UMass Ends 16-Game Losing Streak With 37-21 Upset of Rutgers

UMass defeated Rutgers 37-21 on Thursday night, September 4, 2026, ending the longest active losing streak in college football. The Minutemen entered the game as a 29.5-point underdog and secured the first victory against a Power Four opponent in program history. According to ESPN, the 16-point victory margin is the largest win by an underdog of 29-plus points since Texas State defeated Houston 30-13 in the 2012 season opener, when the Bobcats were 35-point underdogs. UMass quarterback Pop Watson III, a transfer from Virginia Tech, completed 19 passes to eight different receivers for 197 yards and three touchdowns. He also carried the ball six times for 40 yards. Watson connected on two touchdown passes to Elijah Faulkner and one to Joseph Griffin Jr. According to ESPN, Watson led UMass to scores in seven of its 10 drives. The Minutemen amassed 200 rushing yards, per CBS Sports reporting. UMass built a 24-7 halftime lead, the first time the program has led a Power Four opponent at the half since doing so against Mississippi State in 2017, per ESPN. Rutgers quarterback Dylan Lonergan made his debut and passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns but threw three interceptions and lost a fumble. According to ESPN, Lonergan was removed in the fourth quarter due to an undisclosed injury, with AJ Surace taking over. Rutgers allowed 30 or more points in eight of its 12 games in 2025, per ESPN reporting, and that defensive weakness persisted in the season opener. UMass's last victory against an FBS school came against Army in 2023. The win ended a 16-game losing streak to FBS opponents. Coach Joe Harasymiak, who served as Rutgers's defensive coordinator from 2022 through 2024, led the upset. Harasymiak grew up in Waldwick, New Jersey, approximately 40 miles from the Rutgers campus. Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said after the game, per ESPN: "We got outlicked, outplayed and outcoached. There is no other way to say it. I didn't have them ready." Schiano is 31-42 since returning to Rutgers in 2000. According to CBS Sports reporting, Rutgers faced a $78 million financial deficit in 2025 and is in the red more than $500 million since joining the Big Ten. The program reported $2.7 million in sponsorship and licensing in 2025 and ranks as the lowest team in the Power Four in donor contributions, per reporting cited by CBS Sports. Rutgers hired Kelli Zinn as athletic director from a high-ranking position at LSU with a background in revenue generation, according to CBS Sports. One 20-year Rutgers season ticket holder called into The Zach Gelb Show on WFAN, saying, per Awful Announcing: "I'm a 20-year season ticket holder... I'm done. I'm canceling everything."