Good morning!
Well that was a surprise. “I never saw this coming,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said after UMass demolished the Scarlet Knights, 37-21, in front of 42,454 fans in Piscataway who had their backs to the field and were rushing to the exits at halftime.
In an exquisite example of role reversal, the Minutemen did to Rutgers what Rutgers was expected to do to them. Is this why Ryan Bamford hired aide-de-camp Thorr Bjorn, to sprinkle the locker room with fairy dust? Sorcery was indeed afoot, but the magician was Pop Watson.
The 22-year-old senior transfer from Virginia Tech completed 19 of 22 passes for three touchdowns, ran for 40 yards, and completely flummoxed Rutgers’ flat-footed defenders.
The last UMass QB to hang that many points on an opponent was Taisun Phommachanh against New Mexico State, 41-30, in the ’23 season opener. Phommachanh was never the same player after he was injured the following week at Auburn and UMass finished 3-9.
Five months ago at the UMass spring game, Watson’s uncle Tyrone Mathis said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Pop’s the MAC Player of the Year.” Mathis was a three-time All-Conference defensive end at AIC and coached at Commerce. “Pop’s always had that “it” factor,” he said. “When he goes in, everyone perks up.”
Yet it was hard to believe after all the busts that UMass coaches have pumped up in the preseason — Tyler Lytle, Brady Olson and Brandon Rose to name a few — that Watson was the goods but he made Uncle Ty proud.
Like the ad pitch says, Stay healthy, my friend.
The perfect foe
UMass couldn’t have had a better foil for its statement win than against a Big Ten opponent on a Thursday night on national television, giving it the kind of national publicity UMass has craved since it joined the FBS.
In the Big Apple market the talking heads preferred to bash Rutgers and Schiano than praise UMass and Watson. “I gotta say this, how in the world can you be a bigger fraud than Rutgers is?” asked WFAN’s Joe Benigno. “How in the world do you allow yourself to get blown out by UMass which got paid over a million dollars to basically be fodder for the home team?
“I couldn’t believe it. I put the game on they were down 27-7. What a disgrace. Greg Schiano. Is there a more overrated coach than this guy? I mean c’mon, how do you not have your football team ready? That is a disgrace. That is as big an embarrassment as you can have.”
Over at the New York Post, Phil Mushnick wrote: “Rutgers, its athletic department $550 million in debt, reportedly paid UMass $1.55 million to make the trip to Piscataway to be destroyed in RU’s home opener Thursday night. Money again misspent as UMass won, 37-21.”
Here in Northfield the text messages started rolling before the final whistle.
“Bring on Indiana,” texted Richie Cook.
“UMass beats Rutgers! Remember, if the [desired effect] lasts more than four hours, call a doctor,” wrote Jerry Burgess.
“Looks like my bookie’s kid will be going to public school,” texted a bigtime UMass football and basketball bettor.
A season to remember?
UMass has moved from No.137 in ESPN’s Football Power Index to No. 112. Rutgers meanwhile dropped from 67 to 96. Unlike past seasons when the schedule was loaded with Top 50 teams, this year Rutgers was regarded as the toughest opponent.
The rest of it’s composed of beatable Mid-American teams like Ball State, Akron and Buffalo with the possible exceptions of Toledo (No. 83) on Veterans Day which is 7-0 against UMass, and non-conference opponent UConn (No. 100) on Oct. 23. Western Michigan (No. 70) which nearly beat Michigan last week isn’t on the schedule, but if the Rutgers win wasn’t a fluke they could meet at high noon on Dec. 5 at Ford Field in Detroit for the MAC championship.
Imagine that, a noon kickoff, unlike today’s 3:30 game against Sacred Heart at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. UMass is a 24 t1/2-point favorite on SportsGrid against the newest member of the Coastal Athletic Association which was picked 10th in the preseason poll. The Pioneers lost last week at Monmouth, 31-24. Next week UMass hosts Stonehill of the Northeast Conference. The SkyHawks are 1-1, losing to Bryant, 24-6, and beating New Haven, 21-3.
Don’t break out the tumbrils just yet, the Rutgers win wasn’t perfect. UMass was flagged eight times, was four-of-11 on third down and Rutgers converted four of its five fourth down attempts.
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Bear Country (95.3 FM) begins its high school football broadcast schedule tonight in Athol where Jeff Tirrell will provide the play-by-play with longtime sidekick Shawn Hubert at Thomas J. O’Brien Field where Athol hosts Frontier at 7 p.m.
“This is the first of 12 broadcasts, culminating with a Turkey Day doubleheader of sorts: Amherst at Frontier on Thanksgiving Eve and Franklin Tech at Smith Voke on Thanksgiving morning,” Tirrell emailed.
This is Tirrell’s 40th year and his 36th with Hubert. “We’re ready to roll! It’s gone by so quickly, and so much has changed, on multiple levels. We’ll be giving it our very best and enjoying it while we can.”
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The 32nd annual Don Maynard 5k is at 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 19 at the Greenfield Municipal Swimming Area. Runners can register online at RunSignup or register on race day starting at 8 a.m.
Registration fees vary by age. In order to promote interest among junior high school and high school runners, a $50 cash prize will be awarded to the fastest teenage boy and girl.
The first 50 who register will receive official Don Maynard 5K T-shirts. For more info contact Chuck Adams 413-522-6688.
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Saratoga’s summer meet ended on Labor Day, and attendance was down more than 16,000 over 2025. The Spa has lost some of its luster because it seems to have forgotten its mission. Red Smith wrote that to get to the track from New York City, “Drive north 175 miles, take a left on Union Avenue and go back 100 years.”
A hundred years ago, patrons paid with cash not cards.
Chad Brown won his sixth consecutive trainers title and ninth overall. Brown saddled 225 horses and 42 reached the winner’s circle. Linda Race was second with 40 wins from 198 starts, and Brad Cox was a distant third with 23 wins from 94 starts.
Manny Franco captured the riding title in style by winning the meet’s last race aboard My Lil Army Girl at 4-to-1. It was his 73rd trip to the winner’s circle.
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SQUIBBERS: Former UMass QB AJ Hairston is splitting time with Cole Meehan at Merrimack. In two games Hairston’s 45 of 85 with three picks and zero TDs against URI and Delaware, both blowout losses. … Best wishes to former Recorder advertising whiz Mike Currie. Keep smiling and flashing the peace sign Mike, the friends of Bill are with you. … Same for Billy Burns, who on a summer day in his youth genuflected to the football gods by going into a three-point stance on the Deerfield Academy gridiron, itching to play for Smitty come fall. … Tight end Eli Rariden looked like Rob Gronkowski the way he plucked the ball from the air for New England’s only touchdown on Thursday. Rariden caught three TDs in 40 games at Notre Dame; Gronk caught 16 in 22 games at Arizona. … Whoever thought Nick Sogard would be second to Willson Contreras in slugging percentage among the Red Sox with at least 175 at bats? Sogard’s uncle Rudy Sogard played for Vic Colo at Mahar, so says the Powertown lineman. … Sacred Heart defensive back Jaylon Hebert is a Stonehill transfer who played at Pop Watson’s alma mater Springfield Central. … Rutgers was a 3 1/2-point underdog last night at BC in a battle of respective ACC and Big Ten anchor teams. Bowl. … Tulane committed 15 penalties in last week’s 17-3 loss at Duke. … News item: Miami beats Florida A&M 77-7. Looks like you won’t have to worry about back door covers when betting the U. … Asked by the Globe to name his favorite player when he was a kid, Red Sox skipper Chad Tracy said catcher Paul Lo Duca gave him a glove when his father Jim Tracy was managing the Dodgers. … Tri-corner corner hats would be a terrific giveaway for UMass Homecoming next month. … John McKay was known for his sense of humor coaching the cellar-dwelling Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Asked of his team’s chances he said, “Three or four plane crashes and we’re in the playoffs.”