How to Watch UMass vs. Rutgers: TV Channel, Live Stream, Time

The UMass Minutemen visit the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Thursday, September 3, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. ET from SHI Stadium, Piscataway, NJ.

The Scarlet Knights led the FBS with four special teams touchdowns during the 2025 regular season. The Minutemen scored 15 total touchdowns last season, the second fewest in the FBS.

DraftKings has the Scarlet Knights as 29.5-point favorites over the Minutemen, with a total of 51.5. The moneyline sits at -9091 for Rutgers and +2167 for UMass.

Below, we'll give you all the details you need to know about how to watch this game.

How to Watch UMass vs. Rutgers

• When: Thursday, September 3, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. ET
• Where: SHI Stadium, Piscataway, NJ
• TV: BTN
• Stream: Watch 3 days free on FOX One

Players to Watch

Pop Watson

QBUMass Minutemen

UMass was the only winless team in the FBS a year ago, and Watson (a Springfield, Massachusetts native taking over at quarterback) is the clearest sign the program is trying to climb out of that hole. He arrives from Virginia Tech, where he spent three seasons buried on the depth chart but flashed real upside in his only start, throwing for 251 yards and a touchdown while adding a rushing score in a Commonwealth Cup win over Virginia. Coach Joe Harasymiak has more talent around Watson than an 0-12 record suggests, and a redshirt junior with that kind of flash gives the Minutemen a real path to a win or two if it translates into a full season's workload. Rutgers enters with its own quarterback situation reshaped by the portal, so neither sideline is entirely sure what it has yet. That uncertainty on both sidelines makes the way Watson performs early a legitimate measuring stick for how far this program has come.

KJ Duff

WRRutgers Scarlet Knights

Duff quietly put together one of the best seasons no one outside the Big Ten noticed. He caught 60 passes for 1,084 yards a year ago, production that would headline most rosters in the conference. Rutgers is 0-37 against top 25 opponents in the College Football Playoff era, so UMass will not tell coach Greg Schiano much about where this program stands nationally, but it will tell him whether Duff can pick up where he left off against a defense that is replacing significant pieces of its own. A downfield threat playing at that level again would let Rutgers move the ball early and often.

Antwan Raymond

RBRutgers Scarlet Knights

Rutgers' offense has two proven weapons most Big Ten fans have never had to defend, and Raymond is one of them. He ran for 1,241 yards last season, forming a one-two punch with Duff that gives Schiano's offense a real identity even before considering the addition of transfer quarterback Dylan Lonergan. UMass showed signs of life on defense late last season, but a winless team facing a returning 1,000 yard rusher in its opener is not an easy litmus test. If Raymond runs the way he did a year ago, Rutgers can control the clock and keep its defense off the field against a UMass offense that is still finding its footing under a new quarterback.

UMass vs. Rutgers Odds

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