AMHERST — After weeks of spring football, summer workouts and preseason camp, the UMass football team starts its season with a home opener against Eastern Michigan on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. 

It’s the first time the Minutemen are opening their season at home since 2018, and it comes against a school UMass has lost to in three consecutive years. Last year, UMass took a 17-13 lead with 2:42 left, only for the Eagles to score a game-winning touchdown with 1:20 left and hang on for a 19-17 victory.

Taisun Phommachanh was injured for that game, but he’s back this year and will hope to repeat his performance from the 2023 season opener where UMass notched an upset over 10-win New Mexico State thanks to Phommachanh’s 192 yards passing and 96 yards rushing.

UMass on Monday announced its first depth chart of the season – here’s a position-by-position breakdown.

Quarterbacks

QB: Taisun Phommachanh, Ahmad Haston

No surprises here. Though Phommachanh missed all of spring football with a knee injury suffered last September, he didn’t miss a preseason practice and has reiterated multiple times throughout camp that he’s “ready to go.”

Haston threw 17 passes against New Mexico, Penn State and Liberty last season but was able to keep his redshirt. He was retained on a Midnight Ride NIL contract and practiced with the second-string all camp.

Running backs

RB: Jalen John OR Brandon Campbell OR CJ Hester

After the departures of Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams and Greg Desrosiers in the spring, UMass has operated on a committee approach at running back all camp and the non-decision on a starter is not surprising. 

John played third string last season and is the lone returning back with any career rushing yards. At 225 pounds, he’s the heaviest of the three.

Hester joined the team this summer and is the youngest of the three, with just one college season at Western Michigan under his belt. At 195, he’s the lightest of the three and he brings speed and quickness to the room.

Campbell, a transfer from Houston, hasn’t even been in Amherst for two weeks. He’s a former four-star recruit, but he wasn’t able to secure lead-back duties at either USC or Houston.

Wide receivers

WR: Jakobie Keeney-James, Keshawn Brown

WR: Jacquon Gibson, Sterling Galban OR Savion Robinson

WR: Anthony Simpson, Kezion Dia-Johnson

With 57 catches and 792 yards last year, Simpson was UMass’ unquestioned top target. He’ll play that role again this year, but no other UMass player who caught a pass last year remains on the roster.

“It’s definitely my room,” Simpson said. “My boys come behind me and they go as I go.”

Simpson said he’ll play more on the perimeter this year in Shane Montgomery’s new offense.

Fellow starter Keeney-James comes to Amherst after 37 games across five seasons with FCS Eastern Washington. The 6-foot-1, 195 pounder missed most of last season due to injury but practiced with the first team during camp.

Gibson, the third projected starter, enters his third year in Amherst after a redshirt last season and has also played a large role during camp. Jacksonville State transfer Sterling Galban is in his seventh year of college football and is also listed as the Minutemen’s punt returner.

One notable omission is Frank Ladson Jr, who transferred to UMass this offseason after stints at Clemson and Miami. He hasn’t played since Nov. 2022 and did not practice with the team this fall, instead running through exercises on the sideline with a knee brace.

“Things are going in the right direction,” head coach Don Brown said on Monday. “Will he have a chance to play (this season)? I think he will but I don’t want to make any promises.”

Tight ends

TE: Dominick Mazotti, Owen Anderson

UMass turned to the portal to replace the graduated quarterback-turned-tight end Gino Campiotti, bringing in Mazotti (San Jose State) and Anderson (Illinois), as well as Jaelyn Lay (Alabama State/Clemson). Mazotti started 20 games for San Jose State over five seasons and was an All-Mountain West Honorable Mention in 2022. Anderson appeared in one game over two years at Illinois.

Offensive line

LT: Brayden Rohme, Ryan Mosesso

LG: Wyatt Terlaak, Mao Glynn

C: Josh Atwood, Peyton Miller

RG: Ethan Mottinger, Ben Roy

RT: Luke Painton, Jaxon King

No surprises here either. This is the unit the Minutemen have been running with their first team through camp. Atwood and Mottinger are returning starters, back for their fifth seasons in Amherst, and Terlaak appeared in eight games last year for the Minutemen as a redshirt junior. Offensive line coach Alex Miller singled him out as the player he’s seen the most improvement out of since the beginning of spring football.

Rohme started nine games for Cal in 2022 but was used as a backup last season, prompting his transfer to Amherst. In four seasons at Cal, he played in 38 games with 15 starts, including 12 at left tackle.

Painton has received rave reviews from the coaching staff since his offseason transfer to UMass from Columbia. He started all 20 games at tight end in 2021 and 2022 before switching to left tackle last year and starting the first eight games of the season before an injury.

With four players entering their fifth years and Terlaak entering his fourth, both Miller and Atwood said this is the most experienced offensive line they’ve ever worked with.

Defensive line

DE: Jaylen Hudson, Kofi Asare, Aquan Robinson

DT: Tim Grant-Randall, Shambre Jackson

NT: Aaron Beckwith, Brandon McElroy, Tyson Watson

DE: Louce Julien, Etinosa Reuben, Jermaine Wiggins

After the graduations of Billy Wooden, Cletus Mathurin and JB Brown, UMass’ defensive line is admittedly “green,” defensive coordinator Keith Dudzinski said.

Beckwith (fifth season at UMass) and Julien (fourth) are both back in Amherst after appearing in double-digit games last year. The rest of the line was fortified through the portal, with Hudson (Wake Forest) and Grant-Randall (Eastern Michigan) earning starting roles. Saturday will be a “big game” for Grant-Randall in going up against his school of the past three years, Brown said.

Linebackers

Mike: Jalen Stewart OR Tyler Martin, Rashad Henry

Will: Gerrell Johnson OR Macklin Ayers, Myles Turner

Sam: Derrieon Craig OR Dominic Schofield, Donovan Dyson

Viper: Jadrian Gibbs OR Jalen Harrell OR Christian LeBrun

Nahji Logan (Indiana) and Jerry Roberts (graduation) are both gone, and UMass has not made a decision yet on who to start in their place.

Martin played outside linebacker last season and made the switch back inside this season. Stewart enters his senior season with 20 games of experience from the past two.

Johnson is entering his fifth season in Amherst and put up 51 tackles last year, second among UMass linebackers behind Logan. Ayers is a newcomer, but captained Dartmouth last year and recorded 159 tackles in 2022 and 2023.

Craig played in every game for UMass last season, and Schofield missed just one. And at the viper position – a hybrid linebacker-safety role – Harrell returns for his second year with the program, while junior college transfer Gibbs and redshirt freshman LeBruin will try to earn playing time.

Secondary

CB: Lake Ellis OR Arsheen Jiles, Jashon Watkins

S: Te’Rai Powell, Leonard St. Gourdin, Steven Ortiz

S: Tyler Rudolph, Jeremiah McGill, Brennen Bailey

CB: Isaiah Rutherford, Ryan Barnes, Jerrod Cameron

Returning starters Powell, Rudolph and Rutherford bring a combined 14 years of experience to the secondary. Johnson is the only returner who registered more tackles last year than Powell and Rudolph.

The Minutemen supplemented the secondary with seven transfers, five of them FCS grad-transfers.

Ellis (Bryant), Jiles (Sacred Heart), Watkins (Tennessee State), St. Gourdin (Dartmouth), Cameron Watkins-Hunter (Georgetown), Bailey (Division 2 West Liberty) and Barnes (Notre Dame) are all new to Amherst. Jiles and Ellis both earned all-conference honors at their previous schools and turned heads during camp.

Special teams

K: Jacob Lurie, Riley Moore

P: CJ Kolodziey, Riley Moore

LS: Jackson Marx, James Horton

KR: Anthony Simpson, Sterling Galban

PR: Sterling Galban, Anthony Simpson

Vanderbilt transfer Lurie comes in to replace the graduated Cameron Carson. Kolodziey returns for his third year at punter. Simpson slides into primary kick return duties after Desrosiers’ departure and Galban takes the graduated Isaac Ross’ spot as punt returner.