UMass Football News--August 21st, 2026

 The Minuteman Command asks if an improved UMass pass rush would improve the rest of the defense?

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Three Minutemen on the "Comeback player-of-the-Year" list. Josh Nobles, TJ Magee and TY Hardin playing up to their capabilities would be a massive help for UMass.

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 UMass safety Zeraun Daniel answers questions from the press.

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The MAC Blog "By-the-Belt" previews the Ohio University Bobcats.

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Rutgers football eyes new traffic plan and guest services to improve game day experience.  

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UMass Football News--August 20th, 2026

 The Minuteman Command has a video interview with UMass DB TJ Magee.

Magee's Minuteman bio here. 

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The Greenfield Recorder reports UMass continues to fine-tune their defensive identity. 

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 UMass LB Tyler Martin also spoke with the press about the defensive progress.

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The WMUA Sports staff has episode #5 of their preseason football preview.

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247Sports says early signs point to an improved season for Rutgers. 

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The MAC Blog has two preseason previews for the Buffalo Bulls and  the Western Michigan Broncos.

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Akron reveals nine finalists for their "Offensive coordinator of the Game" promotion. 

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UMass Football News--August 19th, 2026

 The Minuteman Command reports UMass searching for a backup quarterback.

This is a big deal as right now, as all UMass eggs are in Pop Watson's basket. In 2023 Taisun Phommachanh looked like a world-beater in the win over Diego Pava and New Mexico State. He got hurt against Auburn and was never the same. Don Brown's decision to play Phommanchanh in 2024 probably cost Brown his job. Phommanchanh played with a big brace on his knee and tried to be a pocket passer, which was not close to his game. 

Pop Watson's game is his mobility. If he's not 100%, then it's not going to work if they try to convert him into pocket passer. UMass would need to move heaven and earth to get Watson an injury red-shirt year and play someone who's healthy.

RJ Johnson III left the program under murky circumstances, so the next available QB's are Logan Inagawa  who's a dual threat guy. At Drake he threw for 1,393 yards and 9 TD's. He also rushed for 398 yards and another 9 TD's. He's probably the closest to what UMass wants Pop Watson to do.

Aedan McCarthy is a prototype Power Four QB at 6-5 230. However, he's a true freshman. In his junior and senior years, we'll be watching him play for Tennessee..

 Ty McCutcheon is apparently a pocket passer of some talent.  There's no film on him so nobody really has a feel for what he can do.

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 UMass has some images from Monday's practice.

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 Why would offensive linemen go anywhere else?

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Rutgers dismisses a former four-star recruit. 

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UMass Football News--August 18th, 2026

 

Click on the image and Blogger displays a larger image. Hopefully, this will be an historic team photo---the team that broke the putrid streak.

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 Coach Harasymiak's update on Fall practice.

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The Greenfield Recorder reports UMass is ramping up the offseason work.

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The Daily Collegian says UMass has a clear identify in Coach Harasymiak's second year. 

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Sports Illustrated has the road ahead for Rutgers.

247Sports says early signs are showing improvement for the Scarlet Knights. 

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UMass Football Opponents 2026--Eastern Michigan

 The Eastern Michigan Eagles will be the fifth game of the 2026 season and the third home game. 

The Eagles will be coming off their FCS game with Lindenwood prior to their visit to McGuirk 

In 2025 Eastern Michigan  went 4-8 overall and 3-5 in the MAC. Of interest to UMass fans, Eastern Michigan lost their FCS game to Long Island 23-28. They lost their Power Four game to Kentucky 23-48. 

UMass is 2-4 all-time against the Eagles. UMass lost the last game, in 2024, 14-28 in McGuirk. 

In 2025, the Eagles were average in offense (76th total offense) and slightly better in passing offense (59th). Defense was the weak point being 100th in scoring defense and 111th in total defense.

In 2026, Eastern Michigan returns four starters on offense and three on defense, which is decent for the Transfer Portal Era.

Lindy's ranks them 7th in 2026 in the MAC and Athlon has them 8th.

 The Eagles return QB Noah Kim (a Michigan State/Coastal Carolina 2024 transfer). He threw for 2,817 yards and 18 TD's in 2025, a total that far surpassed any UMass QB's recent efforts.

 Kim has a good group of receivers to throw to.  Nick Devereaux was 2nd team All-MAC and had 34 receptions for 510 yards. TE Joshua Long was also 2nd team All-MAC.

On defense, Eastern Michigan returns leading tackler Barry Manning at LB, one of three returning starters.

I watched a couple of 2025 Eastern Michigan full-game replays on the web and was impressed by safety Bryce LLewellyn. He's  a excellent tackler and always around the ball. Phil Steele has him  first-team preseason All-MAC.

By the time UMass and the Eagles meet on October 3rd, we should have pretty good insight into the 2026 Minutemen. Like everyone else, I feel UMass will be improved. But does "improved" mean no longer totally awful,  but just bad (as in a 3-9 season), or an actual mid-level MAC team?

My feeling is this is a 50-50 game. It's at home and the Eagles are the level of team we should be able to compete with if we are ever to be anything other than the worst team in the MAC. If UMass wins the two FCS games and Sacramento State game, the Minutemen would have the chance for an all-time FBS level four game win streak. That would be balm to the battered  egos of UMass fans. Can anything that good happen to us? We'll see..

 Go UMass!!

UMass Football News--August 16th, 2026

College Football News has UMass among the top-10 best win total predictions for 2026. 

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Western Michigan gets a mention as one of the Top-10 Group of six teams.

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The MAC blog "By-the-belt" previews the 2026 Eastern Michigan Eagles.

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Rutger's QB battle is still ongoing after the first scrimmage. 

The Scarlet Knights are searching for a jersey sponsor.  

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UMass Football News--Ides of August

 UMass football has some Fall Camp images here. Jax Markovich is the TE catching the ball.

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The MAC Blog "By-the-Belt" previews the 2026 Toledo Rockets.

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Pro Football Network names two Rutgers players as pre-season All-Americans. UMass is likely to see a heavy dose of both.

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How Akron's promotional drive to have one fan call the offensive plays of the first drive of a game came to be.

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UMass Football News--August 14th, 2026

 

Episode #4 of the WMUA summer football show.

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The Minuteman Command reports leadership comes naturally to Pop Watson.

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"Big doin's" before and after the UMass-Rutgers football game at SHI Stadium. 

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ESPN has a detailed look at preseason rankings. With all the transfers and turnover in recent years, these things are a lot more fuzzy.

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The MAC Blog "By-the-Belt" previews the 2026 Sacramento State Hornets.

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Changes to college football rules for the 2026 season.

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UMass Football News--August 13, 2026

 

UMass special teams coach Joe Castellio talks about the Minutemen's special teams for 2026.

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 UMass kicker Derek Morris talks about his role in special teams.

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The Minuteman Command reports on OC Max Warner saying he's confident we have resources in the passing game.

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FIU recaps their top-25 games in the last 25 seasons and one of them is laying 63 points on UMass.

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UMass has some images from Wednesday's practice.

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Remember a couple of blog posts ago I mentioned former UMass WR Anthony Simpson then at Michigan? Well, he's now at Toledo.

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The MAC blog "By-the-Belt" previews the Bowling Green Falcons. UMass closes the 2026 season on November 28th at Bowling Green.

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UMass Football News--August 12th, 2026

 The Greenfield Recorder reports UMass OC Warner "cautiously optimistic" and Pop Watson eager to lead the Minutemen.

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UMass OL Riley Bloch has been named to the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List.

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Sidelines Sport Network has ESPN's FPI projections for the 2026 MAC. 

A 5-7 record would  be the best in our FBS history and Sacramento State goes 6-2 in their first season with the MAC (?!)

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The MAC Blog "By-the-Belt" previews the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks. UMass misses Miami and Western Michigan in this year's MAC rotation.

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247Sports reports NIL and revenue sharing are draining the Northeast of its top recruits. 

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After a 0-12 season, UMass did not sign any of the top-14 recruits from Massachusetts. Coastal Carolina, Delaware and Temple did, however. 

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UMass Football News--August 11th, 2026

 

 The Minuteman Command has video of UMass OC Max Warner talking about the state of the Minuteman offense.

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 Pop Watson also met with the sports media and answered questions about how fall camp is going.

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The MAC blog "By-the-Belt" the Pro Football Network's preseason All-MAC teams.

UMass has four players on the teams: OL Greg Knox, LB Joshua Iseah, WR Devin Matthews and Edge Justin Krueger. 

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Yahoo Sports has what's new in college football in 2026.

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UMass Football News--August 10th, 2026

 

The WMUA sports team does their third preview of the 2026 Minutemen.

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Rutgers is having an old-fashioned starting QB battle between Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan and returning AJ Surace. 

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247Sports has why Rutgers looks like a sure bet in their opener against UMass.

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Sacramento State adds Oregon to their future schedule and Bowling Green adds Tennessee. 

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Akron's season ticket stunt is attracting celebrity ticket buyers. 

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Sporting News has jersey patch suggestions for 14 major programs.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2027--Nate Ellis commits to UMass

Nate Ellis, a 5-9 190 pound RB/Slot receiver from Williston Northampton Academy has committed to UMass.

Hudl.com has video highlights.

The Minuteman Command has a post on Ellis explaining his commitment to UMass.

Sports Illustrated reports on how four surgeries failed to stop Ellis' football career. 

Ellis had FCS offers from Georgetown, New Haven, Richmond and Rhode Island. Ellis averaged 7.7 yards/carry last year. The Minutemen need all the offensive talent they can find and Ellis should add a number of options for the future.
 

UMass Football News--August 8th, 2026

 The Minuteman Command reports UMass defensive coordinator Jared Keyte wants cohesive play from the entire defense.

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It turns out that new court decision on a 5th year of eligibility  for  2022 players is pretty complicated.

Keegan Andrews signed with the CFL, so he may not be eligible to return. 

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 Thanks to the blog reader who sent me the above image (click on the image and Blogger displays a larger view). They chose UMass-Missouri for the illustration.

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Remember Anthony Simpson? I was watching  2025 Central Michigan-Michigan full game replay on my Android tablet last night and Simpson came into the game for Michigan. The game was a Michigan 63-3 blowout (but still much better than Naked Celebrity Jeopardy Survivor Chef  that the networks provide). Anyway, for his graduate season, Simpson went 3 GP 1 carry for six yards and zero receptions.

If he had stayed at UMass he would have been one of the featured receivers last year. Hope the money at Michigan was good..   

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UMass Football News--August 7th, 2026

 The Minuteman Command reports UMass DC Jared Keyte wants the Minuteman defense to communicate, play with violence and connect with each other.

The old saying is offense sells the tickets, but defense wins the games. UMass was dead last in scoring defense last year and that was a major factor in an 0-12 season 

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The MAC blog "By-the-Belt" previews the 2026 Minutemen.

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The College Football Playoff selection committee has made some major changes to how the teams are selected.  Under the new rules, Miami and James Madison would not have made last year's playoffs.

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MAC schools land four of the top rated linebacker recruits from Michigan.

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OT,  but remember when when UMass basketball fans were saying the MAC wasn't good enough for Minuteman hoops?

Toledo currently has the #5 ranked 2027 basketball recruiting class. Ahead of Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana and Gonzaga..

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UMass Football News--August 6th, 2026

 

Press interview with UMass defensive coordinator Jared Keyte.

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Northeast Public Radio has a post on the start of UMass' training camp. 

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The Toledo Blade thinks the Protect College Sports Act is a huge win for MAC teams.

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On3.com says Don Brown is one of the top five high school assistant coaching hires.

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Akron is letting one lucky season ticket hold script their first offensive series of 2026. The MAC blog "By-the-belt" has 10 mostly tong-in-cheek suggestions for the fan.  

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College Football News predicts every 2026 bowl game.

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UMass Football News--August 5th, 2025

 The Minuteman Command looks at the rebuilt UMass defense line.

The Minuteman defensive line was a problem in 2025. UMass had only 13 sacks in 12 games and rarely had defensive pressure on the QB. In addition, bad teams ran the ball on us. Mrs Blog and I drove all the way to Kent State to watch the Golden Flashes run the ball right up the "A" gap for eight yards a pop.

UMass brought in nine DL transfers. Most people think the starting four will be Josh Nobles,  Zakar Morris, Justin Krueger and William DePaepe.

Additional transfer DL's include Zachary Betts,  Kamarion Thomas, Aubrey Melvin, Andrew DePaepe,Hollis Dirstine, and Colin Reynolds.

Romando Johnson and  Tim Passmore should also be in the mix.

UMass should have enough bodies to have some defensive rotation and find an effective starting four. This unit could be the most improved position for 2026.

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Don Brown joins the First Baptist Academy (Florida) staff.  We all wish him well.

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Western Michigan gets some votes in the AP preseason Top-25 poll.

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Yahoo Sports has takeaways from Rutgers first day of fall practice. 

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Sacred Heart places two players on the preseason All-CAA team.

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UMass Football News--August 4th, 2026

 UMass has a couple of picture galleries to get you pumped up here and here.

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Coach Harasymiak's press conference. The video starts about the 10 minute mark.
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The Minuteman Command reports Coach Harasymiak  excited as fall camp opens.

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The Hampshire Gazette says Coach Harasymiak meets with media after first practice. 

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WWLP has a short video on the opening of fall practice.

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College Football News ranks UMass #137 (out of 138) in a preseason list.

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The MAC Reporter Online (which does not have UMass in their site banner) previews the 2026 Minutemen. 

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The MAC Blog "By-the-Belt" lists the MAC preseason Maxwell Award nominees.

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UMass Football News-August 3rd, 2026

 Fall camp starts today.

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Rutgers opens as a 30.5 point favorite over the Minutemen. 

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A federal court has ruled 2022 football recruits have a fifth year of eligibility. 

That released chaos on college football general managers. 

Ryan Mosesso and Keegan Andrews are two players UMass could be interested in from the 2025 roster. 

The MAC blog "By-the-Belt" has All-MAC players who could return for a fifth year of eligibility. 

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 ESPN has listed the non-Power Four CFP chances. Most pundits have been picking Western Michigan and Miami (Ohio) to be in the MAC Championship game.

To be in the CFP a non-power four would have to run the table and Toledo clearly has the best chance in the MAC. The Rockets play Michigan State, Temple and San Diego State. Athlon picks Michigan State 17th in the Big Ten (behind Rutgers). 

Western Michigan gets Michigan, Boise State and Rice.  

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UMass Football News--August 1st, 2026

 Minuteman players report tomorrow and Fall camp starts Monday.

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 The WMUA sports team looks at the 2026 UMass defense.

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Central Michigan adds Tennessee and Michigan to their future schedules. 

UMass' schedule takes a step up in difficulty next year when the Minutemen meet Indiana and in 2028 play both Penn State and Colorado on the road.

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Ohio State will earn $17 million and Notre Dame $20 million for jersey patches. Could UMass sell the rights to a Massachusetts company? It would help if we were not totally hopeless on the field.

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