HOME / SPORTS / PISCATAWAY, N.J.
28.5-Point Underdogs: UMass Blows Out Rutgers, Snaps Nation's Longest Losing Streak at 16 Games
A team that went winless a year ago walked into Rutgers as the biggest underdog on the board — and walked out 37-21 winners, ending the longest active losing streak in college football.
UMass came into Thursday's season opener at Rutgers as 28.5-point underdogs, fresh off a winless 0-12 season and riding a 16-game losing streak that stretched back to October 2024 — the longest active skid in college football. By the final whistle, the Minutemen had blown that narrative apart, beating the Scarlet Knights 37-21 at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Quarterback William Watson III was nearly flawless, completing 19 of 22 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, according to final box score numbers. Wide receiver Joseph Griffin Jr. hauled in just two catches but made them count, including a 31-yard touchdown, finishing with 61 yards through the air. Running back Curtis Kimmons IV added 78 yards and a score on 11 carries, while T.Y. Harding chipped in five catches for 55 yards. UMass finished with 397 total yards of offense and, just as important, zero turnovers.
A Statement From the Jump
The Minutemen didn't ease into it — they scored on three consecutive opening drives to seize a 21-7 lead and took a commanding 24-7 advantage into halftime. Rutgers piled up 349 yards of its own but was undone by four turnovers and a miserable 3-of-11 on third-down conversions, and a late rally wasn't enough to erase the deficit.
397 YARDS, ZERO TURNOVERS
The win instantly reshapes the story of a UMass program that hadn't won a game since October 2024 and finished last season winless across 12 games. Snapping the nation's longest active losing streak in Week 1, against a Power Four opponent, as nearly five-touchdown underdogs, ranks among the biggest upsets of the young 2026 college football season.
UMass now sits at 1-0 for the first time in years, a small but real foothold for a program looking to prove last season's winless campaign was a low point rather than the new normal. Rutgers, meanwhile, opens the year with a loss it will need to answer for quickly as Big Ten play looms. For a Minutemen fan base that has weathered a brutal stretch, Thursday night in Piscataway was proof that the streak, at least, is finally over.