PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Pop Watson III passed for 197 yards and three touchdowns as the University of Massachusetts ended a 16-game losing streak with a 37-21 win at Rutgers in the season opener for both teams Thursday night.
It ended what was the longest active losing streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Minutemen’s last win against a school from the FBS, the upper tier of NCAA Division I, was against Army on Oct. 28, 2023.
UMass went 0-12 last season after posting a 2-10 record in 2024, when both victories were against teams from the lower-tier Football Championship Subdivision. The Minutemen also had a win against an FCS program a week after the victory over Army.
Watson connected with Elijah Faulkner on two touchdowns and Joseph Griffin Jr. for one touchdown as Mid-American Conference member UMass built a 24-7 halftime lead against the Scarlet Knights of the Big Ten. It was the Minutemen’s first halftime lead against a power conference school since holding a scoreboard advantage Mississippi State of the Southeastern Conference in 2017.
Curtis Kimmons IV added a 17-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 37-14 late in the fourth quarter.
KJ Duff, an AP All-America second-team wide receiver last year, caught three touchdown passes for Rutgers.
Watson effectively scattered his 18 completions among seven receivers. The transfer from Atlantic Coast Conference program Virginia Tech was equally comfortable throwing and running the ball primarily out of the shotgun. He picked up 40 yards on six carries, leading UMass to scores on seven of its 10 possessions.
Rutgers continued its defensive woes from last season, when it allowed at least 30 points in eight of 12 games. New quarterback Dylan Lonergan had mixed results in his debut for the Scarlet Knights as he passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns but threw four interceptions and lost a fumble.
Coach Greg Schiano said he was pulled in favor of AJ Surace in the fourth quarter due to an undisclosed injury.
The Minutemen have remade the majority of a team that was among the worst in the FBS in 2025, when they scored 11.1 points per game, among the the lowest averages in the country. UMass features 56 new players (30 transfers, 26 freshmen).
Prior to becoming the UMass coach, Joe Harasymiak served as the defensive coordinator for Rutgers from 2022-24. He grew up in Waldwick, New Jersey, about 40 miles from the Rutgers campus.
Harasymiak had a handful of family and friends at SHI Stadium to witness the biggest win the Minutemen recorded since joining the FBS in 2012.
“I think probably the most special part about it is, my mom, my dad are here (in Piscataway), and my two brothers,” Harasymiak said. “I just FaceTimed my wife and my kids, they’re at home. So certainly, growing up here, an hour away, working here for Coach Schiano, it means a lot, but I’m just really proud about our team and what we did.”
Duff, a potential first-round pick in the NFL draft, finished with a career-high nine receptions while totaling 196 receiving yards, 78 of those coming after the catch. Duff posted touchdowns of 4, 6 and a career-long 78 yards.
The Scarlet Knights started 10 new players on defense. Only senior linemen Keshon Griffin is a holdover from last season’s unit that gave up an average of 432.8 yards a game. Rutgers allowed 397 total yards against UMass and had difficulty stopping the pass and the run.
“We got outlicked, outplayed and outcoached,” Schiano said. “There is no other way to say it. I didn’t have them ready.”