Saturday, October 24, 2026

UMass Football News--October 24th, 2026

Well, we'll always have September. October was winless. UConn was the better team yesterday. The Huskies had a better offense and special teams. Defense was about even.

There was some good news. Pop Watson was back as was Joe Griffin. That bodes well for the last third of the season.

The bad news was for the third game in a row, UMass decisively lost the special teams play. The offense was backed up starting drives most of the game and we had a punt blocked for a TD.

Five three-and-outs in a row probably decided the game. Pop Watson looked a little off in his passing in the first half and a slew of penalties prevented the Minutemen from gaining any traction.

We're off until November 4th, so the players can get some rest and recovery.

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 UMass write-up here.

UConn write-up here. 

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CBS Sports reports Kalieb Osbourne totals 3 TD's to lead UConn to a 35-16 victory. 

The Daily Collegian reports UMass' freefall continued at UConn. 

MassLive says Pop Watson returns, but UMass suffers 4th consecutive loss. 

Fox 61 says UConn overwhelms UMass under the lights. 

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Sacred Heart beat Hampton 35-21.

The rest of UMass' opponents play today.

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Friday, October 23, 2026

Game Day --UConn 2026

 


Well, today should be a big challenge playing a good Husky team on the road with a short week and a short roster.

However, its a rivalry game. UMass' good defense should keep the game within reach. What we need to eliminate mistakes and score some points. Upsetting UConn would make the season worthwhile right there. We'll have to see how many, if any, of the game time injury decisions break our way. 

It should be a good atmosphere and a good game for New England football. Ancient enemies UMass and UConn on a Friday night. If you like college football, this is what it's all about.

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

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Sports Gambler says take the Minutemen and the points. 

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Fox 61 reports UConn welcomes a rejuvenated UMass to The Rent tonight. 

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The Hartford Courant says Bar Stool Sports will join the UMass-UConn game.

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MassLive.com reports Polymarket Analytics thinks UConn has a 86.6 % chance of winning the game. 

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The UConn Report says there will be more eyes than ever for tonight's Huskies-Minutemen game.

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The Minuteman Command welcomes Latish Kinsler to discuss the latest in college sports recruiting and UMass' place in that world.

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Thursday, October 22, 2026

UMass Football News--October 22nd, 2026

 The Minuteman Command has two posts:

Coach Harasymiak and Coach Campanile reunite on opposite sides Friday night. 

The Minuteman Command looks at the PFF grades for the Buffalo game. 


 I was there and I thought Logan Inagawa played a good game, especially for his first start. He was hampered (as Pop Watson would have been) by the fact the top-three UMass WR's were out.He threw for 168 yards and he was the leading rusher (not counting sack yardage) with 93 yards. Also for the second game in a row, the offense did not have very good field position for most of the game. With Ty Harding out, UMass had zero return yards, while Buffalo had 96 total return yards plus 14 punt return yards. 

In close games, field position counts a lot.. 

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UMass Athletics adds a three-year sponsorship from Greenfield Savings bank.

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Patch.com reports UMass-UConn is getting a double shot of Barstool Sports coverage.

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UMass football helmets get the "Scrip-U" logo for the UConn game.

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Yahoo Sports predicts UConn 34 UMass 20.

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CT Insider says Friday night with UMass and UConn is special.

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Wednesday, October 21, 2026

UMass Football News--October 21st, 2026

 UConn's game notes for UMass are up.

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Western Mass News says the UMass-UConn rivalry is drawing national attention.

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The Minuteman Command reports Coach Harasymiak said UConn is an explosive team.  

UConn is currently #33 nationally in both 1st downs and scoring offense. The Huskies average 35.7 points a game.

I think the the UMass defense will play their usual tough game. However, scoring 18 points will not win this game. UMass will need to score 28+ to win.

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 TJ Magee was comeback player-of-the-week.

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The Hartford Current says the 24-team playoff means UConn really needs a league affiliation.

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Tuesday, October 20, 2026

UMass Football News--October 20th, 2026


 UMass has its game notes for UConn up.

Three freshmen in the two-deep in the WR position. Drew Alsup, Tavian Dashiell and Kai Owens are listed in the two-deep. 

No games notes for UConn yet.

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Coach Harasymiak's Monday press conference for the UConn game. Some of the walking wounded will be a game-time decsion.

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Yahoo Sports has UConn's QB Kaleb Osborne prepares to face UMass. 

Osborne's UConn bio.

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UMass is #118 in this week's ESPN power rankings.

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The MAC blog "By-the-Belt" reviews the weekend's conference games including UMass-Buffalo.

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UConn HC Jason Candle is impressed by the Huskies resiliency. 

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Yahoo Sports says the expansion of the CFP to 24 teams won't help UConn's chances (or any other Group-of-Six team).

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Monday, October 19, 2026

UMass Football News--October 19th, 2026

 X has Coach Harasymiak's post-Buffalo game press conference.

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WWLP has UMass moves to 4-3 after a defeat at Buffalo.

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Amherst Wire said UMass dropped a heartbreaker to the Bulls.

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The Daily Collegian reports the UMass defense crumbled in the clutch.

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 The Minuteman Command reports no one cares about the Minutemen's injury problems.

All this is true to some extent, there is no denying the offense team that opened with four victories has not been on the field the last two games. It is impressive that we've been so competitive playing players who were 3rd on the depth chart opening the season. 

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Channel 8 says the Huskies are preparing for a Friday night game against the Minutemen.

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Vegas has UMass a 15.5 point underdog to the Huskies.

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 UConn coach Jason Candle's press conference for the UMass game.

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Fox 61 reports Candle is impressed with UConn's resilience this year.

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Sunday, October 18, 2026

UMass Football News--October 18th, 2024

 Some special teams misplays in the first half contributed to yesterday's loss. A long kickoff return gave Buffalo a short field. A missed field goal, a muffed punt all contributed to a slow start. The UMass offense had bad field position a number of times.

UMass was missing most of their offensive stars. I think if Pop Watson, Ty Harding, Joe Griffin could have played--even one of them would have been enough to flip the scrip on the last three games. We were very close to a win against Buffalo. Curtis Kimmons was another player who DNP yesterday. The offensive team that had the four game win streak was just not there.

The UMass defense again played well. Scoring sub-20 points is not going to win many games. 

We get a bye after UConn and hopefully get some offensive stars back for the last four games of the season.

UMass write-up here. 

Buffalo write-up here.

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 The Minuteman Command said UMass fell in overtime.

The Greenfield Recorder reports UMass faltered late. 

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Rutgers broke through with a win at Maryland. 

Sacred Heart won again over Hampton. 

Stonehill lost late to Duquesne.

Sacramento State was crushed by Ohio 48-7. 

Eastern Michigan lost to Toledo 34-14. 

Miami (Ohio) beat Akron 34-14. 

UConn had a bye.

Ball State won in overtime over Bowling Green.