UMass Football News--October 4th, 2026

 Well, UMass looked flat and uninspired in a loss to Eastern Michigan. We fumbled a scoring chance, missed a field goal (a long one admittedly) and threw a costly interception. Eastern Michigan QB Noah Kim was in control all game and picked apart the UMass secondary. The Eagles repeatedly converted third-and-long situations. 

The Eastern Michigan defense was as good as advertised. The Eagles held UMass to its lowest offense stats of the year.

Pop Watson was not sharp and did not influence the game. Conference play is tough. We have a chance to play better against Miami (Ohio) next week and they are one of the MAC's top teams. Shake it off and play better next week.

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UMass write-up here. 

Eastern Michigan write-up here. 

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The Minuteman Command said the Eagles crushed UMass' unbeaten dreams. 

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CBS Sports says Eastern Michigan routs UMass.

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The Greenfield Recorder says Eastern Michigan sank UMass in front of a sell-out crowd.

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MassLive reports UMass is perfect no longer.

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The Daily Collegian says UMass handed itself the loss.

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Rutgers got whacked by #6 Indiana 47-15. 

Sacred Heart continued their run through the CAA beating Maine in Orno 24-16.

Stonehill had a bye.

Sacramento State had a bye.

Miami (Ohio) also had a bad day and was upset by Bowling Green 24-20.

Buffalo lost a close one to Western Michigan 20-17. 

 UConn lost a thriller to Syracuse in overtime.

Ball State lost to Toledo 39-24. 

Central Michigan ran over Akron 41-17.

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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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