UMass walked into Rutgers as a 29.5-point underdog and walked out with one of the most jarring results college football has seen in years.
The Minutemen stunned the Scarlet Knights 37-21 on Thursday, turning what was supposed to be a routine season opener for Rutgers into a result that will linger in both Amherst and Piscataway. UMass came in after a winless 0-12 season and a 16-game losing streak, but none of that mattered once the game kicked off.
The spread alone tells you how wild this was. Rutgers was favored by 29.5 points, making this the biggest point-spread upset at the FBS level since Kansas beat Texas as 31-point underdogs in 2021.
There was also the financial hit. According to Brett McMurphy of On3, Rutgers paid UMass $1.55 million to come to New Jersey and play the game. That makes the loss sting even more for an athletic department that has run up a deficit of more than $500 million since joining the Big Ten in 2014.
UMass had gone 677 days without a win before Thursday. Its last victory came on Oct. 26, 2024, when it beat FCS Wagner.
And while the Minutemen’s overall skid was already ugly, the FBS-only numbers were even harsher. They had lost 23 straight games against FBS opponents entering Thursday and owned the nation’s longest active losing streak at 16 games.
There was one more number that put the night in perspective: 48. Since moving up to the FBS in 2012, UMass had gone 48 years without a win against a current power-conference opponent.
The Minutemen did beat BYU in 2017, but BYU was an independent program then, not a Big 12 team. On Thursday, Rutgers became the team that ended that 48-year streak.
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Rutgers Fans Are Facing The Greg Schiano Question Again
Greg Schiano is back in the familiar spot Rutgers fans know all too well: the season has barely started, and the conversation is already shifting from results to his future. Now in his seventh year of his second stint in charge, he enters 2026 with a 31-41 record in this return engagement, a number that has kept the scrutiny around the program from ever really going away.
The latest jolt came in the season opener, when Rutgers lost to UMass after falling behind by 17 points at halftime against a team carrying a long active losing streak. For a fan base still measuring progress against expectations, the larger issue is now unavoidable again because Schianos contract carries a buyout that would cost the school about $17.3 million if he were let go at seasons end. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Just Opened The Season With A Loss Fans Cant Ignore
Rutgers opened the season with a result that will linger well beyond Week 1, falling 37-21 to UMass in a game that the Scarlet Knights were expected to control. The Minutemen arrived carrying a 16-game losing streak against FBS opponents, but they played with far more edge than the odds suggested and put Rutgers in an early hole that never really disappeared.
Pop Watson was the spark for UMass, guiding an offense that found rhythm through the air and enough movement on the ground to keep Rutgers from settling in defensively. The Minutemen also tightened up in a way that changes the conversation around them after a rough run of seasons, getting into the backfield consistently and creating problems all afternoon, while Rutgers is left sorting through how a season-opening setback like this happened so quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Week 1 Opener Carries One Betting Assumption Fans Should Notice
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The broader case around this game is built on Rutgers personnel advantages and the way UMass projects defensively, with the Scarlet Knights expected to find enough separation to make the number manageable. There is also one matchup note worth watching for those who follow the betting market closely, since Rutgers has a receiver who could create problems for the Minutemen secondary and tilt the game script early. [Read more 🡒]