After logging one of the worst seasons in college football last year, the University of Massachusetts Amherst has won its first two games of the season - two more than they earned last year.
But for the Minutemen faithful, it’s been a joy to behold and already has students and alumni excited for what comes next – a complete reversal compared to last season’s sentiments.
--
“We have potential! Pop Watson will save this program! Let’s go, UMass! Come on!” screamed Troy Silva of West Springfield, as the Minutemen continued to pile on points against Sacred Heart University Saturday.
It’s amazing what a win against Rutgers University and running up the score against Sacred Heart can do for a fandom.
As heard from Silva – the excitement is real. After going 0-12 last year, with plenty of struggles before that, the UMass Amherst Minutemen are off to one of their strongest starts in a while, beating Rutgers 37-21 last week, then beating Sacred Heart 37-10.
Both were dominant wins – Saturday’s game featured Sacred Heart only getting on the board after UMass was done scoring for the game.
It was a spectacle for fans in the stands – so much so that students like Greyson Blalock were calling for more national attention.
“We want Pat McAfee at UMass with College GameDay!” he shouted from the stands.
Helping make that spirit possible – a retooled defensive line and plenty of key transfers sought by Head Coach Joe Harasymiak and company, including Springfield’s very own William “Pop” Watson III.
Cheering for him in the stands Saturday was Pop’s own, oldest sister, Shanice Reid, just like she did during his days at Virginia Tech.
She said other family members were in the crowd as well as a small fan group she helped organize and sat with – all on edge and screaming as Watson ran in a touchdown in the second quarter.
Pop Watson III hit the juke button. @UMassFootball | #MACtion pic.twitter.com/T9Aa7rcklH
— MACtion (@MACSports) September 12, 2026
“I’m excited - excited for him, excited for our family, excited for Springfield, excited for the state of Massachusetts,” she said. “He's home, so everybody gets to witness it. I don't want to be the cocky big sister, but I told y'all.”
Her attention was split: their 6-year-old niece, Paris, was also on hand for the show.
“Go Pop!” she told WAMC, after saying she was having a good time at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
Having grown up with her brothers and her football coach father, Reid says she's no stranger to football. Now working as a teacher of deportment at the Springfield Public Day High School, she says the hours her brother put in at Springfield's Central High School and beyond were paying off spectacularly.
The quarterback is boasting an 87.5% completion rate with four touchdowns and 349 after just two games.
“I talk about him often, because in my own preparation for my real life career - I'm an educator - he has shown me the power of staying ready, so you don't have to get ready,” she explained. “So when your number's called, you're ready to perform, and he's continuously shown us the power of just staying ready.”
He, along with fellow Central alum Joseph Griffin, Jr. – a transfer from Wisconsin – have been key parts to the team’s recent success.
It’s a team effort, Watson says, but it’s also evidence that, whether it’s UMass or any other school in the area – there’s incredible talent to be found in Springfield that shouldn’t be going untapped, she adds.
“The potential is there - that UMass and the surrounding colleges in the area shouldn't look past us because we're right around the corner - there are guys there that are willing and ready to work ... and, realistically, this is what happens,” she continued, gesturing to the dozen men and women clad in Pop Watson III shirts. “If you look around - I'm not saying everybody's here for Joe and Pop because there's a ton of people here to support other student athletes, which I appreciate - but this is what happens when you go into your backyard and dig for the talent.”
That was a sentiment held by another Central High Golden Eagle in the crowd. Assistant Principal and former UMass football player Julius Walker was also in the stands. Some 20 years after he played for the Minutemen and even worked on their coaching staff at one point, Walker says so far this season, Springfield talent has been on full-display.
“It's a testament to what we build in Springfield - with Pop and Joe, it's amazing because I've watched multiple practices and they do exactly what they did in high school,” said Walker, a football coach at Central himself. “Here, it's nothing different, and they're both gamers. If people didn't know them before, they're going to know them this year.
— James Paleologopoulos (@WAMC_J_Paleo) September 14, 2026
Ahead of Saturday’s game, as burgers were sizzling in the tailgate section, spectators like Jay Angelica were already excited about the prospect of more wins down the road – and the implications it would have for next season.
“Honestly, dude, there's a lot of heart in the program – if we can get a couple wins, that's huge for the program,” Angelica posited as he flipped a pair of burger patties. “We've been on a downtrend. If we can get a couple wins - huge. We get more prospects off of that.”
It’s a notable departure from last year’s attitudes, and the year before that – periods that included fans and college football watchers questioning the wisdom of UMass Amherst moving into the top tier of Division 1 football a decade ago – including the costs and state of the stadium.
But, the university is vowing to revamp the gameday experience – and keep supporting Harasymiak, now in his second year as head coach, who has his own Springfield connection, being a Springfield College alum.
Cameron Neary, a sports journalism and communication double-major, who works with the college radio station, was already anticipating a dominant performance Saturday. Sacred Heart itself plays in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision - a wrung below UMass Amherst's Football Bowl Subdivision.
A WMUA sports broadcaster, Neary says he’s still very aware of the FBS debates, but adds that there are reasons to be upbeat.
“I think that there's been a lot of clamor for UMass to move back down to FCS, just to face some more equal opponents - if you'll call it that, but I've always been a believer in the fact that iron sharpens iron, and when you put the Minutemen up against these Big 10 opponents, these MAC opponents, always moving up to the next level… it's going to improve yourself as a team,” he said. “Even though that the Minutemen have had some difficulties in the past ten or so years at the FBS level, I think that last week's win against Rutgers and the following season to come will be a proving ground, and it only makes you better to play against better opponents.”
For former Minnechaug High School coach Steve Allosso, who made the trip to Amherst from Wells Beach, Maine, Saturday, there’s an argument to be made UMass also was too quick to join the Mid-American Conference.
But, the state of the team now is something to behold, he adds.
“I'm very excited for this team, and … UMass initially got into the Mid-American Conference probably too soon… and the commissioner, who's actually my teammate from back at Valparaiso University, kind of didn't do UMass a good turn,” he said ahead of Saturday’s kickoff. “So, to see them now, with local kids, who I happened to coach against when I was coaching at Minnechaug, be successful and beat Rutgers, which I thought is a pretty good team... I loved what I saw in the highlights, and I'm very excited about this game and I think I wouldn't be surprised if UMass makes a bowl.”
As his wife Janet Allosso adds, having an award-winning marching band and scenic Pioneer Valley in the backdrop is a bonus, as well.
“We try to come to as many as we can … and we especially love in the fall, when the leaves change - this is the most beautiful area in the world. I mean, we love it,” she said of the school their daughter attended back in 2010. “It's not just the campus. I mean, it's beautiful - it's a gorgeous area. We love football – [that’s] #1 - but we love fall and leaves and the beautiful scenery that Amherst has to provide too. It's just great, and the band - we're big band lovers. They're awesome."
Next up for UMass is another home game against the Stonehill Skyhawks on Saturday, Sept 19.
