AMHERST — For the first time since 2018, the UMass football team will be hosting the first game on its schedule.

Six years ago the Minutemen defeated FCS opponent Duquesne 63-15 to open their campaign. Over a half decade later, they’re looking to make program history.

UMass has never defeated an FBS team at home to start a season. Saturday’s matchup with Eastern Michigan – which UMass is a 2.5-point favorite – is the Minutemen’s chance to do that for the first time.

They’re also hoping to reach the coveted six-win plateau, which would make them bowl eligible – something that’s also never been done before in the program’s history. With a tough schedule that consists of three SEC opponents (Missouri, Mississippi State and Georgia), that may be difficult. But UMass has shown clear improvement each year under head coach Don Brown.

There may not be as many wins as the fans – nor Brown and his players, for that matter – want quite yet, but the on-field product is head and shoulders above what it was when Brown arrived in Amherst for a second time, and the overall caliber of player coming through UMass is much better than it used to be. The Minutemen roster features many highly-touted players who went to Power 5 schools and were heavily recruited out of high school. They’ve also brought in a host of talented players coming from FCS schools looking to prove they can ball on the FBS stage.

This could be the most skilled roster UMass has had since its transition to an FBS program.

So if you haven’t been following the Minutemen throughout the offseason, here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 team as they kick off their season Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at McGuirk Alumni Field.

UMass’ QB1 didn’t practice with the team throughout the spring. He continued to rehab the knee injury he suffered last season. But when it came time to throw the pads on in the summer, TaisunPhommachanh was ready to roll.

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“My knee feels good, man,” he said a few weeks back. “I’ve been training and rehabbing it all summer, so I’m ready to go.”

Phommachanh wasn’t as sharp when he came back after missing three games (UMass went 0-3) in 2023. His passing numbers dipped, and he definitely wasn’t the same dual-threat player fans were accustomed to seeing in the opener against New Mexico State – where he ran for a season-high 96 yards and a touchdown.

Yet Brown backed up his quarterback this summer, saying his throwing accuracy or power has never been an issue. Staying healthy is.

The veteran head coach is well aware how dangerous Phommachanh – who will continue to wear a brace on his right knee as a precaution – can be when 100 percent healthy.

And he’s about as close to that number as he’s been since the injury occurred.

“I feel really good about where he is,” Brown said earlier this month. “That’s a good thing. I’m not gonna say a whole lot about him. I’ll let everybody else try to figure it out… He takes good care of himself. Really good.”

That’s a fair question, especially with two of UMass’ biggest home-run hitters in Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams and Greg Desrosiers departing in the spring. It’s a new coordinator with, outside of Phommachanh and Anthony Simpson, an entirely new offense.

None of that has mattered to Steve Casula’s replacement, Shane Montgomery – who comes over most recently from East Carolina where he served as a senior offensive analyst for a season.

Montgomery, a former quarterback himself, has fit like a glove. Phommachanh has benefited from it, too.

“The main thing for me right now is Coach Montgomery, just getting on the same page with him and having a feel for his offense and creating that chemistry,” Phommachanh said of his new play caller earlier this month. “That starts with the OC for our unit. It’s been good just to see his philosophy on things and see how he kind of operates and his mindset. It’s been good… He played quarterback, so he sees and understands what I see out there, what I feel out there. He’ll come to me, ask me what I saw and we go from there. He breaks it down for me easily.”

Schematically, not much has changed. UMass is still going to run everything out of the no-huddle shotgun and keep personnel traditional with one running back, one tight end and three receivers. Brandon Campbell, CJ Hester and Jalen John have emerged as a three-headed monster in the backfield, while JakobieKeeney-James and Jacquon Gibson are perfect complements to Simpson on the outside.

Montgomery will have a lot to play with during his first year calling plays in Amherst.

“We’re trying to get our best players involved, you know, with our skill guys,” Montgomery said after a practice this month. “We gotta make sure, game-in and game-out, that we’re getting our best players the ball… We’ve gotta come out of camp and say, ‘OK, these are the guys that we’ve gotta get the ball to. These are the guys who are the playmakers.’ And in the close games, those are the guys that make the difference.”

UMass may have a big advantage up front on the offensive line. Each of the five starters are old and have a boatload of experience playing college football. From left to right, the Minutemen’s starters are: graduate transfer BraydenRohme, redshirt junior Wyatt Terlaak, senior Josh Atwood, senior Ethan Mottinger and graduate transfer Luke Painton.

Offensive line coach Alex Miller hasn’t quite seen a group as seasoned as the one he has this fall. Add in the fact that three of the five starters this year were a part of a solid UMass line – one that blocked for a 1,000-yard rusher – in 2023. The age and experience should go a long way.

“Since I’ve been here, for sure [this is the group with the most college football experience that I’ve coached],” Miller said a couple weeks back. “There are just little nuances that they know about. They know how to set themselves up for practice, and how to prepare for practice physically and mentally.”

If the Minutemen want to have the success they think they’re capable of, an improved defense is a necessity. In 2023, UMass ranked dead last (130th out of 130 FBS teams) in scoring defense.

The secondary should be much improved this fall. A few returners from last year include Te’Rai Powell, Tyler Rudolph, Isaiah Rutherford, Jeremiah McGill and Jerrod Cameron – all five of which played at least 10 games last year. Through the portal, UMass added FCS grad-transfers Arsheen Jiles (Sacred Heart), Lake Ellis (Bryant), Jashon Watkins (Tennessee State), Leonard St. Gourdin (Dartmouth) and Kamren Watkins-Hunter (Georgetown). They also added sophomore Brennen Bailey (Division 2 West Liberty) and redshirt junior Ryan Barnes (Notre Dame).

Brown added some much-needed depth to a unit that struggled last season.

On the defensive line, Jaylen Hudson (Wake Forest) and Tim Grant-Randall (Eastern Michigan) – both graduate transfers – are emerging as important cogs for the Minutemen, and returners Louce Julien, Aaron Beckwith and Shambre Jackson impressed during camp. The defensive line, a group that’s smaller this year, will likely be a plug-and-play situation as UMass tries to find the right combination of guys.

The only area of concern Albert has at this point is the lack of pass rushers on the line, an issue that has plagued the Minutemen the past two seasons. In 2023, UMass tied for 117th in FBS in sacks per game (1.4) and only registered 19 as a team. The year before, UMass tallied one fewer (18).

“The biggest challenge for us is trying to find guys who can rush the passer, win 1-on-1s,” defensive line coach Ben Albert said during camp. “We’re an aggressive, get-off-and-attack style defense. We’re trying to create 1-on-1 situations, so we have to [be able to] win at junction points.”

That’s right, UMass is faster now than ever before. On both sides of the ball.

Expect the Minutemen to use that to their advantage in any way they can.

“I’m going to tell you what we do better right now than at any time I can remember,” Brown said after a recent practice. “We’re running the alleys and getting on the perimeter fast. That’s a big deal now. You can say, ‘oh yeah, that guy, he recognizes and goes.’ Well, he may recognize and go, but foot-wise, speed-wise, if he’s not fast, it doesn’t get it done.”

“I think we’re fast,” center Josh Atwood added earlier this month. “We have (Anthony) Simpson outside, we have Jacquon (Gibson) playing, Jakobie (Keeney-James) and that running back room. If we can get into space and get upfield, I think we can get some explosive plays and score some touchdowns.”