UConn and UMass played the first-ever clash for the Southwick Jug Trophy on Saturday. However, the historic college football rivalry is now at the center of an unexpected and unusual controversy that involves the aforementioned trophy.
Administrators in Amherst further proved incompetent after leading a confusing sequence of events over the last few weeks.
The Minutemen have not finished above .500 on the FBS level since 1904. They went a combined 7-41 over the last four years. They won only two games against far inferior FCS programs this season.
As UMass looks ahead to a more successful future, it fired head coach Don Brown in the middle of November. His wife proceeded to ridicule the university’s decision because her husband was set up to fail in the NIL era. She revealed that Brown’s former program is operating with a total NIL budget of only $36,000.
The Midnight Ride previously served as the Minutemen’s top NIL arm and, by all accounts, did a pretty great job of making something (though not a lot) out of absolutely nothing. Despite its best efforts, UMass put an end to the collective just days before the end of the regular season.
To make the sudden disbandment even more awkward, the Midnight Ride announced a brand-new rivalry trophy for The Colonial Clash less than 72 hours prior. The Southwick Jug Trophy features an early 1900s Beanpot from Massachusetts and wood from the Connecticut Charter Oak.
𝐀 𝟏𝟐𝟕-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐲….
— The Midnight Ride Collective (@MidnightRideNIL) November 28, 2024
The Midnight Ride Collective looked to honor tradition while embracing the future.
Our goal was to create a symbol unique to our region… pic.twitter.com/6fSxXdZp5e
UConn earned the first-ever Southwick Jug with a two-point win over UMass on Saturday but UMass asked UConn not to acknowledge the trophy because the Midnight Ride will soon cease to exist. UConn supposedly obliged to UMass’ request.
Sounds like UMass’ completely out of touch athletic administration has put a cherry on top of today, refusing to acknowledge The Southwick Jug Trophy and asking UConn to not acknowledge it either
So not only is UMass incompetent, they’re going to be petty too […]
Hopefully UMass and UConn can make a pretty easy decision to accept this trophy but at this point it seems like both schools aren’t on board which is a real shame
God forbid something fun gets added to a rivalry game because one of the schools doesn’t like the source
— Fight Massachusetts of 247 Sports
Huskies head coach Jim Mora disputes the Minutemen’s account of what happened. He wanted to bring the new trophy back to Storrs. He was told to kick rocks.
This is 100% false. I specifically asked for the trophy at the end of the game and I was told point blank you folks weren’t giving it up. Don’t put this on UConn.
— Jim Mora
This is just another example of the ineptitude in Amherst. UMass badly bungled its Senior Day prior to the loss to UConn. It made itself look even worse when it denied Mora’s request for the trophy.
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Connecticut Football Coach Exposed His Biggest Rival For Lying About Fake Trophy Controversy
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