Happy Thanksgiving 2025

 

Mrs Blog and I would like to wish all blog readers, UMass football family and friends a Happy Thanksgiving!

UMass Football News--November 26th, 2025

 A bad first quarter sank any hopes of an UMass upset. After the first 15 minutes, the Minutemen played Bowling Green about equal. That doesn't change the fact UMass lost to a better, faster, stronger team. And that team was ranked next-to-last in the MAC.

In the Autumn of my life I've been studying the Stoics. One of the main tenants of stoic philosophy is not to make yourself unhappy over things you can't control. The 2025 season is over and can't be changed.

We can change 2026 and I hope Thorr, the coaches and the administration are committed to improvement in UMass football. We need a MAJOR  talent injection into the roster.

Let's get going.

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UMass write-up here. The Minutemen rushed for 69 yards total (2.4 yards/carry). Bowling Green rushed for 278 yards (5.8 yards/carry). Fixing the UMass rushing game (last in the MAC-- 82 yards/game in conference) is project #1 in reviving the UMass offense.

Bowling Green write-up here. 

The Minuteman Command's write-up here. 

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Western Michigan beat Eastern Michigan to clinch a birth in the MAC Championship game. 

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Game Day -- Bowling Green 2025--The Omega of the 2025 Season

I've had UMass season tickets since 1976. This is the hardest season Minuteman fans have had to endure in my memory.  Hopefully, the end of 2025 will be an upward inflection point for the program. We need a massive restructuring of the team and it will start tomorrow.

 It will be interesting to see how Thorr impacts the management of the program. So there should be a lot to talk about during recruiting and the transfer portal.

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

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Hustle Belt previews the Falcons-Minutemen game. 

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College Sports Wire predicts Bowling Green 21 UMass 10.

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Covers thinks UMass will make it close.

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Hustle Belt has their Monday MAC Musings Week #13.

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On the last week of the season, there are still 16 paths to the MAC Championship game.

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UMass Football News--November 24th, 2025

 College Football News predicts Bowling Green 30 UMass 15.

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Bleacher Nation thinks UMass will cover the 14.5 point spread.

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Sports Book Wire has all the stats on the Falcons-Minutemen matchup.

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In this version of the story, Sports Book Wire predicts Bowling Green 30 UMass 17.

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Toledo beat Ball State 38-9 to go undefeated at home in 2025. The Rockets have finished .500 or above for 16 consecutive seasons a record only exceeded by Boise State and Alabama.

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Colorado State starting QB suspended after spitting on an opponent.

This year has been weird. A football player stabbed two of his teammates  and there have been several brawls.

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UMass Football News--November 23rd, 2025

 The Greenfield Recorder says Bowling Green is UMass' last chance to avoid a winless season.

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The Daily Collegian reports UMass plays Bowling Green in the season finale.

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Draft Kings has UMass a 16.5 point underdog.

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Temple was throttled by Tulane 37-13. Half way through the season the Owls looked like a sure bet for six wins and bowl game. However now they're 5-6 and have to face a tough North Texas team to get to six wins.

Bryant lost to Stony Brook 35-28 to finish their season 3-9. 

Iowa edged Michigan State to run their record to 7-4. 

Oklahoma held Missouri's vaunted rushing attack to 70 yards and beat the Tigers 17-6. 

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UConn won a shoot-out at FAU to run their record to 9-3. The Huskies should rise in the "others receiving votes" in the AP Top-25 poll.

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UMass Football News--November 22nd, 2025

 Coach Harasymiak's weekly video press conference for the Bowling Green game.

Both AJ Hairston and Brandon Rose are out. Grant Jordan will get the start. 

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UMass has their game notes for Bowling Green up.

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Bowling Green in turn has their game notes for UMass up.

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The Daily Collegian reports UMass will face Bowling Green and a last chance for a victory. 

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The NIU student newspaper, after the Minutemen's loss to the Huskies, to finish winless. 

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UConn made the "others receiving votes" in this week's Top-25 voting. The Huskies can run their record to 9-3 with a win over FIU today. 

Boston College has a bye. The Eagles meet Syracuse on November 29th for a chance to avoid a winless FBS schedule.

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UMass Football News--November 21st, 2025

 Rene and Christian do Episode #31 of the Flagship Podcast.

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With one week to go in the season Western Michigan is in the MAC conference lead at 6-1. 

Central Michigan, Miami (Ohio) and Toledo all have two losses.

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Pro Football Network has a complete breakdown of the chances to make the MAC championship game with tie-breakers going into the last week.

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In the Group-of-Five, Tulane, North Texas and James Madison are in contention for a playoff berth.

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UMass Football News--November 20th, 2025

 Ohio has their post-game press conference.

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The Athens Post reports Sieh Bangura had a career day against the Minutemen. 

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Hustle Belt says the Bobcats pulled away. 

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Miami (Ohio) beat Buffalo last night to the MAC championship game in sight. 

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Central Michigan dominated on the ground and the clock to beat the Kent State Golden Flashes last night. 

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Bet MGM has the MAC Conference championship odds. 

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UMass Football News--November 19th, 2025

 Well, UMass suffered an honorable defeat against Ohio. The Minutemen played hard and made some plays. They were up against a bigger, healthier, more talented team.

The announcers said the Bobcat offensive line had been healthy and playing together all season. UMass' injury-riddled O-line has been in flux all year.

There was a big talent gap between the teams. Ohio has the league's best QB in Parker Navarro and in Sieh Bangura, the league's best running back.  

UMass is #131 in FBS rushing offense. In addition, the Minutemen do not have a RB in the MAC conference's top-25. That's pretty astounding. Fixing the running game is one of the top priorities for the off season.

It was a watchable game and UMass played hard.

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UMass write-up here. 

Ohio write-up here. 

The Minuteman Command sums up the game here. 

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Western Michigan beat Northern Illinois to keep the top spot in the league. 

Akron beat Bowl Green 19-16 on a couple big plays.

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Game Day--Ohio 2025

 UMass faces a tough MAC opponent today. The Bobcats almost  beat Rutgers at their place to open the season and are in strong contention for the MAC championship. Ohio has a Power Four sized point spread.

The objective for the Minutemen is just to play better. Getting the offense to make some drives and score some points would be a morale booster. It would be a motive for improvement in the off season.

One defense, if we could make Ohio work for their points, the final score could be respectable. 

The game is available on the CBS Sports Network, which is part of many cable systems.

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

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CBS Sports has details on the game.

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College Football News predicts Ohio 44 UMass 7

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Hustle Belt previews today's game between the Bobcats and the Minutemen.

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College Sports Wire predicts Ohio 35 UMass 0

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Covers reports Ohio has Sieh Bangura who is the MAC conference leading rusher and also predicts he'll have a big night against the UMass defense.

Bangura leads the MAC with 173-927 5.4 AVE 11 TD's. 

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UMass Football News--November 17th, 2025

 The Athens Post has everything you need to know about Ohio's final home game against UMass

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Bleacher Nation thinks the Bobcats will cover the 32.5 point spread. Remember the point spread is not a scale of the strength of the two teams, it's an inducement to have equal numbers of betters on both sides of the bet. Probably not many people want to take the UMass side.

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Sports Book Wire predicts Ohio 41 UMass 6. A good prop bet would be if the Minutemen score a touchdown..

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Hustle Belt has MAC conference bowl bid projections for Week #12. Eight MAC teams are in the running for a bowl game.

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USA Today's college football rankings after 11/17/25.  UMass and Boston College are the only two teams with double-digit losses.

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UMass Football News--November 16th, 2025

 The Minuteman Command takes a drive-by-drive look at UMass' blowout loss to Northern Illinois.

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Sports Book Wire looks at the stats behind Ohio's 28.5 point spread as a favorite over UMass. 

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The Daily Collegian says UMass faces a stern test at Ohio.

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Ohio's HC Brian Smith's (good name)  press conference for the Minuteman game.

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Temple had a bye.

Bryant was crushed by New Hampshire 42-14 to fall to 3-8 overall and 1-6 in the CAA. 

Iowa lost to USC on a rainy day in LA. Verging on a disappointing season for the Hawkeyes. They still have to play Michigan State and Nebraska.

Ahmad Hardy rushed for 300 yards and led Missouri to a dominate win over Mississippi State. 

Kent State plays Central Michigan on the 19th.

Buffalo plays Miami also on the 19th.

Akron plays Bowling Green on the 18th.

Northern Illinois plays Western Michigan on the 18th.

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UConn handled Air Force 26-16 in front of 32,000+ fans. The Huskies are undefeated at home.

Boston College played a spirited game against Georgia Tech and lost on a field goal with 11 seconds left in the game.  The Eagles are 1-10 with a game at Syracuse to go.

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UMass Football News-- The Ides of November 2025

 

Note the 4:30 kickoff time.

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UMass game notes for the Ohio game.

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Ohio's game notes for UMass.

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Coach Harasymiak's press conference for the Ohio game. 

Another Minuteman player is out for the season. This time starting center Benjamin Roy.

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Sports Book wire predicts Bobcats 41 Minutemen 6.

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UMass Football News--November 14th, 2025

 The Minuteman Command reports the quarterback room was a disappointment.

When AJ missed the wide open Jax Markovich in the first quarter, it really hurt UMass' chances against a stout Northern Illinois defense. It's the story of this whole year. No one is making plays.

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Hustle Belt says Northern Illinois dominates UMass 45-3.

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Forbes has a post on how the MAC conference and ESPN made mid-week football popular. 

Except for sports, there is literally nothing else to watch.. 

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MAC conference tie-breakers for who gets to go the the championship game.

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UMass Football News--November 13th, 2025

 This is surreal. Every time I think it can't get worse, it does.

Nothin' left for this season but survival.

I did like the Minuteman's uniforms. The white helmets with the flag decal and the black uni's were very sharp.  I liked it much better than the grays. They should keep that combo.

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UMass write-up here. 

Northern Illinois write-up here. 

The Minuteman Command says UMass blasted by NIU. 

Coach Harasymiak's post game press conference. 

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Buffalo lost to Central Michigan.

Western Michigan beat Ohio to go to 5-1 in the MAC conference. 

MAC conference standings with two weeks to go.

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Game Day--Northern Illinois 2025

 Northern Illinois is leaving the MAC for the Mountain West, so this might be the last Huskies-Minutemen game for a while. UMass is 0-2 all-time against Northern Illinois. We were destroyed both times in 2012 and 2013 by scores of 0-63 and 19-63 under Charlie Molnar.

The Huskies offense is truly horrid and tonight is the Minutemen's best chance for a win in 2025. If we lose to NIU, an 0-12 season is looming..

If UMass can clean up the mistakes, we could be competitive. Northern Illinois has a better defense than we do, so scoring more than 10 points is the goal.

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

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The Minutemen Command reports Coach Harasymiak is expecting a battle against NIU.

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The Hampshire Gazette says winless and injured UMass faces Northern Illinois Wednesday. 

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Hustle Belt previews the game and predicts the NIU defense will prevail against the even-more-horrid UMass offense 17-3.

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Covers.com says take the under (43.5 points) as the two worst offenses in football won't reach 43 combined points.

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Holy Crap! College football News predicts UMass 20 NIU 17.

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College Sports Wire predicts Northern Illinois 20 UMass 7.

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The Northern Star reports NIU looks to right past wrongs against the Minutemen.

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UMass Football News--November 11th, 2025

 NIU finally has their game notes for UMass up.

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Hustle Belt has their weekly MAC Conference power rankings up. UMass and NIU meet tomorrow in the battle for the bottom. 

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Sports Book Wire has some stats on the Minutemen-Huskies game. The literal two worst offenses in college football collide.

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Bleacher Nation thinks UMass will beat the spread but only have a 23% chance to win the game.

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Hustle Belt has their Monday MAC Conference musings. Akron's beat-down of UMass was their largest margin of victory in 23 years..

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Ohio, Miami (Ohio), Buffalo and Western Michigan are still neck-and-neck for the conference title.

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40 college football players are suspended after three brawls last week.

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UMass Football News--November 10th, 2025

 UMass hosts Northern Illinois tomorrow at 7:00 PM.

Still no game notes from the Huskies. 

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The Daily Collegian previews the UMass-Northern Illinois game and points out the struggling offenses on both teams. 

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College Football News breaks down the MAC Championship race for the rest of the season. 

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College Football News predicts bowl games for UMass opponents Iowa, Missouri, Miami (Ohio), Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Temple.

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UMass Football News--November 9th, 2025

 The 2-7 Northern Illinois Huskies open as a 10.5 point favorite over the Minutemen.

Interesting stat: NIU is #133 in FBS scoring at 12.2 points/game and UMass is #134 in FBS scoring at 11.3 points a game. 

UMass is dead last (#134) in total offense, NIU is #132. Two really, really bad offenses..

However, Northern Illinois is #55 in total defense. UMass is #127 in total defense.

UMass is #129 in scoring defense. Since the Minutemen struggle to score more than 10 points a game, the Huskies should win comfortably

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Temple lost a close one to Army 14-13.

Bryant beat Albany 27-24 for their first ever CAA victory. 

Iowa lost a heart-breaker to Oregon on a last minute field goal.

Missouri was handled by Texas A&M 38-17. 

Kent State plays Akron on the 11th.

Buffalo plays Central Michigan on the 12th.

Ohio plays Western Michigan on the 11th.

Bowling Green fell to 1-5 in the MAC with a 27-21 loss to Eastern Michigan. 

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While on the treadmill yesterday, I watched UConn beat Duke. Great game. Eight lead changes. That was the second ACC team the Huskies beat this year.

 MISERY LOVES COMPANY VI

Boston College fell to 1-9 as they were crushed by SMU 45-13.

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UMass Football News--November 8th, 2025

 Coach Harasymiak has his weekly press video press conference.

Another piece of bad news as he says LB Timmy Hinspeter is likely out for the season. Hinspeter was among the best of the transfers and a major loss to the already weak Minutemen defense.

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Northern Illinois, next Wednesday's UMass opponent was crushed by Toledo 42-3 in their last game.  

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NIU's weekly press conference for the UMass game. 

No game notes from the Huskies yet. 

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Vegas odds for the MAC conference championship. UMass of course, is already eliminated.

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UMass Football News--November 7th, 2025

 The Minuteman Command has a video of Thorr Bjorn's introductory press conference.

It's well worth watching. It appears Coach Harasymiak and Thorr know each other and that bodes well for a good match in going forward. At least there will be no edging towards a coaching change immediately.  

I'd be happy with Bjorn in charge of the whole athletic dept. Besides football, I'm also a fan of hoops. McGuirk's deficiencies come up often with regards to football, but what is basketball's problems? Mullins is a better facility than most of the A10 teams had. Why couldn't we contend for the A10 title once in a while?

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The Athol Daily News reports Thorr Bjorn introduced and will advise Ryan Bamford.

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The Daily Collegian reports UMass hires Thorr Bjorn to lead the football program.

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Saturday Down South has a post UMass DB Brennan Baily getting sent to the locker room after drawing a unsportsmanlike-like penalty in the Akron game. 

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OT but the Minutewomen are in the MAC field hockey championship game. 

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UMass Football News--November 6th, 2025

 Maybe a ray of hope..

Thorr Bjorn joins UMass as Senior Deputy Athletic Director. 

The Daily Collegian report UMass hires Thorr Bjorn to lead the football program. 

The Greenfield Recorder says the UMass football program gets a new leader. 

Hustle Belt reports UMass hires Thorr Bjorn and retains Ryan Bamford. 

Back in the day, I had several conversations with Bjorn. Back then, the annual UMass football banquet was open to the public and I sat with him at least a couple times. Bjorn was highly thought of when he was at UMass and he was very successful at AD at Rhode Island.

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Meanwhile, back in the hell of the current season, Hustle Belt ranks the four most bizarre fumbles in the UMass-Akron game.

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With three games to go, four MAC teams are in the lead for the conference championship. 

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UMass Football News--November 5th, 2025

 Well UMass was blown out by Akron. Probably the most dominate win in the last decade by the Zips.

The UMass offense continued their history of being awful. Besides only scoring 10 points, there were two fumbles that led to Akron TD's. If this is not the worst offense in UMass history, it's pretty damn close. 

The Minuteman pass defense continued to leak like a sieve.  Like other opponents, Akron threw over the top at will. The Zips scoring drives were typically fast, around 3 minutes. 

Special teams were the only bright spot for UMass Keegan Andrews punted 6 times for 276 yards. With three games to go, Andrews has the highest average career yards/punt at 46.68 (current holder Brett Arnold 45.2 yards/punt in 2008). He also currently has 2,754 yards for the season and an average of 306 yards a game. If he keeps that up he will finish up with 3672 punting yards, which will shatter the current UMass record of 3116 yards (George Georgopoulos 3,116 yards in 2016).

Derek Morris broke his own record of the longest field goal in UMass history with a 55-yard kick. Morris is easily on the Minuteman All-FBS team..

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UMass write-up here. 

Akron write-up here. 

Minuteman Command reports UMass suffers another loss.

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Game Day--Akron 2025

 

The Zips are 3-6 overall in 2025. They are solidly in the bottom half of the conference. Akron and Ball State seem to be the two remaining chances for the Minutemen to get a victory. Then again, I printed out the UMass game notes and we still have many starters out. 

Akron is #112 in total offense at 225.0 yards/game. They are #123 in scoring offense at 18.2 points/game. UMass' defense should be competitive with the Zips offense. 

However, UMass is dead last in FBS in total offense and scoring offense. The Zips will win if we score 10 points.

It'll be on national TV and I'll be watching and cheering for the Maroon & White.

Go UMass!!

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Covers.com says UMass won't win and they won't cover the 10.5 point spread.

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Hustle Belt has their Monday MAC musings. 

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College Football News predicts Akron 30 UMass 16.

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The game time for the UMass-Northern Illinois game on November 12th will be 7:00pm EST. 

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Bleacher Nation says take the Zips to cover the 10.5 point spread.

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Bowling Green , which is #126 in total offense in FBS , fired their offensive coordinator.  UMass should not fire Mike Bajakian as he has nothing to work with. The UMass offense is nearly devoid of FBS level talent. In fact, the Minutemen offense is a pretty poor FCS offense. We scored 26 points on a 2-7 Bryant team. The Campbell Camels scored 50 points on Bryant..

In the off season, the UMass offense needs a major transplant of talent on the OL, wide receivers and running backs. 

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UPDATE:

CBS Sports model predicts UMass has a 38% win chance. 

College Sports Wire predicts Akron 31 UMass 16.

Pro Football  Network predicts Akron 30 UMass 14.

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UPDATE II: 4:30 PM

Hustle Belt previews UMass at Akron. 

Hustle Belt has ten things you should know at the start of November mid-week MACtion.

The NY Post thinks Akron will cover the 10.5 point spread. 

HERO Sports says the Zips will win by 14+ 

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Last night after I came upstairs from watching UMass lose to Marshall, Mrs Blog asked how it went.

I said, "They lost."

She said, Well, someday you'll watch a UMass win."

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UMass Football News--November 3rd, 2025

 UMass opens as a 10.5 underdog to Akron.

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The Greenfield Recorder report UMass prepares for a prime time clash with Akron. 

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Bleacher Nation thinks UMass will cover the spread.

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Sports Book has more odds stats, but doesn't pick a winner.

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Buffalo ILB Red Murdock sets an all-time FBS forced fumble record.

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UMass is still dead last in the USA Today FBS rankings, behind winless Sam Houston State.

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Sporting News reports just five Group-of-Five teams are still in contention for the CFP slot.

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UMass Football News--November 2nd, 2024

 Gee, it's strange that I don't have fire up my computer on a Sunday morning and try to say something positive about another loss..

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The Daily Collegian reports UMass heads to Akron for a Tuesday "MACtion" game. 

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Temple was 5-3 going into yesterday and looking to  be bowl eligible. Instead, they were thumped by East Carolina 45-14 on their home field. 

Bryant fell to 2-7 after being defeated by Monmouth 35-7. 

Iowa had a bye.

Missouri had a bye.

Western Michigan rallied to a thrilling win over Central Michigan. 

Kent State plays Wednesday against Ball State.

Buffalo handled Bowling Green 28-7.

Northern Illinois plays Toledo on Wednesday.

Ohio plays MAC-leading Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday.

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UConn crushed UAB 38-19 to be bowl eligible with three games yet to play. 

Boston College made a game of it against Notre Dame trailing 12-10 into the fourth quarter before falling 25-10. 

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UMass Football News--November 1st 2025

Getty images

 The Zips have their game notes for UMass up.

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Hustle Belt has their MAC conference power rankings for Week #10. UMass is firmly in last place. 

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Hustle Belt previews this week's Bowling Green vs Buffalo game. Bowling Green is down to their fourth-string QB. The Falcons are probably UMass' best chance for a victory. The Minutemen get Bowling Green at home on the Thursday before Thanksgiving. 

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The Group-of-Five representative in the CFP is still up for grabs. 

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UConn looks for bowl eligibility today. If the Huskies win out and go 9-3, they could be in contention for a New Years Weekend bowl.

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 OT, but congrats to the UMass field hockey team who has the university's first MAC conference championship. Hopefully, many more to come.

UMass Football News--October 31st, 2025

 The Minuteman Command has video of Coach Harasymiak's weekly press conference.

Coach Harasymiak reports they hope to have some injured players back for the Akron game. Sixteen of 22 starters were out for Central Michigan.

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UMass has their game notes for Akron up. Nothing yet from the Zips.

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Kent State promotes interim coach Mark Carney to head coach. The preseason second-worst college football team has won three games and has four remaining to play.

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Central Michigan and the NCAA accept a negotiated settlement in a sign-stealing case.

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Hustle Belt has a story about the effects of NIU leaving the MAC on the coveted Bronze Stalk trophy.  

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UMass Football News--October 30th, 2025

 Rene and Christian are back with Episode #28 of the Flagship Podcast.

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Associated Press previews the UMass-Akron game stats. 

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College Football News has MAC Conference rankings and predictions before Week #10.

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Sixty-four former UCLA players urge Chancellor to remove current athletic director Martin Jarmond.

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College Football TV rankings are surging in 2025.

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UMass Football News--October 29th, 2025

 UMass-Akron will be televised  by the CBS Sports Network. I get the CBS Network as part of my Comcast Sports package. Check your provider to see if it is available.

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Also available on ESPN+

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Miami (Ohio) is alone at the top of the MAC conference after a win over Western Michigan. 

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Sports Illustrated has a Group-of-Five Top 25 ranking. UConn is #14. The MAC has three teams in the poll. 

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MISERY LOVES COMPANY # VI

One-and-Seven Boston College gets Notre Dame this weekend. The Irish need to win out to make the college football playoffs. BC could spread the misery around by knocking Notre Dame out of same.

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UMass Football News--October 28th, 2025

Keegan Andrews continues his great season.

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Hustle Belt has it's Monday MAC Musings.

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 Akron LB Melvin Spriggs was named MAC defensive player-of-the-week for his 14 tackles and 3.5 TFL in the Zips upset of Buffalo.

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College Football News predicts Akron over UMass in Week #10 and also predicts a 0-12 season for the Minutemen.

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The other MAC conference players-of-the-week. 

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You know how ubiquitous AI's are becoming. And you know that they are prone to "hallucinations", where they just give nonsense. And you know they are all over sports "journalism".

I was search-enginning "UMass Football" this morning and this popped up about the UMass basketball box score of UMass-Miami (Ohio) on Jan 27th 2026..

Note also we are 10th in the MAC in team hoops scoring😛 

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UMass Football News--October 27th, 2025

 Hustle Belt recaps the UMass-Central Michigan game and says the Chippewas cruised to a victory.

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The Daily Collegian reports UMass gashed in loss to Central Michigan.

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Pinal Central recaps the Minutemen-Chippewas game and said Central Michigan extended UMass' losing streak to twelve games.

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Central Michigan Life said the Chippewas trounced UMass.

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In MAC Conference standings, Miami (Ohio) is 4-0 and Ohio, Buffalo, Central Michigan and Western Michigan are 3-1. 

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After firing Brian Kelly, LSU will pay the second largest buyout in college football history. 

It's been an historic season for coach firings.

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UMass Football News--October 26th, 2025

 UMass was handled by a better, more talented Central Michigan team. The Minutemen gave a commendable effort with so many players out.

The defense played with effort and had 7 TFL, which against the Chippewas' "heavy" run game (with a full back), is difficult.  They also had a forced fumble and again UMass failed to score after a turnover. The defense battled all day and I can't complain about their results with so many new starters. 

On offense, AJ Hairston was facing pressure on nearly every throw. He was not helped by at least three or four drops that stalled UMass drives. Jacquon Gibson, playing hurt, had a wide open drop on the first series and did not return to the game. 

The Minutemen did as well as they could against a solid MAC Central Michigan team. If UMass could get some injured players back, I think they could still win a game this year. 

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UMass write-up here. 

Central Michigan's write-up here. 

Hustle Belt reports Central Michigan cruised to victory. 

Minuteman Command says injury-riddled UMass was run over by the Chippewas.

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Temple moved their win total to five with an overtime win over Tulsa. With four games remaining, the Owls should be bowl eligible.

Bryant lost to Rhode Island 38-17. 

Iowa pounded Minnesota 41-3. 

Missouri lost the game and their quarterback to Vanderbilt. 

Western Michigan lost to Miami (Ohio). 

Buffalo was upset by Akron 24-16.

Northern Illinois beat Ball State 21-7 

Ohio beat Eastern Michigan 28-21.

Kent State picked up their second win of the season with a victory over Bowling Green. 

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UConn was upset by Rice in double overtime. The Huskies are 5-3 and all three losses were in overtime..

Boston College made a good effort, but fell to 1-7 with a loss to Louisville.

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Game Day Central Michigan--2025

 Today will be a big challenge for the Minutemen with their injury list. The Chippewas are a strong running team. Last week against Bowling Green, Central Michigan rushed 46 times and threw the ball only five.

Detroit Free Press image

I remember our previous stint in the MAC and watching Central Michigan's Zurlon Tipton run over our asses.  Tipton would go on to bizarrely die of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

UMass played well against Buffalo with about the same number of injuries. The reserves will have to step up to keep the game manageable. If the offense can generate some points, we could keep this game close.

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

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Hustle Belt has a late edition of the Week #8 MAC power rankings.

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BroBible comments on UMass' injury situation.

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Central Michigan's website says the Chippewas refuse to look past winless UMass.

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UMass Football News--October 24th, 2025

 The Minuteman Command reports UMass will have numerous substitutes playing for Central Michigan game. I've been following Minuteman football for a long time, but I don't think I've ever seen a rash of injuries like this year.

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Hustle Belt previews the Central Michigan-UMass game. 

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Meanwhile the parking at McGuirk is unsatisfactory. 

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Sports Book Wire predicts Central Michigan 33 UMass 13.

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Saturday's game is Homecoming for the Chippewas.   Coach Drinkall says it's time to celebrate.

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UCLA has been struggling for two decades and USA Today says it's the administration's fault.

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UMass Football News--October 23rd, 2025

     Rene  and new Minuteman Command partner Christian McCollum have Episode #27 of the Flagship Podcast.

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Central Michigan has their game notes for UMass up.

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Vegas Insider has the Chippewas a 16 to 15 point favorite over the Minutemen. 

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Syracuse calls in Don Brown to help its defense. Good  to see Coach Brown back with college football. 

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Sports Book Wire thinks Central Michigan will cover the spread.

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The Daily Collegian reports UMass takes on Central Michigan for its second conference road game of the season. Coach Harasymiak says some scout teams players may be first team as Ryan Barnes, David Onuoha, Derrieon Craig, Shambre Jackson and Timmy Hinspeter are out.

On offense TE's Reece Adkins and Max Dowling are out and Rocko Griffin and Jacquon Gibson are questionable.

Man, that's a lot of injuries..

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UMass Football News--October 22nd, 2025

 Central Michigan's Jordan Kwiatkowski earns the MAC Defensive Player-of-the-Week.

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The Minuteman Command's Mike and Rene break down  the final minute of the Buffalo game. 

Enough already with the laments about the end of the Buffalo game. The important takeaway was that we were good enough to nearly beat one of the MAC's top teams. We were not even competitive earlier. The Buffalo game showed we can and should win some games.

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UMass and UCF reschedule their 2026 game to 2029 

This makes next year's schedule easier. UCF plays in the Big Twelve. They are 4-3 in 2025 and pounded West Virginia 45-13 in their last game.

So the 2026 UMass schedule looks like:

     09/05 - at Rutgers
    09/12 - Sacred Heart
    10/24 - at UConn
    11/28 - at Hawaii

That's an attractive schedule. Only one Power Five team and Rutgers is not Iowa or Missouri. Hawaii is 6-2 in the Mountain West and should be in our wheelhouse as a Group-of-Five team.

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 Former UMass great Andy Isabella is back with the program working with the wide receivers.

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UMass Football News--October 21st, 2025

 

The Minuteman Command has a post on Coach Harasymiak explaining the sequence of decisions at the end of the Buffalo game.

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WWLP says despite the loss, UMass showed potential. 

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UMass has their game notes for Central Michigan up.

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Hustle Belt has anatomy of a collapse: Buffalo snatches a win. 

Hustle Belt also has their "Monday Musings" after Week #8 in the MAC. 

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The Associated Press previews the UMass-Central Michigan game.

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UMass Football News--October 20th, 2025

 The Minuteman Command points out UMass could have done better with clock management on their final drive.

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The Daily Collegian reports the Minutemen fell short at the end of the Buffalo game.

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We're not last in college football! Or at least College Football News thinks Charlotte is #136.

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Sports Illustrated reports UMass had its first win of the season, but then it all fell apart. 

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Hustle Belt recaps the the game and says Buffalo snatched away a victory. 

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The Daily Collegian reports transfer Brandon Hood had a great game for UMass.

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UMass Football News--October 19th, 2025

 UMass didn't win the game against Buffalo, but it was still a big turnaround from the Kent State game. Against the Golden Flashes, the Minutemen did not look as if they had anything.

Against Buffalo, UMass played with fire and determination. UMass played well with what we have. The Minutemen still need more talent on both sides of the ball, but if the Minutemen keep playing like they did Saturday, we have a chance to win some games this year, especially if we get Rocco Griffin and Jacquon Gibson back.

UMass ended up 5-17 on third downs. One more at the end of the game would have won it. We ended up punting 9 times (for 438 yard in another great game) by Keegan Andrews. 

The Minutemen made plays yesterday. They were one play short of winning. 

And take a bow UMass fans, an amazin' 15,239 fans showed up. Imagine if we were winning!

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 UMass write-up here.

Bulls write-up here. 

The Minuteman Command there was some good, some bad and some ugly. 

The Minuteman Command also reports it was a heartbreaking loss.

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Temple clobbered Charlotte 49-10. 

Bryant had a bye.

Iowa made Penn State's miserable season worse 25-24.

Missouri beat Auburn in double overtime.

 Western Michigan had a bye.

Kent State lost to Toledo 45-10. 

 Central Michigan beat Bowling Green 27-6.

 Akron fell to Ball State 42-28.

Northern Illinois lost to Ohio 48-21.

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UConn crushed Boston College 38-23. 

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