UMass Football News--July 21st, 2026

 

Riley Bloch, a 6-3 295 pound offensive lineman has been nominated to the Allstate Good works team.

More on the Allstate AFCA good works team here. 

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UMass has a history of finishing last in FBS in various categories, but Phil Steele ranks the Minutemen's 2026 schedule last in difficulty.

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This article written in 2023 ranks college football stadiums from 1 to 108 (he hasn't been to all 138 of them including McGuirk). 

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UMass Football Schedule 2026--Sacremento State

 Sacramento State is the newest member of FBS. UMass and the Hornets never met during the Minutemen's seasons in FCS.

Predicting Sacramento State's first season with the MAC is difficult. First, the Hornets received their invite to the MAC after the transfer portal closed. So this team is configured as an FCS independent.  

That's the good news. The bad news is they are probably a good FCS independent. Last year they played in FCS's top league and went 7-5 total and 5-3 in the Big Sky. They lost by three points to FBS Nevada.

However, nearly that entire team is gone. The Hornets return one starter on offense and two starters on defense. There is no need to quote last year's team stats as that team is no longer there.

Athlon Sports names six Hornets to the MAC's preseason All-league team.

On offense, players to watch include QB Carson Conklin. He finished 3rd in 2024 for the Jerry Rice award (Top player in FCS) for the Hornets. He played six games for Fresno State in 2025 and beat Boise State on their home field. He's back with the Hornets this year.

RB Jamar Curtis was a former FCS All-American at Lafayette. Six-Five 222 pound TE  Jordan Williams started for the Hornets last year. WR Matt Coleman joins Sacramento State after playing in 35 games for San Jose State.

 

On defense, 6-2 252 pound DE Xavier Williams is probably Sacramento's best player.

The Hornets return both inside linebackers from last year. Derek Houston and Alex Rocha should make the middle of Sacramento State's defense tough. 

Athlon Sports picks Sacrament State 12th in MAC (ahead of only UMass). Lindys picks them 8th (ahead of Ball State, Kent State, Bowling Green, Akron and UMass).

 We all believe the Minutemen will be better in 2026. The question is, will UMass be improved enough to beat a good FCS team.  

The AI Grok thinks this will be a close game with the Hornets winning 24-20. Grok also thinks both UMass and Sacramento State win totals will be around 3-9 for both teams.

UMass should beat Sacred Heart and Stonehill, so the Sacramento State game will be a chance for a three-game win streak. Do you remember the Minutemen's last three game win streak? (answer at the end of this post).

We should know a lot more about both teams by the time they meet. UMass will be the Hornets fifth game of the season, which will include a season opener at Eastern Michigan. UMass will be on its fourth game after Rutgers and the two FCS teams.

 My guess is this game will be close. It's a chance for a huge morale boost for UMass fans as a win would mean a four or five win season could be possible. I'll say Pop Watson leads Minutemen to their first big win of the Harasymiak era.

Go UMass!

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Answer to the win-streak question: In 2009 UMass beat Albany, Rhode Island and Stony Brook in a row in Kevin Morris' first season as head coach. The Stony Brook win was 09/26/2009. A win at Sacrament State on 09/26/2026 would be a new three game win streak after..

• 6,209 days
• 17 years (exactly)
• 887 weeks. That's brutal :(

 

UMass Football News--July 18th, 2026

 UMass Athletics dept has a post on the upcoming MAC Conference Media Day.

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The MAC blog "By-the-Belt" looks at the licensing and revenue streams for all the MAC schools and finds UMass near the bottom of the group. 

When UMass was in its glory run in basketball, the athletic dept was selling apparel like T-shirts as far away as South Africa.

If UMass could improve in either basketball or football there are a number of large corporations in Massachusetts that might be interested in partnering with UMass athletics.

Per Grok:

  Top Revenue/Scale LeadersTJX Companies (Framingham) — Off-price retail giant (T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, etc.). One of the largest by revenue (~$60B+). 

bizjournals.com

Thermo Fisher Scientific (Waltham) — Leading life sciences and biotech tools provider. Very large by revenue and employees. 

GE Vernova (Cambridge) — Energy company (spun off from GE; power, wind, electrification). Significant revenue and market presence. 

BJ's Wholesale Club (Marlborough) — Warehouse club retailer. 

Boston Scientific (Marlborough) — Medical devices. 

Other Major CorporationsLiberty Mutual Insurance (Boston) — One of the largest insurers in the U.S.
MassMutual (Springfield) — Major financial services and insurance company.
Fidelity Investments (Boston) — Huge asset manager and financial services firm.
State Street Corporation (Boston) — Global financial services and custody bank.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Boston) — Biotech leader focused on cystic fibrosis and other therapies.
Moderna (Cambridge) — mRNA technology and vaccines.
Biogen (Cambridge) — Biotechnology, neurology-focused.
Keurig Dr Pepper (Burlington) — Beverages.
American Tower (Boston) — Real estate investment trust (cell towers).
Eversource Energy (various, incl. Boston/Springfield) — Utility.
Analog Devices (Wilmington) — Semiconductors.

Notable MentionsThe Kraft Group (Foxborough) — Private; owns New England Patriots, manufacturing/packaging businesses; major local employer. 

Healthcare systems like Mass General Brigham (Somerville) are among the state's largest employers but are nonprofits.

Many companies are concentrated in the Greater Boston area (Boston, Cambridge, Waltham, Framingham, Marlborough), which benefits from proximity to universities, talent, and innovation hubs. Biotech/life sciences and finance are especially strong sectors. 

axios.com

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UMass Football Recruiting 2028--Jayden Bell

 

Jayden Bell, a 6-4 210 pound Edge from Bloomfield Hills, Mi has a UMass offer.

247Sports four-star player. 

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

This article covers his offer from Michigan. 

Bell has 39 total offers including a Who's Who of Power Four schools. Notre Dame, Alabama, Oregon, Michigan and more have offered. Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Toledo and Miami (Ohio) have offered from the MAC. UMass was one of the first to offer Bell and he would be a featured player and play early with the Minutemen. 

UMass Football News--July 16th, 2026

 The Minuteman Command has an interview with 2027 recruit Charles Turgeon.

Turgeon is being converted to an offensive tackle. He has NFL size and should be a valuable addition to to the O-line room. In the pros, the left OT is often the best paid player on the team. The left offensive tackle is usually on the  quarterback's  blind side and he's charged with keeping the fan-favorite quarterback upright.

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Western Michigan and Delaware schedule a home-and-home series. UMass and Delaware had a long running series from 1958 to 2011. The Blue Hens had a lopsided win total of 25 wins to UMass' 7.

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UMass has announced the 2026 Minuteman Hall-of-Fame class. From football, retired UMass coach Jim Reid and the DiTomasso brothers were honored.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2028--Jayden Evans

 Jayden Evans, a 6-1 170 pound Safety from Hayden Woods, MI has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

This article covers his visit to Michigan State. 

Evans has multiple Power Four offers including Ohio State, Missouri, Washington and Oregon to name a few. Toledo, Miami (Ohio) and Western Michigan have offered from the MAC. UConn recently offered. UMass was among his early offers  and he would have a chance to play early with the Minutemen.

UMass Football Recruiting 2028--Deondre Hill

 Deondre Hill, a 6-3 220 pound LB from Bloomfield Hills, MI has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

MaxPreps has some stats (offense only) 

Hill has 18 offers including multiple Power Four schools. Wisconsin, Indiana and Kansas are among those offered. From the MAC,  UMass, Bowling Green and Central Michigan have offered. UConn has recently joined the group interested in Hill. He could get an excellent East Coast education and join the resurgent UMass defense with the Minutemen.