The UMass football team travels for its first road game of the season on Saturday, a 3:30 p.m. contest against Toledo in the Glass Bowl. The Rockets beat UMass 41-24 last season in Amherst on their way to an appearance in the MAC Championship Game, though they’ve lost a number of players from that team, most notably 2023 MAC MVP quarterback Dequan Finn and 2023 MAC Offensive Player of the Year running back Peny Boone.
UMass enters week two at 0-1, following a 28-14 defeat to Eastern Michigan where the team was hamstrung by 10 penalties and six sacks. Toledo comes into the matchup at 1-0 after a 49-10 beatdown of FCS Duquesne in its opener.
Since moving up to FBS and joining the MAC for a stint as an affiliate member in 2012, UMass has played Toledo five times, including each of the past three seasons. They’ve lost all five matchups and hold a 1-8 all-time record against the Rockets, with their only win coming in 1976.
Saturday’s matchup between two future MAC opponents features what could be the two highest spenders in the conference once UMass joins in 2025-26. Toledo led the MAC by spending $11.28 million on football last year, per federal records. UMass spent $11.22 million.
Last year, 1-5 UMass led 4-1 Toledo 21-17 at halftime before the Rockets outscored them 24-3 in the second half to cruise to a victory. Taisun Phommachanh threw for 272 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, including a 71-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Simpson who racked up seven catches for a career-high 140 yards and a touchdown. Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams rumbled for 157 yards and a score.
Though Finn threw for just 139 yards, Toledo gashed UMass for 375 rushing yards. Finn ran for 172 yards and Boone ran for 129. Both players have since transferred to the Big 12. But First-Team All-MAC receiver Jerjuan Newton is back. He scored two touchdowns in Amherst last year.
“He’s got some shake, and obviously he can catch it, so that’s the biggest piece,” UMass head coach Don Brown said on Monday. “He’s got movement skills but he can catch it as well, and we’ve got to be at our best in terms of coverage. I was disappointed, I expected a better turnout from our backend last week. I’m not saying it was brutal, but I expected us to be better than that and I’m hoping after being challenged this week our guys will adjust and get ready to play.”
With Finn now at Baylor, Toledo has turned to Tucker Gleason, who spent the past two seasons as Finn’s backup. The junior threw for 202 yards and three touchdowns against Duquesne before taking a seat in the fourth quarter with Toledo up 42-10.
“He’s a bigger, strong guy,” Brown said. “Solid, he has movement skills but it looks like they’re trying to get him to hand the ball off. They’re very typical in terms of the spread runs, you’ve got the long zone, the tight zone, the slash plays, so it’s things that we’ll end up preparing for all year long.”
Brown and Te’Rai Powell said on Monday they were pleased with how UMass defended the run against Eastern Michigan. The Eagles gained 134 yards on the ground, much better than UMass’ 2023 season average of 232 yards per game, which ranked third-to-last in FBS. UMass will face a Toledo running back committee on Saturday – six players received between four and eight carries in week one.
On the offensive side of the ball, Brown was pleased with Phommachanh and his 234 total yards against Eastern Michigan. His No. 1 target? Not so much. Simpson struggled in the opener, catching just two balls for 11 yards. Brown said UMass needs to threaten Toledo vertically and he’s counting on Simpson to play well against Toledo on Saturday after his career day against them last year.
“That’s the goal, is to get him going,” Brown said. “His numbers have got to be good if we’re going to have any success on offense for sure in the throw-game.”
The Rockets haven’t had a losing season since 2009, and after back-to-back trips to the conference championship game, they placed second in this year’s MAC Preseason Coaches Poll. After eight straight losses against Toledo, UMass will try to reverse history on Saturday. The game will be streamed on ESPN-Plus.