Minutemen Run Away From Sacred Heart In Home Opener, 37-10

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Sacred Heart	0	0	3	7	10
Massachusetts	17	6	14	0	37

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts football team jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the blink of an eye and didn't look back, defeating Sacred Heart 37-10 on Saturday in front of 14,895 fans at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. In the game's first 3:16, T.Y. Harding had a 48-yard receiving touchdown and an 82-yard punt return touchdown. With the win, the Minutemen improve to 2-0 on the season for the first time in the FBS era.

William "Pop" Watson III finished 9-of-10 passing for 152 yards and a passing touchdown, playing until midway through the third quarter before being relieved by Aedan McCarthy, who made his collegiate debut, with the Minutemen holding a comfortable lead.

Joseph Griffin Jr., led UMass in receptions (3) and yards (59) while Harding's 49 receiving yards were second for the Minutemen. Elijah Faulkner had 72 yards on 11 carries while Watson III added 40 yards on the ground on four attempts and a rushing touchdown. Reece Adkins also had a rushing touchdown, which marked the first of his career. As a team, the Minutemen eclipsed 150 rushing yards for the second straight week.

Khari Bendolph led the defense with 11 tackles, with Tyler Martin tallying seven. Jahmad Harmon had an interception return for a touchdown, which marked his third interception of the season.

How It Happened

It took UMass just two plays to get on the board. After TJ Magee returned the opening kickoff to the 20-yard line, Elijah Faulkner rushed 26 yards to the Sacred Heart 49-yard line. On the next play, William "Pop" Watson III connected with T.Y. Harding for 49 yards for the touchdown. The extra point gave the Minutemen a 7-0 lead with 14:16 remaining in the first quarter.

Sacred Heart gained one first down on its first possession, but the Minutemen forced a punt. Harding returned the punt for 82 yards for the touchdown and a 14-0 UMass lead with 11:44 left in the first.

The Minutemen forced the Pioneers to punt on a fourth-and-two, kicking it out-of-bounds at the UMass two. A false start pinned Massachusetts to its own one-yard line. On second down, Watson III ran 22 yards to the 46-yard line. Later in the drive, Faulkner ran 14 yards on a third-and-three to the SHU 21. Morris then connected on a 33-yard field goal attempt to extend the Minutemen's lead to 17-0 in the first.

In the second quarter, Sacred Heart drove into Massachusetts territory twice, but couldn't convert. The first time, the Minutemen forced a punt that sailed just seven yards to the 30-yard line.

After a UMass punt later in the quarter, the Pioneers drove to the UMass 29-yard line, but a turnover on downs gave the Minutemen the ball back with 1:54 remaining.

Massachusetts capitalized on the opportunity, taking just four plays to march 71 yards and punch it in the end zone. Watson III first found Griffin Jr., for 39 yards to the Sacred Heart 32-yard line. Two consecutive first-down runs from Faulkner, followed by a QB keeper from Watson III for eight yards gave UMass its third touchdown of the afternoon. The extra point was wide left, but the Minutemen held a 23-0 halftime lead.

After a Sacred Heart three-and-out to start the third quarter, Harding had a 59-yard punt return to the Pioneers' eight-yard line, nearly breaking his second punt return score for the game. Massachusetts punched it into the end zone in four plays, capped off by a Reece Adkins one-yard touchdown run. The extra point gave UMass a 30-0 lead with 11:51 on the clock.

Three plays into Sacred Heart's next drive, Jahmad Harmon picked off his third pass of the season and returned it 34 yards to the end zone, and a 37-0 Minutemen advantage with 10:23 left in the third.

On their ensuing drive, the Pioneers went from their own 25-yard line to the UMass 17-yard line. The big play was a 35-yard, third-and-eight reception from Darius Chukwuemeka into Minutemen territory. Sacred Heart got one more first down before Ryan Bocklet knocked through a 35-yard field goal to pull his team within 37-3 with 5:29 left in the third.

Sacred Heart picked up its first touchdown late in the fourth, going 75 yards in 7:59. The Pioneers had a fourth-down conversion from the UMass 29-yard line then an ensuing third-down conversion from the 17. Cole Snider capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown rush. The point after was good to pull within 37-10 with 3:32 remaining.

The Minutemen continued to run the ball to bleed clock, wrapping up the 37-10 victory.

Notes

Timmy Hinspeter, Tyler Martin, Willam "Pop" Watson III and Dallas Elliot served as the UMass game captains.
The Minutemen are off to their first 2-0 start in the FBS era and first since 2011, when UMass defeated Holy Cross, 24-16, and Rhode Island, 36-27.
UMass owns back-to-back wins for the first time since October-November 2023, when the Minutemen defeated Army, 21-14, on Oct. 28 and Merrimack, 31-21, on Nov. 11.
The win marked the Minutemen's first at home since Oct. 26, 2024, when UMass defeated Wagner, 35-7.
The Minutemen scored a touchdown in just 44 seconds, marking the first time in at least 30 years that UMass scored in the first minute of its home opener.
Watson III's 49-yard touchdown pass to T.Y. Harding in the game's first minute marked his collegiate long pass (from his time both at UMass and Virginia Tech).
Harding's 82-yard punt return touchdown was the second of his career, having previously returned a 58-yard punt for a touchdown versus Wagner on Oct. 26, 2024.
It's UMass' longest punt return for a touchdown in the FBS era and longest since a 92-yard punt return for a touchdown since Jerome Bledsoe on Sept. 10, 1988, against Maine.
Overall, it was Harding's eighth career touchdown.
Harding also had a 59-yard punt return to set up UMass' first scoring drive of the third quarter.
UMass held a 17-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, marking the first time since Sept. 22, 2018, versus Charlotte that UMass had at least 17 points in the first quarter (en route to a 49-31 victory).
UMass scored 30 or more points in consecutive games for the first time since 2014: Sept. 27, 2014 vs. Bowling Green (L, 47-42), Oct. 4, 2014 at Miami (OH) (L, 42-41) and Oct. 11, 2014 at Kent State (W, 40-17).
Jahmad Harmon had a 34-yard pick six, becoming the first UMass player to return an interception for a touchdown since Tyler Martin last season against Bryant.
Harmon's interception marked his third of the season, and of his career, which is already the most in a single season by a Massachusetts player since Jordan Mahoney had three in the 2022 year.
For the first time since Nov. 6, 2010, against Maine, the Minutemen returned an interception and a kick (kickoff or punt) for a touchdown in the same game. Ryan Carter had a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown while Tyler Holmes had two interception returns for scores.
In roughly six and half quarters this season, Watson III is 28-for-32 (.875) with four touchdowns while also posting 80 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
Watson III was relieved by Aedan McCarthy midway through the third quarter, marking McCarthy's collegiate debut.

Next Up

UMass takes on Stonehill at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19, for its first meeting at McGuirk Alumni Stadium (ESPN+).
Game themes include the Hall of Fame Game and Hispanic Heritage Month. Click here for more Hall of Fame Weekend Details.
New this season, there is a clear bag policy at McGuirk Alumni Stadium, click here for more details.

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Players Mentioned

Reece Adkins

Khari Bendolph

Elijah Faulkner

Joseph Griffin Jr.

T.Y. Harding

Jahmad Harmon

Timmy Hinspeter

TJ Magee

Jordan Mahoney

Tyler Martin

Aedan McCarthy

Team Stats

Watson III William "Pop"

McCarthy Aedan

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics