AMHERST — UMass football wide receiver T.Y. Harding stood on his own 40-yard line as he awaited a punt from Wagner specialist Bailey Marzola midway through the fourth quarter.

Having already botched a pair of punt returns earlier in the game, Harding felt he had to make up for it with a splash play with the Minutemen still in a close game (21-7) with the Seahawks. The sophomore fielded the punt at the UMass 42, ran laterally for a brief moment before sticking his foot in the ground and cutting up field to avoid a pair of Wagner defenders. As he picked up speed, he ditched another would-be tackler and took off toward the left sideline.

Harding bolted for the end zone, tip-toed to stay in bounds and soon joined the Minutemen cheerleaders for a touchdown celebration as he put the game out of reach.

The 58-yard special teams score was Harding’s second long touchdown of the night, as he and three total touchdowns from quarterback Taisun Phommachanh helped UMass to its second win of the season – a 35-7 victory over FCS foe Wagner on Saturday evening at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

“First, I want to say thank you to [special teams coordinator Ben Albert],” Harding said. “The first two punts they had, the first one I let go and we lost field position, the second one went straight through my hands and we almost got a safety… Shoot, I just caught the ball and they blocked for me.”

UMass did what it was supposed to do to Wagner in the first half, scoring on three of its last four possessions of the opening 30 minutes to take a 21-0 lead into the locker room. After a Phommachanh interception on the very first play from scrimmage, where he underthrew a deep shot to Jakobie Keeney-James – the Minutemen buckled down and moved the ball at will.

A pair of Jalen John chunk runs (10 yards and 42 yards) set UMass up at the 36-yard line, Harding took a screen pass on the left side, used his blocks – two key ones from tight end Dominick Mazotti and wide receiver Sterling Galban – and took off for six. The tone was set for the Minutemen offense.

“I’m fast. Everyone knows I’m fast… I’m just a runner,” Harding said. “I just catch the ball and run. I do what I do. Run fast and hit the hole. They block for me.”

The rest of the unit followed suit, as UMass gained at least 40 yards on its next three drives. Pressure from Minutemen lineman Jaylen Hudson forced Wagner quarterback Jake Cady to throw a pass into tight coverage, where Arsheen Giles batted the ball right into the hands of Te’Rai Powell – who took it 20 yards the other direction.

Seven plays later, Phommachanh raced into the end zone from three yards out for his first of two rushing scores. His other came on the Minutemen’s ensuing drive, a 13 play, 69-yard march down the field that ended with a 4-yard scamper from the senior quarterback right before halftime.

UMass’ offense looked crisp and efficient early on.

“I thought so,” Minutemen head coach Don Brown said when asked if the first half was the best UMass’ offense has been all year. “I thought we moved the ball in the run area, I thought Taisun, he got his legs going a little bit today too.”

Wagner responded to start the third quarter, embarking on a 15-play possession that took an eternity. Over 10 minutes of clock chewed off as all 15 plays were run plays, the last 7-yard score from Andre Hines Jr. to make it 21-7.

The Seahawks took advantage of a flat UMass offense and drove down into the red zone again following a Minutemen three-and-out. They were faced with a fourth-and-5 at the UMass 10-yard line when Wagner head coach Tom Masella called for a fake field goal. The Minutemen stood tall and forced a turnover on downs to eliminate the chance of a one-possession game.

“We were on that one,” Brown said of the fake. “A lot of times you’re not, but it was 21-7. I didn’t think that [Wagner] wasn’t gonna do something there. Sure enough, [Masella] took his shot. It’s great when it works. It’s not so fun when it doesn’t. One of those deals.”

Harding’s punt return came shortly after, and running back Brandon Campbell carried the ball every play of a five-play drive in which he rushed for 44 yards and a touchdown to put the icing on the cake. Campbell (eight rushes, 63 yards, 1 TD) led a running back room that had its best performance of 2024 on Saturday. Jalen John (52 yards) and CJ Hester (47 yards) were involved, as was Phommachanh (36 yards, 2 TDs).

It was the type of ground game Brown has been expecting this fall.

“It’s good. Brandon Campbell, 63 yards. Jalen John, was with me at Arizona, 52 yards. CJ Hester, 46 yards. All of a sudden, we’ve got multiple heads making a contribution offensively,” Brown said. “That’s pretty good stuff. Taisun, 36 yards rushing. They were meaningful. It’s all good. Good solid win. I really don’t care who the opponent is. I’m just glad those guys are sitting down there with a smile on their face, because they've worked their way through it and they deserve it.”

UMass (2-6) travels to Mississippi State next Saturday for its second of three bouts with opponents from the SEC.