Rutgers football paid $1.55 million to lose to UMass, 37-21, on Sept. 3, snapping the Minutemen's 16-game losing streak. But that number presumably didn't include pyrotechnics.
The Scarlet Knights hosted the saddest fireworks show in the world after the loss at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, putting a droopy exclamation point on an 0-1 start to Greg Schiano's seventh season.
Rutgers’ postgame fireworks still went off after a stunning upset loss to UMass. pic.twitter.com/KdzNFaddUK
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 4, 2026
It's the kind of loss that immediately puts a coach on the hot seat, and Rutgers will now have to reconcile what this means for the nation's oldest program. While the team has hardly
been even middle-of-the-road in the college landscape since Schiano's first stint in 2001-2011, losing a buy game to a team that hadn't won a game since 2024 is program-shakingly bad.
The loss to UMass is arguably as bad or worse as losing to some FCS programs. Since joining the FBS in 2012, the Minutemen have been brutally bad, amassing a 26-134 record with six seasons with 11 losses or more.
Rutgers entered this game as a 29.5-point favorite. But even with nothing to celebrate, the show must go on.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rutgers 'celebrates' devastating loss to UMass with postgame fireworks show
