Rutgers opened its 2026 season with what appeared to be a scheduled win against UMass. Instead, the game turned into an absolute nightmare for the Scarlet Knights.
UMass, one of the worst teams in the FBS over the past few years, cruised to an easy 37-21 victory on the road at Rutgers. The Big Ten surely can’t be happy about this.
Rutgers Suffers Horrific Loss to UMass Thursday Night
The loss has the entire college football world talking and some aspects of the fallout are just as painful for Rutgers as the game itself. Let’s start with the fact they paid UMass over $1.5 million to play the game.
$1.55 million. pic.twitter.com/M3HkhLgqUW
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) September 4, 2026
$1.55 million to go on the road and beat a Big Ten team? That is truly priceless.
Then there is the fact UMass showed up as a 29.5-point underdog.
MASS CHAOS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL!
The 29.5-point underdog Minutemen beat the Big Ten’s Rutgers by 16 on the road‼️ pic.twitter.com/eu6Eo2CcO3
— ESPN (@espn) September 4, 2026
The Minutemen went 0-12 last season and have not won more than four games since 2011, when the program was in the FCS. The school jumped to the FBS level seemingly for more money, and perhaps 2026 is the year it all comes together.
For now, this is one of the most notable upsets in recent college football history. Rutgers has never been a Big Ten powerhouse, but they are still a member of a power conference. This loss, especially to such a lowly program, is going to hurt for a long time.
Any Barstool haters out there will also love to see Dave Portnoy’s tweet about him slamming Rutgers to destroy UMass and easily surpass the -29.5 line.
I made my 1st bet of college football season and it may be my strongest play of the year. Rutgers -29.5 to beat umass by 40 plus
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 3, 2026
He was likely not alone in his thinking before UMass pulled off an upset for the ages.
