The UMass football team has reached an inflection point.
Saturday’s 38-14 loss against Eastern Michigan was the first loss of the season and first time through five games in 2026 where an opponent outmatched the Minutemen at seemingly every facet of the game.
UMass won its previous four games quite comfortably, yet the Eagles flew into McGuirk Alumni Stadium and looked like they were the team carrying an unbeaten record.
Now with another Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponent on deck in Miami (OH) this Saturday, UMass head coach Joe Harasymiak boiled down the team’s focus to one word this week: response.
“We talked about an immediate response, how we were [Sunday] in the team meeting, which I thought was really good,” Harasymiak said. “We had a stern meeting, we talked about what we didn’t do well. We were up front about that, guys had a great mindset. Now the next part of response is how you attack the week, we need a great practice week…this is a very, very, super-talented team.”
The RedHawks enter the matchup at 2-3 with a 24-20 loss to Bowling Green on Oct. 3 serving as their most recent result.
Miami backup quarterback Caleb Heavner has officially assumed the reigns as the No. 1 option and put up respectable numbers in the loss to the Falcons last week, going 17-for-24 for 198 yards and a touchdown.
David McComb, the RedHawks’ starting quarterback to begin the season, has been ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering an injury against UConn on Sept. 26.
“As far as the quarterback situation goes, last game was [Heavner’s] first time starting, he got in at the end of the UConn game,” Harasymiak said. “Listen, he did some good things. Certainly, they gave up six sacks, I think a little bit of that is him trying to create and run around, Bowling Green’s pressure.
“I’m sure second time, he’s going to truly get in the gameplan and start, he’s going to make better decisions,” Harasymiak said. “They’re going to put him in situations to be successful. Regardless of who plays, this is a very, very tall task for this team.”
Miami has been among the cream of the crop of the MAC since 2019 as it’s appeared in four MAC championship games in that span, including the last three, with a MAC title to its name in 2023 after beating Toledo, 23-14.
RedHawks head coach Chuck Martin is in year No. 13 leading the program, which has also appeared in six consecutive bowl games.
“The head coach, just like the last head coach we’ve played, has been there and has done his thing,” Harasymiak said. “[Miami is] really talented, I’m willing to say the most talented team that we’ve played so far as an overall product. They’ve played two power-four teams that have a combined one loss. [Pittsburgh] is 5-0 and I believe Cincinnati is 4-1. They beat the doors off of Holy Cross, which they were supposed to do and then they pulled out a game against UConn, who is very good and we have them in two weeks.”
The Minutemen managed 316 yards of total offense versus Eastern Michigan, with a measly 106 rushing yards included.
Harasymiak hopes UMass can return to establishing its rushing attack that was averaging nearly 200 yards per game throughout the four-game win streak.
“Going into this week, offensively, get back to some of the things that we can do, to give our guys some angles, some numbers and things in the run game that we do well,” Harasymiak said.
On the defensive side of the ball, Harasymiak classified his team as “out of character” against the Eagles, yet the second-year skipper remains confident in that unit.
“Defensively, I think we’ve played really well for essentially four solid games,” Harasymiak said. “Statistically it says that, but when you go against better players, it evens out.”
The Minutemen are still searching for their first FBS victory at McGuirk since defeating UConn, 27-13, in 2021.
Kickoff against Miami is scheduled for 2 p.m.
