AMHERST — Of course the fate of the UMass football team’s homecoming game against FCS Central Connecticut State University was going to come down to Blue Devils quarterback Brady Olson — who transferred from UMass in the offseason — having the opportunity to march his team down the field to beat his former team.

Olson stood tall in the shotgun a few yards back from the line of scrimmage, the CCSU 23, with the Blue Devils down 35-31. The junior from Bellingham was primed and ready to author a game-winning drive after UMass failed to convert on a 4th-and-1.

But the UMass defense had other plans. A Minutemen offsides penalty was sprinkled in between three straight Olson incompletions, bringing up a 4th-and-5 with a minute and a half to go.

When Olson took the fourth-down snap, he immediately faced pressure from UMass’ pass rush, rolled out of the pocket and fired a pass to his tight end Peter Cleary. Minutemen defensive back Leonard St. Gourdin lunged in front of the ball and batted it to the turf, giving them the ball back on downs.

UMass would take two kneels with CCSU unable to stop the clock with no timeouts remaining, and celebrate a 35-31 win, dodging a homecoming disaster at McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Saturday evening.

The win, the Minutemen’s first of the season, stood as victory No. 100 for head coach Don Brown.

“It’s pretty good,” Brown said of the milestone. “I really wasn’t thinking about it … I thank [UMass Director of Athletics Ryan] Bamford for bringing me back, and giving me the opportunity. I can assure you this: we are working hard every day to make UMass football better. That’s all I can say.”

Well, hitting the century mark certainly didn’t come easy, and Brown admitted that postgame.

UMass found itself tied with CCSU, 21-21, at halftime, and trailing 28-21 late in the third after the Blue Devils capitalized on an onside kick coming out of the locker rooms. Olson found Paul Marsh Jr. for a 10-yard score giving the visitors and heavy underdogs the lead.

But the Minutemen responded to knot things up at 28 apiece when quarterback Taisun Phommachanh uncorked a 57-yard strike to T.Y. Harding down the right sideline, the wide receiver’s first score of his career.

Phommachanh was on the money all game aside from one bad throw that led to an interception in the first half. The senior tossed for 287 yards and three touchdowns, completing 66 percent of his passes.

“In the third quarter on the field, I said, ‘Come on, man. Lead us,’” Brown said, referring to what he told his quarterback. “And this guy, there are not enough superlatives to talk about this guy. He is a first-class individual. And I think he has an NFL future. Now, he’s gotta have a good year, and I think today was a springboard as to what he’s really capable of.”

The Blue Devils responded with a field goal on their ensuing possession, retaking the lead (31-28) in the fourth quarter.

Phommachanh and the offense didn’t flinch and went right back to work. Two chunk plays, a pass to Jacquon Gibson that went for 14 yards and another to Keeney-James for 26, set UMass up at the CCSU 35-yard line. The rest of the possession was dominated on the ground, with Jalen John, Phommachanh and Brandon Campbell each getting carries. Campbell punched in a 3-yard score for his first touchdown as a Minuteman.

That quick response from UMass in a big-time situation isn’t something the team has shown it can do, but that changed on Saturday. And Brown was thrilled.

“That was a big moment right there,” Brown said. “Great response, great response.”

UMass forced a three-and-out before being stuffed on 2nd-and-1, 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 with under two minutes to go from the CCSU 23-yard line, giving possession back to the Blue Devils with a chance to win.

Enter the Minutemen defense, which finally created havoc in the opposing backfield after struggling to do so thus far this fall.

“We contested every throw [on the last drive]. We chased Brady Olson pretty well during that stretch as well,” Brown said. “We chased him around for a good chunk of the night.”

Although the scoreboard leaned in favor of UMass for the first time this season, the entire contest featured more of the same issues that have plagued the Minutemen now a third of the way through its 2024 campaign. Brown was adamant that he and his coaching staff have been addressing their penalty problem, a category the Minutemen have lived in the very bottom of since Brown took over three years ago.

Yet Saturday UMass committed 15 penalties for a whopping 139 yards, each one a gift to CCSU.

“It feels like it’s arbitrary when the pass interference flags got thrown [tonight], on either side of the ball,” Brown said. “Everything else, I had no problem with.”

John (13 carries, 65 yards, one touchdown) and Jackson Paradis (14 carries, 54 yards, one touchdown – the first of his career) led UMass’ rushing attack alongside Phommachanh’s 43 yards on the ground, while Keeney-James fell just shy of 100 yards with five catches, 95 yards and a score.

Paradis and Keeney-James put UMass up 14-0 before CCSU stormed back with two consecutive touchdowns of its own. Phommachanh then tossed a score to tight end Owen Anderson with 39 ticks to go until halftime, but the Blue Devils returned the ensuing kick deep into Minutemen territory and Olson hit Elijah Howard for a 2-yard touchdown four plays later, making it 21-21 at intermission.

UMass (1-3) travels to Miami (Ohio) for a 3:30 p.m. contest next Saturday.