes for Buffalo up. Saturday will be game day and that's always fun.

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The Minuteman Command reports Coach Harasymiak knew it was going to be hard.

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WWLP says UMass endured its sixth loss of the season.

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Hustle Belt reports Kent State reacts to a cathartic win. Congrats to the Golden Flashes. They were, by far, the better team and they deserved the win.

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The season is only half over, but there are already eight head coaching positions open.

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Sports Book Wire predicts Buffalo 28 UMass 17. 

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OT, but what winning a national championship in hockey meant to Western Michigan.

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UMass Football News--October 13th, 2025

 The Daily Collegian says UMass has turned losing into an art form.

The Collegian also said the Minutemen looked dissonant at Kent State.  

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The Hampshire Gazette reports Kent State routed UMass. 

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UMass is #133 in rushing offense. The Minutemen are averaging 2.16 yards/rush for 58.3 rushing yards/game. 

Rocko Griffin who was supposed to be our bell cow at running back. He has 4 GP 35-166 and 1 TD.  

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Western Michigan, Buffalo and Miami (Ohio) are at the top of MAC conference standings.

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Associated Press previews the upcoming UMass Buffalo game. 

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UMass Football News--October 12th, 2025

 Well, that was one of the worst games I have ever seen UMass play. The Minutemen looked flat and uninterested.

Rocko Griffin and Jacquon Gibson DNP. T.Y. Harding is out for the season. Without them, the Minutemen were outmatched. 

There is no sense ranting and raving. This team needs a major talent upgrade. Which will not happen next week or the next. We just do not have the players to compete in the MAC. 

The offense needs better players everywhere. We need an FBS QB, running backs, OL and WRs. The first objective of the coming off-season needs to be a much better roster..

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The Minuteman Command reports UMass was embarrassed by Kent State. 

Coach Harasymiak's press conference after the game. The UMass locker room was near the stands where we sat and you could hear Harasymiak screaming at the team during halftime..

Kent State's write-up. 

The UMass write-up says UMass falters at Kent State. That's one way of putting it..

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Temple rang up 518 yards, but lost to Navy on a late Midshipman score. 

Bryant fell to Brown on Friday night. 

Iowa pasted Wisconsin 37-0.

Missouri lost a close game to Alabama. 

 Western Michigan's killer defense held Ball State to 88 total yards in a 42-0 win. The Broncos look like a strong contender for the MAC championship.

Buffalo had a bye.

Central Michigan had a bye.

Akron lost to Miam (Ohio) 20-7

 Northern Illinois lost to Eastern Michigan 16-10.

 Ohio had a bye.

Bowling Green rallied to beat Toledo 28-23. 

Game Day--Kent State 2025

 This game with the Golden Flashes is critical. Except this game, UMass will be double-digit underdogs for the rest of the year. If we lose today, we are in serious jeopardy of oh-for-2025.

Offensive production is the key. One TD per game isn't going to do it.

I'll be there in person, cheering for the Minutemen.

Go UMass!

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Video from the Minuteman's plane ride.

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Kent State finally put their game notes up on Friday. 

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Action Network think the Golden Flashes will cover the -2.5 spread.

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Hustle Belt previews the game and predicts Kent State 17 UMass 14.

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Bleacher Nation also thinks Kent State will cover the spread. They also say take the over of 50.5 points (!?)..

Will either team break into double digits? 

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 The Golden Flashes will wear throw-back unis against UMass. According to the E-mail I received with my ticket, the first 1,000 fans in the stadium will get a replica shirt..

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UMass Football News--October 10th, 2025

UPDATE 6:00 PM Friday

OK, we're here in Stow, Ohio. It's about 10 miles from Kent State's stadium. We drove down there this afternoon and walked around. The UMass trailer is there.

On the backside of our motel is a small mini-mall with a bakery and this. Is it an omen?

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Still no game notes from the Golden Flashes. 

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Coach Harasymiak talks about the challenge of Kent State.

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The Greenfield Recorder reports reeling UMass visits MAC bottom-feeder Kent State.

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ESPN thinks UMass will cover the spread.

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Hustle Belt previews Saturday's game between  Ball State (who beat MAC favorite Ohio) last week andWestern Michigan's killer defense.

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Fan Sided thinks UMass will taste victory at Kent State.

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Six NFL to College coaching disasters from Bill Belichick  to Norm Edwards.

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UMass Football News--October 9th, 2025

 

Mrs Blog and I have tickets to the Kent State game. The Flashes athletic dept allows for the option of being e-mailed a printable .pdf--a much better choice than the smart-phone only policy UMass has.

The last road game I went to was the Minuteman victory over New Mexico State. Hopefully, history will repeat.. 

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 Mike and Rene have Episode #25 of the Flagship Podcast.

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Sports Book Wire predicts Kent State 34-UMass 20.

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The Daily Collegian reports UMass hunts for their first win vs Kent State.

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Hustle Belt has their MAC conference power rankings for Week #6. UMass is firmly in last place.

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WTOP News reports Kent State hosts UMass on Saturday.

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UMass Football News--October 8th, 2025

No game notes from Kent State so far. 

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Picks and Parleys predicts Kent State 24-UMass 13.

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Akron's Jordan Grant wins the Doak Walker National Running back of the Week Award. 

The Zips are better this year..

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The NCAA decides on one 15-day transfer portal interval in in January. 

That should help Group-of-Five schools like UMass as they will not have to lose players in two separate periods. 

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UMass Football News--October 7th, 2025

 Coach Harasymiak's Monday video press conference.

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UMass has their game notes for Kent State up.

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 Kent State HC Mark Carney's recaps the Oklahoma game and looks ahead to UMass.

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Hustle Belt recaps Western Michigan's dominating defensive performance against UMass. 

Hustle Belt recaps the state of the MAC after Week #6. 

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The Daily Collegian covers UMass LB Timmy Hinspeter's great day against Broncos.

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UMass announces a 2:30 kickoff time for the home game against Buffalo.

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UMass Football News--October 6th, 2025

 Coach Harasymiak says "we have a quarterback issue."

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Michigan Live says Dynamite defense led the Broncos to their 3rd straight road victory.

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The Daily Collegian reports UMass fell in their first conference game since 2015.

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Mass Live has a photo gallery from the Western Michigan game. 

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Kent State opens as a 3-point favorite over UMass.

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Barstool Sports points out Kent State has a history of playing really, really tough schedules.

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Big shakeup in the AP top-25 this week. Missouri is up to #14.

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MISERY LOVES COMPANY II

Boston college got blasted by Pitt Saturday. The Eagles are 1-4 for the season and have Clemson, UConn, Louisville, Notre Dame, SMU, Georgia Tech and Syracuse remaining..

UConn, BTW, has won three in a row and crushed FIU 51-10.  

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UMass Football News--October 5th, 2025

 This turned out to be a pretty good game. The UMass offense's lack of production negated a pretty heroic effort by the Minutemen defense. Western Michigan scored 7 points in the first half and was held to 4-11 on third downs. Five UMass defensive players had nine or more tackles.

Western Michigan has probably the best defense in the MAC. As a case in point, they held Michigan State scoreless in the second half of their game against the Spartans.

However, UMass could have done better. A holding penalty turned a rushing TD into a field goal. 

In the third and fourth quarters UMass drove to the Broncos' 13, 15 and 25 yard lines. We ended up scoring zero points. In the first of these AJ Hairston took an absolutely horrific sack that ruined that chance. He threw an INT to stop the second. 

 Despite the loss, the Minutemen defense is rapidly improving. We can still win some games in the MAC if the offense gets better.

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UMass write-up here. 

Broncos write-up here. 

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The Minuteman Command reports UMass loses to Western Michigan in their MAC conference opener.

The Hampshire Gazette reports UMass suffers a fifth straight loss. 

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Temple rallied past UTSA by scoring 21 points in the third quarter. 

Maine handled Bryant 34-14.

Iowa had a bye.

Missouri had a bye.

UMass' next opponent Kent State, fell to Oklahoma 44-0. 

Buffalo beat Eastern Michigan in overtime. 

Central Michigan Michigan was upset by Akron. 

Miami (Ohio) held Northern Illinois to 220 total yards and beat the Huskies 25-14. 

Ohio was upset by Ball State 20-14. 

Bowling Green had a bye.

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Current MAC standings is here. Buffalo and Western Michigan currently lead the league at 2-0.

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Game Day--Western Michigan 2025

 

UMass draws a tough opponent for Homecoming. The Broncos have the MAC's best defense and they (so far) are in contention for the league championship.

The Minutemen need a better performance from the offense. We're dead last or next to last in all of FBS in multiple offensive categories.  UMass has not had a good quarter running the ball since the first quarter of the Temple game---15 quarters ago. The defense looked good against Missouri. We made plays.

The offense needs to make plays and show some life today. Even if we don't win, a decent offense performance would portend some league wins later in the season.

I'll be there, cheering for the Minutemen.

Go UMass!

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The Minuteman Command report Jacquon Gibson has been the lone constant in the UMass offense.

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Hustle Belt previews the UMass-Western Michigan game and predicts Broncos 24 Minutemen 7.

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Pick Dawgz thinks Western Michigan will beat the -13.5 spread.

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Action Network thinks UMass will cover the spread.

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Next week's opponent Kent State gets Oklahoma this week.  

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UMass Football News--October 3rd, 2025

 Western Michigan has their game notes for UMass up.

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Hustle Belt has their MAC conference power ratings for Week #5.  UMass is again last. Western Michigan, by virtue of upsetting MAC favorite Toledo and blasting FCS Rhode Island is 3rd.

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Bleacher Nation says take Western Michigan to cover the 13.5 point spread.

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The Minuteman Command has this week's injury report. 

Coach Harasymiak said QB Brandon Rose might be available for this week's game. Rose did not show a lot during the opening loss to Temple, but the staff brought him in and he probably will get at least one more shot this season.

Defensive backs Kendall Bournes,  Keith Sarkodieh, Jeremiah McGill and Ryan Barnes will also be available for the Broncos game.

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Hustle Belt previews this week's games between Northern Illinois and Miami (Ohio) as well as Central Michigan vs Akron.

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Bleacher Report predicts Western Michigan 34 UMass 20.

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UMass Football News--October 2nd, 2025

 Mike and Rene talk about the Missouri game on Episode #24 of the Flagship Podcast.

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The Daily Collegian reports UMass hosts Western Michigan to open MAC conference play. 

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Broncos Athletic Dept image

HERO Sports looks at the contenders for the MAC conference championship after Week #5.  Western Michigan, this week's UMass opponent, is ranked #3.

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 Tyler Martin is on the Jason Witten Collegiate Man-of-the-Year watch list.

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UMass Football News--October 1st, 2025

 

 

Timmy Hinspeter had a breakout day against Missouri. He was among one of the national leaders in tackles for last Saturday.

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Sports Book Wire predicts Western Michigan 31 UMass 15.

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Minuteman Command reports UMass is still deciding between three QB's for the MAC opener. 

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After Week #6, College Football News predicts a 1-11 season for UMass.

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Associated Press previews the upcoming Broncos-Minutemen game.

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College Football TV ratings are up 19% over last year and up 36% over the last five years.

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