UMass Football News--November 13th, 2026

 Coach Harasymiak recaps the Toledo loss.

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The Daily Collegian says Pop Watson's injury could cause trouble for UMass' bowl hopes. 

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Rutgers retains HC Greg Schiano for 2027 despite 2-7 record.

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MAC Reporter Online recaps Wednesday's conference results.

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 Coach Harasymiak's Akron week press conference is today at 1:00 pm.

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I've been watching UMass football for decades and I've never seen an injury year like this one. When the team that played Rutgers is on the field, UMass in the upper 50%  of MAC talent. This is a huge change from 2025 when we were lower level FCS. However, the Minutemen have not been able keep those players available. Pop Watson is a game changer but he's been out of or missed most of five games.

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UMass Football News-- November 12th, 2026

 Well, the game was decided in the first quarter when Pop Watson left injured. The Minutemen also lost cornerback Isaiah Reed, receiver Joseph Griffin Jr. and cornerback Chris Stanley, cornerback T.J. Magee and TY Harding.

Andrew Zock and the Rockets smothered the remaining UMass offense. Logan Inagawa did not have a good game, but he was under a relentless pass rush all game. He also did not have a lot of weapons to work with.

The Rockets defensive superiority masked a pretty good effort by the UMass defense. The Minuteman defense only gave up 17 points and  held Toledo scoreless in the second half. The Rocket offense was a combined 7-17 on 3rd and 4th downs. Toledo rang up a lot of yards, but they only scored on three drives. The Minuteman defense had two sacks and 5 TFL.

The injury total puts UMass in a tight spot for the remaining two games. 

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Rockets write-up here. 

 UMass write-up here.

The Minuteman Command said Toledo shut out UMass. 

The MAC blog "By-the-Belt" said Toledo shuts out UMass and continues their title momentum. 

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Buffalo beat Ball State 28-7 to obtain bowl eligibility. 

Central Michigan beat Sacramento State also by a 28-7 score. 

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Game Day--Toledo 2026

 

The Minuteman Command has the latest Flagship Podcast featuring Christian McCollum and Rene Ingoglia.

The guys make some good points in this issue. I agree Joe Griffin has not had a breakout receiving game so far. He's a bad match-up for most MAC defensive backs. It would be great if UMass can get him going in the last three games. The WR combo of Griffin, Ty Harding and Kezion Dia-Johnson are the most potent we've had in FBS.

As for tonight, the Rockets have long been one of the MAC's best teams. UMass' last win over Toledo was in 1978 and the Minutemen have never won in the FBS era.

Still, UMass is a much better team this year and both Sacramento State and Buffalo gave the Rockets a hard time. If UMass cuts down on mistakes, the Minutemen could win this one.

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

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The ESPN Week #10 bowl predictions has UMass in the Myrtle Beach Bowl or the Puerto Rico Bowl.

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ESPN also ranks UMass #123 after Week #10 with 6.9 % chance to win out and a 91.0% chance of six wins.

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Sports Gambler thinks UMass has  60% chance to beat the spread at Toledo.

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Bet MGM thinks Toledo has a 86.9 % chance to win the game and UMass has a 67.2% chance to win the point spread.

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The MAC Blog "By-the-Belt" has UMass #8 in the weekly MAC conference power rankings.

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College Sports Wire predicts Toledo 36 UMass 20.

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Last Night's MAC results:

Western Michigan beat Akron 42-14. 

Bowling Green beat Kent State 33-28. 

Miami (Ohio) upset undefeated in league play Ohio 34-17. 

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UMass Football News--November 10th, 2026

 UMass game notes for Toledo.

Toledo's game notes for UMass.

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Pop Watson is MAC conference's co-offensive Player-of-the-Week.

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The Minuteman Command reports Coach Harasymiak wants a more consistent UMass for the Toledo game.

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MAC Reporter Online previews Wednesday's  Rockets-Minutemen game 

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Yahoo Sports reports the College Football Playoffs could benefit teams like Toledo.

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Meanwhile, ESPN offers $1.7 billion for media rights to the 2027 college football playoffs.

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UMass Football News--November 9th, 2026

 WWLP reports Coach Harasymiak reflects on the Ball State win and looks ahead to Toledo.

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Vegas has UMass a 14.5 point underdog to Toledo.

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Fan Duel has Toledo with a 78.4% chance to win.

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MAC Reporter Online previews Tuesday's MAC conference games.

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 Ty Harding is among the candidates for the Comeback Player-of-the-Year.

As I said in a previous post, Harding makes a difference when he's in there.  The UMass offense is in attack mode when he's playing.

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Pop Watson wins his second New England Gold Helmet Award of the season.

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UMass Football News--November 8th, 2026

 UMass announces an eight-year apparel partnership with Under Armour.

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 Toledo's UMass week press conference. 

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BC lost to Florida State. 

UConn lost to North Carolina. 

UMass is the FBS team with the most wins in New England.

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College Football News has UMass at #114 after this weekend's games.

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UMass Football News--November 7th, 2026

 

Coach Harasymiak's press conference for the Toledo game week.

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The MAC Blog "By-the-Belt" has its "Monday Musings" post on the past week's MAC conference results.

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WWLP has a post on Harasymiak's press conference.

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The Toledo Blade has five takeaways from the Rockets win over Sacramento State. 

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What the Rockets have is Andrew Zock.  He won the Buck Buchanan award as the best DL in FCS football and he is rolling with Rockets. He leads the MAC with QB pressures by a wide margin.

UMass needs to probably double-team him to keep Zock  from being in the backfield all game.

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UMass-Toledo will air at 7:30 pm on the CBS sports network.

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