UMass will try to prove its breakthrough performance at Rutgers wasn’t a one-week occurrence when it returns to McGuirk Alumni Stadium for Saturday’s home opener against Sacred Heart.
The Minutemen are coming off a 37-21 victory at Rutgers that snapped a 16-game losing streak and gave head coach Joe Harasymiak his first win at UMass. Now comes a very different challenge.
Sacred Heart is an FCS program, but Harasymiak has spent the week making it clear he doesn’t want the Minutemen’s approach dictated by the name on the other sideline.
“We’re not playing up or down,” Harasymiak said Monday. “We’re playing game for 60 minutes.”
The Pioneers went 8-4 last season and are beginning their first year as a member of the CAA. They opened the season with a 31-24 loss at Monmouth, but outgained the Hawks 408-350, picked up 26 first downs and had an opportunity to tie the game on their final possession.
“We have a great opponent coming in here, eight-win team from last year,” Harasymiak said. “They just opened up on the road at Monmouth and they had a chance to go down and score to tie the game.”
Saturday will be the first meeting between UMass and Sacred Heart.
UMASS vs. SACRED HEART
Saturday, Sept. 12 • 3:30 p.m.
McGuirk Alumni Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LISTEN: WHMP 101.5 FM & 1400 AM
The UMass game notes list Joey Lindstrom and Tre Watson on the ESPN+ broadcast, with Jay Burnham, Matt Goldstein and Adam Frenier on the radio call.
OFFENSE
Sacred Heart’s offense begins with quarterback Poochie Snyder.
The junior is coming off an efficient 2025 season in which he completed 71.2 percent of his passes for 1,867 yards, 11 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He was also a significant part of the Pioneers’ running game, rushing for 553 yards and seven touchdowns.
His performance helped Sacred Heart finish sixth nationally in rushing offense at 217 yards per game and 10th in completion percentage.
“He’s dangerous,” Harasymiak said.
Snyder showed why against Monmouth.
He completed 14-of-25 passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns without an interception while adding 67 yards on 15 rushing attempts.
Snyder’s ability to extend plays is something Harasymiak has emphasized to his defense.
“He took one against Merrimack last year for like 70 yards on a scramble,” Harasymiak said. “He kind of sets a tone.”
The Pioneers also showed they have weapons on the outside.
Dean Hangey (#10) caught eight passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns against Monmouth. One of those scores came from 52 yards out. Jason Palmieri (#8) caught a six-yard touchdown from Snyder for Sacred Heart’s first score.
“They have two good wideouts in 8 and 10,” Harasymiak said.
The biggest change for the Pioneers comes in the backfield.
Mitchell Summers emerged as one of the best freshmen in the FCS last season, rushing for 1,060 yards and 12 touchdowns on 197 carries. He earned Stats Perform and FCS Football Central Freshman All-America honors and entered this season as a CAA Preseason All-Conference selection.
But Summers was lost for the season when he went down with a season-ending injury in the opener.
Without him against Monmouth, Chuck Webb handled much of the rushing workload, carrying 18 times for 72 yards and adding two receptions for 30 yards.
Even without Summers, Sacred Heart demonstrated an ability to sustain drives in its opener. The Pioneers ran 71 plays, rushed for 217 yards, possessed the ball for 35:26 and converted two of their three fourth-down attempts.
That presents a different challenge for a UMass defense coming off an impressive performance at Rutgers.
DEFENSE
Harasymiak’s first takeaway from Sacred Heart’s defense was its effort.
“Defensively and special teams, like I said, they play extremely hard,” he said.
That starts with a couple of players Harasymiak specifically identified Monday.
Safety Kymari Latney, a Springfield, Mass., native, had four tackles in the opener. Harasymiak was impressed with the physicality he saw from Latney on film.
“The safety over there comes downhill and hits you,” Harasymiak said.
On the edge, Janier Armstead recorded three tackles, including a sack and tackle for loss against Monmouth.
“They got 54 on the edge that can cause some havoc,” Harasymiak said.
Outside linebacker Myles Hamilton and Ryan Palmieri led Sacred Heart with nine tackles apiece against Monmouth. Hamilton also had a tackle for loss. Kyle Hall and Mike Deitelbaum finished with seven tackles each.
The Pioneers allowed 350 total yards against Monmouth, including 113 on the ground. Sacred Heart registered one sack and Monmouth finished with 5.6 yards per play.
Harasymiak was particularly impressed by the way the Pioneers tackled Monmouth’s skill players in space.
“Their d-line guys inside play tough, play strong,” he said. “I think they tackled really well in the open space against Monmouth’s skill.”
That’s something UMass will have to deal with after an opener in which Pop Watson distributed the ball to eight different receivers and the Minutemen rushed for exactly 200 yards.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Sacred Heart’s special teams had an uneven opener.
Ryan Bocklet made a 23-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 24, but he missed a 39-yarder in the second quarter.
Sacred Heart averaged 31 yards on three punts and 19.5 yards on six kickoff returns. The Pioneers allowed Monmouth a 27-yard punt return.
UMass enters the game coming off an excellent performance from kicker Derek Morris, who made all three of his field-goal attempts at Rutgers, including a 52-yarder. He was named MAC Special Teams Player of the Week.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR UMASS
This is as much a test of UMass’ mentality as it is a matchup with Sacred Heart.
The Minutemen just went on the road and beat a Big Ten opponent by 16 points. Nine days later, they’re hosting an FCS team that is 0-1.
Harasymiak doesn’t want those circumstances to matter.
“What I’m preaching to them is no matter who would’ve lined up more than likely on Thursday night, Big 10 team, MAC team, CAA team, we would’ve had a very good opportunity to win because of the way we played,” he said. “So that has to be the same.”
There are legitimate challenges within the matchup.
Snyder’s mobility will test a UMass defense that was outstanding against the run at Rutgers. Hangey demonstrated big-play ability in the opener and Sacred Heart’s ability to sustain possession could make things uncomfortable if UMass doesn’t get off the field.
But, Harasymiak acknowledged that if his team plays the way it did at Rutgers, they’ll have a good chance to win regardless of the opponent.
“No matter who would’ve lined up (against), more than likely on Thursday night, Big 10 team, MAC team, CAA team, we would’ve had a very good opportunity to win because of the way we played,” he said. “That has to be the same.”
This is an opportunity for the Minutemen to build on the balance they showed at Rutgers. UMass rushed for 200 yards while Watson completed 19-of-22 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns.
But the larger question Saturday is whether UMass can reproduce the approach that led to its breakthrough win regardless of the opponent.
Harasymiak started that process Sunday when the Minutemen reconvened.
“The first thing we did was put our hand on our head and throw Rutgers in the garbage,” he said. “So it’s over, it’s done with. We got to move on.”
Now comes the first chance to show what moving forward looks like.
“It’s our job to recreate and reestablish what the new standard is for UMass Football.”
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