UMass Football News--December 26th, 2025

 I watched Ohio's win over UNLV on the treadmill Christmas morning. The Bobcats won their seventh bowl win in a row with a strong running game. Over the season, Ohio ran for 3178 yards and 32 (!) rushing TD's.

Another factoid was Ohio was one of nine college football teams to have every offensive lineman play every snap in 2025. 

In 2025 UMass rushed for 989 yards and 6 rushing TD's (2 of the 6 were by QB Grant Jordan). I have no idea how many offensive line combinations we used.

In UMass' 1998 national championship the Minutemen rushed for 3024 yards and 32 rushing TD's.

In 1998 the UMass OL was:

LT Bolden, LG Wynne, C Hagood, RG Lauback, RT Hill.

Over 15 games that's 75 potential starts. How many UMass OL starts were missed?

One. Cliff Bolden missed the first UConn game.

UMass needs a bell-cow RB and offensive line talent and continuity in 2026. Fixing the run game needs to be a top priority for 2026.

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The MAC is in another bowl game today at 1:00 when run-heavy Central Michigan meets Northwestern. 

If you can run the rock, you've got a good lookin' offense.. 

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Christmas 2025

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all blog readers and UMass fans.

May Santa bring us a better year than 2025! Like Linus' rant at the end of the "Great Pumpkin" I still believe.. 

UMass Football News--December 24th, 2025

 

UMass signs with UpNext, which is a transfer portal advisory service. I was actually wondering if such a service existed. If it does, then I was thinking it would make sense for the Minutemen to get some help in evaluating transfer talent. Harasymiak and staff hit home runs with Timmy Hinspeter, Jovoni Borbon, Keegan Andrews and Derek Morris, but the result at quarterback and running backs was not as good.

I think the high school recruiting is going well, but UMass definitely needs some transfer portal help in 2026. 

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Toledo and Louisville hooked up in a highly entertaining Boca Raton Bowl yesterday. 

The Rockets were playing without their HC and starting QB.

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Ohio won it's seventh straight bowl game against Nevada Las Vegas in the Frisco Bowl. 

The MAC is currently 2-1 in bowl games. 

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UMass Football Recruiting 2026--David Chiavegato signs with UMass

 David Chiavegato, a 5-11 190 pound Athlete from Xaverlan Brothers HS and Westwood, MA signed with the Minutemen on LOI day.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has senior highlights. 

The Minuteman Command did a post on Chiavegato back in May. 

MaxPreps has stats. 

Chiavegato had offers from Army, Navy, Air Force and Coastal Carolina. He can play both ways, but projects as a DB in college. The Minutemen desperately need more  talent in the defensive backfield and Chiavegato should make a difference early.

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Donovon Murphy signs with UMass

 Donovan Murphy, a 6-4 230 pound Edge from Bishop McNamara HS in District Heights, MD signed with UMass on LOI day.

247Sports page here. 

The Minuteman Command did a post on Murphy back in June. 

Hudl.com has senior highlights. 

Top-50 player in Maryland by 247Sports, On3 and Rivals. 

The UMass defense needs a pass rush and edge contain badly. Murphy should be in the DL mix early in his career with the Minutemen. 

UMass Football News--December 20th, 2025

 If you missed it, Western Michigan won the Myrtle Beach Bowl over Kennesaw State 41-6.  Of all the bowls, only the Myrtle Beach Bowl matched two conference champions. The Broncos got the MAC off to a strong start in the bowl season with a dominate win over the Owls.

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Keegan Andrews was named (so far) to two All-America teams.

 

 Lost in all the losing was the fact that Andrews and Derek Morris were, by far, the best kicking combo in our FBS era. Morris could have been even more of a weapon with a better offense. He went 10-16 for the year, but 2 of his misses were from 40+ yards and 3 were from 50+

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Long snapper Jovoni Borbon was also a PFF All-American.

 Long snapping is often overlooked, but it makes a big difference to the kicker and punter. Borbon was a big part of the most effective kicking game in decades..

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UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Robert Ekins signs with UMass

 Robert Ekins, a 6-2 260 pound Edge from Don Bosco Prep and Ramsey, NJ signed with UMass on LOI day.

247Sports page here. 

I blogged about Ekins almost a year ago. Wow, that went fast..

Hudl.com has senior season highlights. 

MaxPreps has stats. 

First Team All-Defense United Red Division in 2025. 

First Team All-Bergen County defense in 2025. 

Ekins also had an offer from Army. Ekins has a strong motor and UMass is in dire need of DL talent. I look forward to seeing him play for the Minutemen.