AMHERST — Taisun Phommachanh’s football story can’t be told without him clashing head-on with hardship to earn the position he’s in right now.
The UMass quarterback has had a long road to earn a starting job at the Division 1 level, but ever since taking the reins as QB1 of the Minutemen in late August, he’s made the most of it.
Phommachanh began his college career in Clemson, and after three seasons as a backup, transferred to Georgia Tech. He never settled in with the Yellow Jackets either, prompting another move – this time back closer to home with UMass for a redshirt junior season.
The Bridgeport, Conn., native’s decision to head back to the northeast – where all of his family and closest friends reside – seemed like the most logical decision.
“That definitely played a role in it, just coming back home to the northeast,” Phommachanh said during Monday’s media availability in Amherst. “I’ve been down south for a couple years now, and it’s definitely different. But having my family, and having guys that are just around the area, I think that definitely played a little part in me coming back up north.”
He still had to work for the starting spot, however – it wasn’t just going to be handed to him. He still had to beat out two talented quarterbacks in Brady Olson and Carlos Davis. And when he eventually did win the job, taking the field for the first time as a starter at the collegiate level against New Mexico State on Aug. 26 was a feeling second to none.
“I think it means a lot. It’s something I’ve worked for since I was a kid,” Phommachanh said. “It’s been a lot of ups and downs throughout my story, throughout my journey, and so to finally be named a starter and be able to go out first and play, it means a lot. It’s been good.”
But adversity planted itself in front of Phommachanh once more when he injured his leg during the Minutemen’s second game of the season against Auburn. He missed the fourth quarter of that game along with three other contests – all close UMass losses.
Knowing he could potentially be a difference-maker on the field, it killed him to watch from the sideline with his No. 3 jersey draped over a hoodie instead of shoulder pads as the Minutemen continued to suffer disappointing outcomes.
“[It was] hard for those couple games, being out just seeing my teammates go to war and give everything they got,” Phommachanh said. “Just me sitting back watching, it made me eager to get out and get back, just go fight with my brothers. As soon as I had the opportunity to come back, it wasn’t a question about it that I was coming back – and my coaches and teammates know that. They know I’m here for them.”
The Minutemen have unquestionably looked their best with a fully-healthy Phommachanh in control of the offense – including last Saturday against Toledo, the best Group of 5 team they’ve played to date. UMass head coach Don Brown has openly praised his quarterback’s work ethic and preparation throughout the year, and now Phommachanh has begun to take a more vocal approach over the past couple of weeks.
Brown knows the Minutemen’s one win this year, a 41-30 road victory over the Aggies, had a lot to do with timely plays from Phommachanh and the offense. UMass has been wrestling to return to that form.
“Just good leadership ability,” Brown said of Phommachanh. “As he’s continued to grow, he’s gotten the respect of his teammates. He has a knack for saying the right things when it’s appropriate, but he’s not overly wordy… To be honest, [his injury] set us back a little bit… We’ve been fighting our tail off to get back to that spot that we were at against New Mexico [State].”
UMass now sits at 1-6, and although the Minutemen have been in the mix for the majority of their seven games, they only have one win. It’s gut-check time for UMass. How much do these guys want to salvage what’s left of their season? What is the mood in the locker room after another crushing defeat?
Well, those answers are simple for Phommachanh, and his encounters with tribulation have allowed him to look the problem head on instead of turning away.
“At times like this, it can either make you or break you,” Phommachanh said. “It can either bring us closer together, or it could make us separate apart. And I think the guys have handled this time well through adversity, and I think that it’s doing nothing but making us stronger. Coach Brown is doing a good job of leading the way, and same as coach (Steve) Casula and coach (Keith) Dud(zinski). Just the experience we’re going through together as a team, I think it’s making us stronger, it’s making us better, and we’re doing nothing but learning from it.”
Once again the Minutemen were in the hunt to win for the fourth time in the last five games, and once again they came up short on Saturday in a 41-24 loss to Toledo.
Brown said he was pleased with the effort, just as he has been all season, but UMass still can’t seem to take that next step to end up on the other side of defeat.
“I thought the game was played on both sides, I thought we played physical on both sides – a notch above the week before,” Brown said on Monday. “We’ve kinda gotten back to competing. It was 31-24 late in the third quarter, so we had a chance. The thing we have to do is get over the hump. We’ve talked about this in four different games, so that’s a big deal.”
Offensively, UMass scored 21 first-half points to take its first halftime lead since Week 0 at New Mexico State. But the Minutemen offense stalled from there.
UMass did have several chances to put points on the board, including two missed Cameron Carson field goals, a Phommachanh interception in plus territory, and an overturned touchdown due to an ineligible man downfield penalty (the second of the game, with the first wiping out a 45-yard play in the first quarter).
The Minutemen also failed to put points up after Juan Lua’s first career interception that set them up at the Toledo 43-yard line. Scoring only three points in the second half put a lot of pressure on the UMass defense – one that is very banged up – to shut down a terrific Rockets offense.
“You just gotta keep competing and get through it,” Brown said of the missed opportunities on offense. “The tough thing is, when you have things that take points off the board, that’s a big deal. Whether it be a penalty, or, we had the one they ruled [George Johnson III’s catch incomplete]. The bottom line is scoring three points in [second half] was not going to be enough.”
Toledo quarterback Dequan Finn only threw for 139 yards, but he escaped the pocket several times and tallied 172 yards and a score on the ground. Due to its injury-riddled secondary, UMass went away from its traditional five-man rush to try and limit big passing plays. It ultimately worked, but it set Finn up with more escape routes and running lanes that he took full advantage of.
“One of the things that we did is a little bit more four-man rush,” Brown said. “When you four-man rush and you play in coverage, remember we had to make some adjustments in the back end, that’s a little different style for us because we’re a big five-man rush team. I would say getting ourselves acclimated to the four-man rush was certainly a challenge for us. And he (Finn) is very dynamic, for sure.”
Brown has consistently asked his team to play a full 60 minutes from start to finish. There have been games (like Toledo) where they’ve started hot, and there have been games where they’ve finished strong (New Mexico), but it has been well over a month since they’ve done both.
But as disappointing or frustrating as it may be to keep losing tight matchups, the Minutemen aren’t going to lose focus or give up on the year.
“There’s none of that, so let’s leave that where it is. There is no checking out,” Brown said. “If you look at it, four of the last five games we’ve been very competitive. We need to get that second win and get over the hump, then don’t look back. That’s the challenge I talk about with them all the time. Show up early, and stay late.”
