It’s officially college football game week for nine FBS schools. For the other 127, less than two weeks separate the present-day from opening kickoff. Thus, it’s time for teams to finalize their depth charts and concoct starters lineups for the opener.
The UMass Minutemen offered one of the more intriguing position battles in the MAC this offseason with three viable candidates for starting quarterback. The Minutemen returned backup AJ Hairston and and brought in transfers Brandon Rose (Utah) and Grant
Jordan (Yale). After a 3-man fall camp battle, first-year head coach Joe Harasymiak and his staff named Brandon Rose the Week 1 starting quarterback, as first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Rose arrives from Utah, where he spent the majority of the 2024 season as the second-string to Isaac Wilson. When Wilson suffered an injury at Houston in October, Rose earned his first valuable reps. He logged his lone start in the Utes’ ensuing contest, nearly leading an upset over then-No. 9 BYU. He completed 12-of-21 passes for 112 yards, firing two touchdowns and one interception in a thrilling Holy War showdown. Rose also demonstrated his mobility that game, rushing for 55 yards on seven attempts.
Rose wins the job over Hairston, who threw for 480 yards, five touchdowns, and zero interceptions across four games for the 2024 Minutemen, as well as Jordan who earned All-Ivy League honorable mention with 1,938 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, and three interceptions on a 66.3 completion rate at Yale.
The new starter aims to resurrect a long-dormant passing attack. UMass ranked 114th or below in FBS passing yards game every year from 2019-24, with the exception of 2023 when it finished 81st. The program has not produced a 2,000-yard passer since Andrew Ford in 2017, and the only quarterback to clear the 3,000-yard threshold since the Minutemen joined the FBS is Blake Frohnapfel in 2014.
UMass opens the Harasymiak era as the newest member of the MAC on Saturday, Aug. 30. Rose will make his second career start and first in UMass colors when the Minutemen host Temple at 3:30 p.m. ET.
