The UMass football team, to put it lightly, is having a dreadful season. For more proof of that look at what the Minutemen did at home on Wednesday night. Not only did they lose to Northern Illinois, 45–3, to fall to 0–10, they also went viral for doing the most embarrassing thing in the fourth quarter.
In case you missed it, and we're guessing that you did because, really, who's watching UMass football on a Wednesday night in November, the Minutemen opted to kick a field goal midway through the fourth quarter while trailing by 45 points.
The good news for UMass supporters is that the kick sailed through the uprights to give the team their only points on the night.
The bad news is that they then celebrated the points by shooting off a ton of fireworks.
Here's how that played out:
UMASS FIELD GOAL FIREWORKS 🎇 pic.twitter.com/nVI9wP2El3
— College Football Campus Tour (@cfbcampustour) November 13, 2025
There's a whole lot of sadness in that video—the mostly empty stands, the band playing while down by 42 points, and, yes, all of the fireworks.
What's more incredibly sad is that the team kicked the field goal on a fourth-and-5 play from Northern Illinois’s 26-yard line. At that point just go for it instead of kicking a meaningless field goal.
Oh, by the way, UMass is ranked dead last in ESPN’s College Football Power Index at 136.
Fans had a lot of jokes about that fireworks celebration.
This is so perfectly and delightfully on brand. I need this made as a GIF I can use til the end of time. https://t.co/Up9GAvgMpM
— Curry Hicks Sage (@CurryHicksSage) November 13, 2025
UMass did the Chris Paul meme. https://t.co/kBnoRiQFpB pic.twitter.com/P9mq9DZlKb
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) November 13, 2025
We’ve been bad, but we have NEVER been this bad. https://t.co/tGvkM4Ffyv
— professional Zip (@ProfessionalZip) November 13, 2025
They can’t just suck under the radar either. They have to find a way to draw attention to themselves every week https://t.co/aVrmMVyrrZ
— Zack (@CMGIField) November 13, 2025
its like watching your dog run away on the 4th of July https://t.co/GV92rWsgn6
— AA (@a_sal_a8) November 13, 2025
UMass really is the gift that keeps on giving. https://t.co/U3Kn0hzH9N
— Andrew (@Andrew_Cyr) November 13, 2025
UMass has one more home game left on its schedule, as it will host Bowling Green on Nov. 26. Hopefully the Minutemen can find some more fireworks in case they're able to score any points in that one. Because the world needs more UMass football fireworks.
Northern Illinois, meanwhile, improved to 3–7 with the blowout win.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as College Football Team Did the Most Embarrassing Thing While Losing 45–3.
