5 UMass players to know ahead of Iowa’s Week 3 matchup

IOWA CITY — UMass football (0-2) has been crawling its way through FBS life for years.

It’s a program that’s struggled to find consistency across all three phases, and chose to hire head coach Joe Harasymiak in the offseason to light a spark.

So far, it hasn’t worked. The Minutemen started their season with a blowout loss to Temple, then fell to FCS’ Bryant on Saturday — UMass’ first loss to an FCS program since 2021.

Injuries haven’t helped either. Harasymiak has already confirmed quarterback Brandon Rose won’t make an appearance against Iowa this week. The Minutemen also are without two wide receivers, a rotation cornerback and a rotation safety.

Harasymiak has plenty of experience with Big Ten teams. He spent four years as a positional coach and co-defensive coordinator at Minnesota and three years as DC at Rutgers. UMass, as a program, will experience Kinnick Stadium for the first time Saturday night.

“This will be my sixth time playing them over the last seven years,” Harasymiak said. “That’s a program that’s been established with Coach (Kirk) Ferentz and what he’s done.”

With all the kinks Harasymiak has had to work through as head coach, he’ll get a shot at bringing the Minutemen into a hostile environment Saturday night and see how the chips fall. It won’t be a perfect game for UMass, but at least the first-year leader will know exactly what his players can do when the lights are brightest.

Here are five players Iowa football will keep its eye out for when UMass ships in.

Grant Jordan

With Rose out of the picture this week, the Minutemen have Grant Johnson at their disposal instead. The 6-foot-2 graduate transfer from Yale played significant snaps in UMass’ game against Bryant, throwing for 205 yards with one interception and rushing another 28 for a touchdown.

The Minutemen also have AJ Hairston as a quarterback, and Harasymiak said he’ll evaluate both signal callers during practice this week to see which one he’ll pick. Based strickly off history, Jordan’s more likely to step onto the field first Saturday night.

Jacquon Gibson

Redshirt junior receiver Jacquon Gibson has been the go-to target through two games. He’s picked up 221 receiving yards on 19 catches, including a 50-yard grab against Bryant. The receiver with the next-highest catches has just four.

Gibson, however, has yet to score a touchdown this season. In fact, none of UMass’ receivers have this season. All four touchdowns scored by the Minutemen have been either by a running back, a defensive turnover or a quarterback.

Tyler Martin

Speaking of defensive turnovers, linebacker Tyler Martin picked off Bryant and returned it for a 23-yard pick 6. He’s one of just four players with more than 12 tackles this season, and is the one of two to pick off a pass.

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Harasymiak said the entire linebacker room will have to focus on playing with a very aggressive attitude to try and stop the Hawkeyes’ run game.

“We’ve got to get downhill and we’ve got to make tackles,” Harasymiak said.

Rocko Griffin

Probably the most used offensive weapon for UMass, Rocko Griffin is definitively the Minutemen’s best running back. He leads the room with 117 rushing yards and one touchdown on 20 carries, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.

Griffin spent the last two years at UTSA and another three seasons at Vanderbilt. He had occassional appearances with as an SEC RB, and made an appearance in just four games during his final season at UTSA.

Derrieon Craig

Senior Derrieon Craig has spent all four years at UMass, despite the coaching changes he’s experienced. He’s currently the team’s leading tackler, with 17 tackles and one pass break up.

He’s on pace to pass his career-high tackles (24) against Iowa. Craig made eight tackles against Temple in UMass’ season opener and nine against Bryant, including the pass break up.

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