Last night was supposed to be the equivalent of easing one’s way into a hot tub for a college football fan’s concept of equivalent bliss–five consecutive nights of live action, virtually none of it boding to be compelling enough to pay more than casual attention to it. With few exceptions, the Power Four conferences generally book cupcake games against Group of Six or even FCS foes in order to guarantee more games for their respective networks’ digital plans and to at least give the veneer of a potential winning season.
That certainly appeared to be the mindset that the State University of New Jersey–a.k.a. Rutgers–employed in scheduling a season opener against the University of Massachusetts. Granted, in the inflated Big Ten that’s really The Big Sixteen they are arguably its doormat, but hey, that’s the price you pay when you’re a conference hell bent on getting a team to cover the New York and Philadelphia DMAs and your choices are basically this or NJIT. And given the Minutemen’s recent CV it seemed to bode well for a fun party night on Route 18.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the cakewalk as THE ATHLETIC’s Scott Dochterman shared early this morning:
UMass snapped a 16-game losing streak and scored its biggest upset in school history, blasting Rutgers 37-21 in the season opener Thursday in Piscataway, N.J.
The Minutemen were 29.5-point underdogs yet completely overpowered the Big Ten squad in every phase. It marked just the program’s second win against a current Power 4 program, with the first coming against BYU in 2018. However, BYU was an independent at the time, and UMass was just a 4-point underdog. The last time UMass beat a true major-conference team was in 1978 against Boston College.
According to On The Banks, Rutgers paid UMass $1.55 million for the guarantee game, and the Minutemen’s win against Rutgers was nothing short of dominant.
I know that plenty of people in the area are used to paying for self-flagellation. I’ve been in weather-induced traffic jams on Route 1 and I’ve seen what goes on in the back rooms of the Bada Bing. I just didn’t expect that to be eclipsed by the overreaching attempt to take a school that with the exception of the first Greg Schiano coaching run has largely been irrelevant since they and Princeton played the first-ever college football game 157 autumns ago. I’d imagine the wagon trains that tailgated had less traffic and a better time then than last night.
Fortunately, the later window last night provided a surprise and a reminder that one of the more flamboyant personalities and bankable TV entities of recent vintage may be down but not out, as Dochterman’s colleagues Seth Emerson and Antonio Morales reported:
For 58 minutes on Thursday, Colorado’s offense and special teams appeared to be letting a dominant defensive performance go for naught. But oh, how quickly the first game of Deion Sanders’ fourth season flipped.
Colorado quarterback Julian Lewis, in his third career start, guided the Buffaloes 75 yards in 63 seconds, throwing a go-ahead 20-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Williams with 37 seconds to play. Then, defensive back Boo Carter blocked a Georgia Tech field goal attempt as time expired, preserving a 14-13 Colorado win inside Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Sanders overhauled Colorado’s roster by bringing in more than 40 transfers this offseason. He changed the coaching staff, too, hiring new play callers on offense and defense after a disappointing 3-9 record in 2025.
Coach Prime may have run out of sons to lead into battle and he’s rapidly running out of healthy phalanges but nothing like a return to the city he once played two games in two sports for two different teams on one memorable Sunday to light a fire under a program that cratered to a 3-9 finish last year after being resurrected by the entire Sanders family for the prior two years.
Well, Rutgers, at least you have a blueprint as to how to get your own house in order. Go find a Hall of Famer with great DNA to relieve Schiano. Dochterman reminded his readers why that could now be an elevated priority:
The Scarlet Knights failed to reach a bowl game last year and are 31-42 since he returned to the program in 2020. Schiano has three years left on his contract, and to buy him out after this season would cost Rutgers $17.3 million.
After last night, I’ve got a hunch they’ll be able to pass collection plates at every church in the area to start the process.
Courage…