The Midnight Ride Collective, a NIL collective for UMass football program revealed “The Southwick Jug” which was designed to represent and be awarded to the winner of the rivalry game with UConn. The Huskies ended up winning Saturday’s game by a score of 47-42.
𝐀 𝟏𝟐𝟕-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐲….
The Midnight Ride Collective sought to honor tradition while embracing the future.
Our goal was to create a symbol unique to our region… pic.twitter.com/6fSxXdZp5e
– The Midnight Ride Collective (@MidnightRideNIL) November 28, 2024
After the game, UConn football apparently did not win the trophy, sparking numerous reactions and accusations on social media, including that UConn did not want to win it. UConn football coach Jim Mora took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to know that he and the program wanted the trophy, despite claims they wouldn’t take it.
“This is 100% false. I specifically asked for the trophy at the end of the game and was flat out told you were not going to give it up,” Jim Mora posted on X. “@FightMA247 be honest, don’t put this on @UConnFootball or @UConnHuskies.”
How did the UMass and UConn football programs solve this mystery?
It was certainly a confusing ordeal between the two programs, but they both came together to find a solution. The two schools published statements about what will happen in the future.
“Regarding yesterday’s football game and fan interest in presenting a trophy to the winner, prior to the game the two schools had not discussed awarding the trophy to the winning team or using the trophy in general as a symbol of our long-running series,” the UMass Football release read. “The trophy was presented to UMass for the first time earlier in the week, leaving not much time to properly consider an official name, find a mutually beneficial sponsor, or execute a marketing plan. Additionally, the results of the series still need to be added to the basis of the trophy. Both schools agree that celebrating our 78-game rivalry series requires proper planning. Each school’s football collectives have now requested the trophy so they can present it to Coach Mora and his team. We have no problem with this plan and for now we will consider that the trophies of both collectives must be used under their direction.
UConn Football the statement is very similar. It will be interesting to see when Mora and his team receive the trophy, and the reaction that follows. For now, UMass will focus on hiring a new football coach, while Mora and UConn will look forward to hopefully playing in a bowl game in the coming weeks.
