Game Day--Eastern Michigan 2026

 

UMass has lost four straight to Eastern Michigan. The last win was eleven years ago in 2015. This year, the Minutemen are in  a much better place. The Eagles are in the middle of the MAC in power rankings. We beat Sacramento State, which is the bottom of the MAC.

Eastern Michigan is 2-3, but two of their losses are to Michigan State and Wisconsin. They have an excellent QB in Noah Kim (himself a Spartan transfer). 

From the Eagles website:

" Individually, quarterback Noah Kim ranks 24th nationally and first in the MAC in completions per game at 21.2. Kim also ranks 38th nationally and third in the MAC in passing yards with 968, and 60th nationally and third in the conference in passing touchdowns with six".

Despite Kim, the Eagle offense has been pedestrian. It's on defense where Eastern Michigan has been good, only giving up an average of 13.5 points/game to their non-Big10 opponents.

This game might be a close grind. If Pop Watson and the UMass offense can score 21+ points I think the Minutemen will win.

I'll be there cheering for our side.

Go UMass!

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The Minuteman Command has know your opponent: Eastern Michigan. 

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Yahoo Sports reports UMass achieves their first sellout in a decade.

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Covers.com thinks UMass will cover the 6.5 point spread.

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The Detroit News also thinks UMass will cover.  I get nervous when the legacy media starts jumping on the band wagon..

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The MAC conference blog "by-the-Belt" previews the Eagles-Minutemen game.

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The Boston Herald reports Pop Watson says "He's all UMass".

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The Action Network goes the other way and predicts an Eastern Michigan upset.

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Dave Portnoy wants the Barstool Sports College Football Show for the UMass-UConn game.

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Western Mass News reports UMass football will help local businesses. In just about every section of the country, college football is an economic engine.

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UMass Football News--October 2nd, 2026

 Yahoo News has "is UMass' turnaround the greatest ever"?

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ESPN says take the over on UMass.

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"Jump around" at Camp Randall.

In a scheduling change UMass will travel to Wisconsin in 2027.

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College Football News says take UMass to cover the spread against Eastern Michigan.

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The MAC blog "By-the-Belt" has Week#4 Power rankings. Their rankings pretty much match my thoughts. Right now, fourth in the conference is about level with UMass' performance. Western Michigan and Toledo seem to be the most talented squads, with Miami (Ohio) right behind.

UMass gets Miami (Ohio) at home in a week from Saturday. We have to play the Rockets at the Glass Bowl. Going 1-1 against those two should produce a pretty memorable season for UMass. Eastern Michigan has an excellent defense and UMass has to show up on both sides of the ball tomorrow to keep the win streak rolling.

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UMass Football News--October 1st, 2026

 Wow! An undefeated September. It's been a long, long time..

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 A couple of nice images from the Sacramento State game here.

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The MAC Reporter Online has a preview of the Eastern Michigan-UMass game. 

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On3.com has the best and worse of September in college football.

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UMass is tied for the top of the MAC Conference.

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Last sellout at McGuirk:  12/02/2006 a win over New Hampshire 24-17 (I was there)

Biggest recent crowd: 10/12/2024-16,102 a 45-3 loss to Missouri.

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UMass Football News--September 30th, 2026

 The Minuteman Command has a post about Coach Harasymiak trusts the team to handle the win-streak attention.

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NCAA.com has a story about seven teams that could end a multi-year AP Top-25 drought.

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Pop Watson is one of UMass' athletes-of-the-week.

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UMass is in the top-10 in FBS football in rushing defense. 

After being dead last in scoring last year, the Minutemen are #37 in the nation scoring 36.3 points a game.

Remember how I kept harping on UMass' run offense? Last year UMass was near the bottom of FBS. This year they're #35. Of the top-35 teams leading the nation in rush offense, only three have losing records. Run the damm ball.

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Next week's opponent, Miami (Ohio) may have QB injury problems for the game.

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For the first time in years, we don't have to check ESPN's bottom-10 rankings.

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UMass Football News--September 29th, 2026

 

Coach Harasymiak's Monday press conference.

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Eastern Michigan has its game notes for UMass up.

UMass' game notes for Eastern Michigan. 

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Coach Harasymiak updates the Minutemen's injury situation.

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The MAC blog By-the-Belt has its "Monday Musings" edition on the weekend's MAC games.

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Vegas has UMass as a -5.5 to -6  favorite over Eastern Michigan.

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A Yard Barker writer thinks if UMass goes to a bowl, Coach Harasymiak should be National Coach-of-the-Year.

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In ESPN's weekly bowl projection article, UMass gets more than one bowl this week.

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And we're still in contention for the Group-of-Six's slot in the college football playoffs.

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The Athletic notes UMass hits an all-time high it its weekly FBS power rankings.

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The Greenfield Recorder notes UMass is eyeing an FBS record win total in its game against Eastern Michigan.

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UMass Football News--September 28th, 2026

 

Coach Harasymiak's post Sacramento State game press conference.

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UMass gets 9 votes in the Week #4 Top-225 Coach's Poll.

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The Sacramento Bee says UMass blew out the Hornets in their first home MAC game.

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The Daily Collegian thinks UMass will reach bowl eligibility for real this time. 

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College Football News projects UMass vs Wyoming in the Snoop Dogg Bowl. Please God, not the Snoop Bowl..

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The MAC Blog By-the-Belt said it was a dominate win over Sacramento State.

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Separated at birth? 

Mississippi State's road whites

UMass' road whites

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UMass Football News--September 27th, 2026

 

Watch this.

Well it turned out I should'na fretted. UMass got up early due to Pop Watson and ran the ball to shorten the game. The Minutemen were in control from the git-go and never trailed.

The defense though was phenomenal . AFAIK, no UMass defense has held an FBS team to zero touchdowns in the FBS era. The defense held Sacramento State to the lowest score since November 10th, 2017 when UMass beat BYU 16-10.

The Hornet moved the ball between the 20 yard lines, but UMass was near perfect in the Red Zone. The defense added 4 TFL, 4 SACKS, 1 INT for a pick-six. The UMass pass rush tormented the Sacramento State QB all game.

UMass dominated on both sides of the ball. Welcome to 4-0. 

UPDATE: I gotta include this image from the Sacramento Bee

Jose Luis Villegas image

 UMass defense!!!

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UMass write-up here. 

Sacramento State write-up here.

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The Minuteman Command says UMass rolled past Sacramento State. 

 MassLive reports UMass dominates the Hornets.

Fox Sports reports the Minutemen are 4-0.

The MAC conference web site says the Minutemen are 4-0 for the first time since 2007. 

The Daily Collegian says UMass subdued Sacramento State.

The Collegian also says Pop Watson did it. 

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Rutgers won big Friday night.

Sacred Heart upset New Hampshire for their first ever CAA win.

Stonehill played another good first half, but faded in the second against MAC Ohio. 

Eastern Michigan dominated FCS Lindenwood.

In a game that may have implications for UMass, Miami (Ohio) beat UConn. 

Buffalo had trouble against FCS Robert Morris, but won 31-28. 

Ball State lost to Kent State 26-13.

Toledo crushed San Diego State 41-16. 

Akron lost to UNLV 38-10. 

Bowling Green lost a close one to USF.

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If you didn't see the game, ESPN has video highlights here.