It will be difficult for there to be a worse loss this college football season than what happened in Piscataway, New Jersey, on Thursday.
UMass 37, Rutgers 21. That would be the Scarlet Knights of the Big Ten, who came into the game almost a 30-point favorite.
UMass was 0-12 last year. It allowed 39 points a game and scored 11 points per contest. Going back to 2024, the Minutemen had lost another four games to end that season.
A team that had lost 16 straight went into a Big Ten school before Labor Day and humiliated Rutgers.
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano was looking for his 100th career win. Instead, he suffered arguably his worst career loss. And to add insult to the rout, Joe Harasymiak, the UMass coach, used to be the defensive coordinator at Rutgers from
2022-24.
Minutemen QB William Watson III threw three touchdown passes. Rutgers QB Dylan Lonergan threw three picks.
Talk NIL and the transfer portal all you want but this result is astonishing. UMass lost its last four games in 2025 by a combined 176-31. The Minutemen are in the MAC. They had not won a game since beating Wagner 35-7 in October of 24.
Rutgers couldn't handle UMass. Up next is another school from Massachusetts, at Boston College on Sept. 11. All the Scarlet Knights have following that is a home game with 14th-ranked USC in in their Big Ten opener.
The lone positive was wide receiver KJ Duff Jr. He caught nine balls, three for touchdowns, and nearly 200 yards.
This article originally appeared on The List Wire: Massive underdog UMass ravages Rutgers
