UMass 2026 Football Schedule--Sacred Heart

 The Sacred Heart Pioneers went 8-4 playing an independent schedule in 2025. They were undefeated at home. They played and lost to FCS powers Montana and Villanova. Sacred Hear beat Norfolk State 31-28.  Rutgers, UMass' first 2026 opponent, beat Norfolk State 60-10.

This year. the Pioneers join the much-changed CAA (now Coastal Conference). JMU, UMass and Delaware have gone FBS, with notable success by Delaware and JMU. Villanova, Richmond and William & Mary left for now more academic-oriented Patriot League. Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire remain from the northern section of the old CAA.

Lindy's picks Sacred Heart 11th in the thirteen team CAA.  

 The Pioneers return 6-0 177 pound Jack Snyder as their QB. He had a good year in 2025 going 11 GP 166-233-1,867 71% 3 INT's 11 TD's. 

 Offensively, Sacred Heart is led by 5-7 155 pound RB Mitchell Summers. He was a 1,000 yard rusher in 2025 going 11 GP 197-1,061 12 TD's. Summers can also catch the ball. He had 9 receptions for 119 yards to go with his running.

Defensively the  Pioneers were 75th in total defense in FCS in 2025. They were 104th in rushing defense. 

 The Pioneer defense was led by the wonderfully-named Maximus Mongelli, a 6-1 195 pound DB. He had 61 TT and 7 BKUP. He was listed as a graduate student on the 2025 roster, but had a redshirt year. Sacred Heart has not posted their 2026 roster yet, so I don't know if he returns.

UMass should be riding a 17 game loosing streak when the Minutemen play the Pioneers. This game should be a good indication on the trend of UMass football in 2026.  Last year the Minutemen managed only a meager 101 net yards rushing against Bryant. If UMass wins handily, such as 35-7 then the omens should be positive for 2026. If the Minutemen need some late-game heroics to win 24-21, then it could be another long year in the MAC.

The UMass defense needs to corral the speedy Sacred Heart RB Summers.  QB Snyder's 71% completion average could be trouble if the rebuilt Minutemen defensive line does not develop some pressure.

 I think UMass breaks its loss streak on September 12th. The margin of victory should tell us quite a bit.

Go UMass! 

UMass Football Recruiting 2029--Jacob Reed

 Jacob Reed, a 6-3 300 pound IOL from Wallingford, CT has a UMass offer.

247Sport page here. 

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

The above video is from the Minuteman Command.

Reed has offers from Duke, Syracuse, Wake Forest, UConn and Rhode Island. He could play close to home and be part of the new UMass offense in Amherst. 

UMass 2026 Football Schedule--Rutgers

 UMass opens its season with Big10 Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights went 5-7 (2-7 in the Big10) in 2025.

Oh, and they won their FCS game against Morgan State 60-10. 

For 2026, Lindy' College Football Magazine picks Rutgers  last in the Big10 and Athlon picks the Scarlet Knights 16th in the 18 team league.

I do not think the Minutemen have any chance of an upset here. Rutgers is operating on a different planet than UMass.

For one thing, they have two preseason All-Americans. Wide receiver  KJ Duff is 6-6 and went 60 catches for 1,084 yards in 2025. He also led the nation in contested catches (22). 

Running back Antwan Raymond ran for 1,275 yards and 13 TD's against Big10 defenses. 

Athlon Sports named Duff and Raymond pre-season All-Americans 

They also have last year's Boston College's starting QB  Dylan Lonergan. He started 9 games and threw for over 2,000 yards for the Eagles in 2025.

This article covers the Scarlet Knights QB battle. 

The Scarlet Knights also signed three (or four depending on the recruiting service) four-star recruits. That's more than the MAC, Sun Belt and American conferences combined. 

Last year Rutgers played two MAC teams and beat them both. Ohio played the Scarlet Knights tough and lost by three points. The next game Rutgers pulled away from Miami (Ohio) in the fourth quarter and won 45-17.

So Rutgers should be the best team UMass plays in 2026 by a significant margin. This article predicts the Scarlet Knights game-by-game season and thinks they beat UMass 44-7. 

The Minutemen should have a tough time with the high-octane Rutgers offense, but I'm hoping Pop Watson and the UMass offense can show some life and be competitive for most of the game. A score of 44-20 would indicate a substantial improvement over last year's Minuteman squad.  

I recently watched the full game Rutgers-Penn State 11/29/25 replay on YouTube. It's well worth watching if you like college football and will get your juices flowing for this year.

 Go UMass!

UMass FootballRecruiting 2030--Kevin Roig

 

Kevin Roig, a 5-11 150 pound WR from Manchester, NH has a UMass offer.

Some drill highlights here. 

This post features Roig. 

Although a 2030 recruit, Roig already has FBS offers from UMass, UConn and Syracuse. Rhode Island has offered from FCS. Coach Harasymiak should have the Minutemen rebuilt and competitive in the MAC by 2030 and Roig could play in front of family and friends in Amherst.

UMass Football Recruiting 2028--Gavin Strang

 

Denny Simmons image

Gavin Strang, a 6-5 190 pound QB from Brentwood, TN has a UMass offer.

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

Sports Illustrated has a post on why Oklahoma offered him. 

Strang has Power Four offers from Kentucky, Arkansas and Oklahoma. UMass and Kent State have offered from the MAC. Boston College and UConn have offered from New England. Strang could get an excellent education and be a fixture in the new Minuteman offense in Amherst.  

UMass Football Recruiting 2027--Trent Small commits to UMass

 Trent Small, a 6-4 272 pound DL from Hyattsville, MD has committed to UMass.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

The Minuteman Command has a post and interview with Small about his joining the Minutemen. 

Small had twelve offers and chose UMass over Syracuse, Oregon State, Temple, UConn and UCF.  Defensive linemen are sought after recruits and Small could be a fixture in the UMass defense in future years. I look forward to watching him play. 

UMass Football News--June 25th, 2026

 

QB Ty McCutcheon makes it official.

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The MAC blog "By the Belt" has a post on the MAC conference team rankings in  2026 EA Sports College Football .

Full list here. UConn is 74. Boston College is next to last in the ACC.

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PA Football News has a post on RB Amari Cannon's commitment to UMass.

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Sacramento State, the new MAC conference member, will be eligible for the college football playoffs and bowl games right away.

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