The UMass Minutemen got road tough in a hurry.

UMass opened the 2023 season on Aug. 26 with an inspiring 41-30 win at New Mexico State. Last Saturday the Minutemen tried to take a big bite out of the SEC apple but got more than they could chew. After a slow start, the Auburn Tigers dispatched UMass 59-14 before a capacity crowd at historic Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala.

“We were playing a very good opponent, an SEC caliber opponent and we need to play better for things to happen,” said UMass second-year coach Don Brown.

“But what we really needed to happen was to take care of the ball and that’s a complementary thing that didn’t happen in any phase.”

After securing a road split, the Minutemen return to McGuirk Stadium on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) to engage Miami (Ohio) in the most anticipated home opener in years. UMass had gone 1-11 the last two seasons under Walt Bell and Brown. But the win over the Aggies in Las Cruces, N.M., was an early indicator that the Minutemen are no longer independent pushovers for the rest of FBS.

“This is big and it’s one that we’ve been pointing to and it’s really good when you have the chance to play at home,” said Brown. “We’ve been on the road for two weeks now and the kids have been anxious about playing at home and they are going to get their chance for sure.”

The biggest fallout for the Auburn game was the early exit of quarterback Taisun Phommachanh, the redshirt junior transfer from Clemson who orchestrated the offensive onslaught at New Mexico State.

Phommachanh scored the Minutemen’s first touchdown against Auburn on a 1-yard run that tied the game 7-7 with 7:20 to play in the first. Phommachanh was on the business end of four sacks and four quarterback hurries before exiting the game favoring his shoulder and leg.

Carlos Davis, a redshirt senior transfer from Western Carolina, replaced Phommachanh when the game was well out of hand. Davis battled Phommachanh in training camp for the starting job and the competition brought out the best in both of them. Brown said Phommachanh was on the mend but expressed his confidence in Davis to do the job if needed.

“He (Davis) has been getting equal time in practice and we know what we are going to get from him,” said Brown.