For the first time since Oct. 26, 2024, the Massachusetts Minutemen have won a college football game.
UMass defeated Rutgers 37-21 on the road Thursday night, ringing in its latest campaign as a victor. The Minutemen fell behind 7-0 early, then scored 30 unanswered points en route to a stunning result.
UMass quarterback William "Pop" Watson III threw for 197 yards and three scores, while Curtis Kimmons IV ran for 78 yards and a touchdown. Watson is the first UMass player with three passing touchdowns on an 80% completion rate since current Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen did so in 2008.
Rutgers is all too familiar with the current UMass head coach, Joe Harasymiak. He was the Scarlet Knights' defensive coordinator from 2022 to 2024 before taking the UMass job. Harasymiak's first win as the Minutemen's coach came against his former team.
Here are the key numbers behind UMass' unlikely opening win.
1,104: A winning record has been a long time coming for the Minutemen.
On Aug. 26, 2023, they defeated New Mexico State to go 1-0 on the season before dropping seven in a row. Until Thursday, UMass' win against the Aggies marked the last instance the program had a winning record -- exactly 1,104 days ago.
37: The Minutemen lit up the scoreboard with a 37-point performance. The last time they scored more in a game was against the Aggies in August 2023. And the program's offensive struggles go back even further -- it's only the second time the program has scored over 30 points in a win since 2019.
29.5: Unsurprisingly, the oddsmakers favored Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights were 29.5-point favorites, according to DraftKings.
The defeat marks the largest FBS upset since Kansas (+31) defeated Texas in 2021. It's also Rutgers' largest upset loss since the FBS/FCS split in 1978.
16: The losing ways for the Minutemen began nearly two years ago. Entering Thursday, they had a 16-game skid, then the longest active FBS losing streak. Oklahoma State now holds the longest at 11 games.
5: Even though the headline of the game might be UMass' offense, its defense had an equally important role.
The Minutemen forced five turnovers, including three interceptions by Rutgers quarterback Dylan Lonergan, leading to 17 points. The last time UMass forced five turnovers was in a victory against Akron on Nov. 10, 2022.
.041: Following the first drive of the contest, it seemed to be the same story for UMass as Rutgers went up 7-0. The numbers indicated a loss would be a near formality for the Minutemen.
UMass entered the 2026 season with a 5-116 record when trailing by seven points since moving up to FBS in 2013, good enough for a .041 win percentage -- the worst win percentage of any FBS team over that span.
But the rest, as they say, was history.
ESPN Research contributed to this story.
