William Watson III

#5 · QB · Massachusetts6′0″ · 210 lb · Springfield, MA · Springfield Central

ZPR33100th of 119 QBs Last gameW 31–30vs Ball State · Nov 4

Nextat ToledoWed Nov 11 · time TBA

Massachusetts is 5-2 in the seven games played. A precision passer.

Plays most like Hayes, Tulsa.

Passing yards

1,327

113 of 163, 69%

TD–INT

9–2

8.1 per throw

NCAA rating

153.5

34th of 119

ZPR

100th of 119

How ZPR works

Solid or better in 3 of 6 graded games.

Best by our grade: Ball State. Lowest: Stonehill, with 1 interception and sacked 2 times.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

at Rutgers

W 37–21·Unranked

Solid

197 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT · Rush 6 for 40 · Sacked 1

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 23 points of win chance. It flipped the game for the team: 32% to 55%.

Full game page

Sacred Heart

W 37–10·FCS

Few throws

152 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 4 for 40, 1 TD · Sacked 0

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 23 points of win chance. Win chance: 59% to 81%.

Full game page

Stonehill

W 36–14·FCS

Rough

160 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT · Rush 9 for 2, 1 TD · Sacked 2

None of the quarterback’s own plays moved the team's chance of winning by more than a few points.

Full game page

at Sacramento State

W 35–6·Unranked

Shaky

101 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 7 for 72, 2 TD · Sacked 1

Biggest swing: a Q2 run added 21 points of win chance. Win chance: 59% to 81%.

Full game page

Eastern Michigan

L 14–38·Unranked

Solid

Strong start, faded late · 210 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT · Rush 4 for 13 · Sacked 0

Biggest swing: a Q2 completion added 23 points of win chance. Win chance: 14% to 38%.

Full game page

Miami (OH)

L 19–20·Unranked

Did not play

at Buffalo

L 18–25·Unranked

Did not play

at UConn

L 16–35·Unranked

Rough

205 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 7 for 11 · Sacked 2

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 13 points of win chance. It flipped the game for the team: 45% to 58%.

Full game page

Ball State

W 31–30·Unranked

Solid

Slow start, strong finish · 302 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 8 for 40, 2 TD · Sacked 1

Biggest swing: a Q4 run added 43 points of win chance. It flipped the game for the team: 26% to 69%.

Full game page

Season

Quarter by quarter

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Precision passer

Also: explosive runner

Why this word

Runs4.6 a gameRarelyA lot

Throws9.7 yards past the lineShortDeep

Completes68% by play-by-playFewerMore

Takes sacks5% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws at a middling depth and runs some. 4.6 carries a game. Closest matches: Hayes, Simpson ’25, Mandal, Houser ’25.

Where the throws go

Behind the line20%typical 17%

Short40%typical 47%

Middle25%typical 22%

Deep15%typical 14%

Runs 4.6 times a game; 56% of starters run less.

Closest in style

Nearer the middle means more alike.

Hayes Tulsa · Balanced
1,343 yards, 10 TD, 2 INT so far. Both protect the ball.
Simpson ’25 Alabama 2025 · Balanced
3,567 yards, 28 TD, 5 INT. Drafted in round 1 (No. 13 overall) by Los Angeles, 2026. Both protect the ball.
Mandal Fresno State · Balanced
1,595 yards, 10 TD, 2 INT so far. Both protect the ball.
Houser ’25 East Carolina 2025 · Chain-mover
3,300 yards, 19 TD, 6 INT. Both throw deep and complete a lot.

Compared with the 159 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 220 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

RecordMassachusetts is 5-4.
Last gameNov. 4 · a win over Ball State, 302 passing yards.
Next gameat Toledo · Wed Nov 11

Worth knowing

William Watson III spent three seasons at Virginia Tech before this one.

William Watson III

QB · Massachusetts · #5

Filling the Shoesas of Nov 5

William Watson III takes over from AJ Hairston at Massachusetts.

1,327passing yards9passing TD218rushing yards

PRODUCES ABOVE PERCEPTION · PCTL GAP

+35

perception vs production percentile · 2026

Fans price the perception around the 4th percentile; the tape produces at the 39th — so where is the credit?

Read the story so far

William Watson III arrived as a 3-star prospect. William Watson III lines up at QB for Massachusetts.

On the field, the headline is 1,327 pass yds, with 9 pass td.

William Watson III inherited the QB job from AJ Hairston (3-star).

The number to watch: +35 — produces above perception · pctl gap.

QB successionleap of faith

Inherited fromAJ Hairston 3★

AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-05

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2026	Massachusetts	113	163	69.3%	1,327	8.1	9	2	153.5	33
2025	Virginia Tech	2	4	50.0%	77	19.2	0	0	211.7	--
2024	Virginia Tech	34	58	58.6%	481	8.3	1	2	127.1	46
2023	Virginia Tech	--	1	0.0%	--	0.0	0	0	0.0	--
Career		149	226	65.9%	1,885	8.3	10	4	147.1	37

Season	Team
2026	Massachusetts	45	218	4.8	6	33
2025	Virginia Tech	9	22	2.4	1	14
2024	Virginia Tech	40	19	0.5	1	15
2023	Virginia Tech	5	40	8.0	0	14
Career		99	299	3.0	8	33

Last game (Wk 10): 302 passing yards, 1 passing TD.

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2026 season · 7 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	Grade	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	YPA	QBR	SK	RUSH	Note
Wk 1	W 37-21@ Rutgers	Solid	19/22	197	3	0	9.0	91.3	1	40	3 TD passes
Wk 2	W 37-10vs Sacred Heart		9/10	152	1	0	15.2	94.4	0	40
Wk 3	W 36-14vs Stonehill	Rough	15/25	160	1	1	6.4	6.0	2	2
Wk 4	W 35-6@ Sacramento State	Shaky	11/16	101	1	0	6.3	89.3	1	72
Wk 5	L 14-38vs Eastern Michigan	Solid	20/27	210	1	1	7.8	34.0	0	13
Wk 8	L 16-35@ UConn	Rough	22/38	205	1	0	5.4	9.3	2	11
Wk 10	W 31-30vs Ball State	Solid	17/25	302	1	0	12.1	—	1	40	Season-high 302 yds
Total			113/163	1327	9	2	8.1	—	7	218

The latest game

Nov. 4 · W 31-30 vs Ball State

17 of 25 for 302 yards and a touchdown.

Season, game by game

Game by game

W 31-30 vs Ball StateNov. 4302 yds17 of 25, 1 TDPlay by play just above

L 16-35 at UConnOct. 23205 yds22 of 38, 1 TDBox score only

22 of 38 for 205 yards and a touchdown.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

5 more games, with the play by play

L 14-38 vs Eastern MichiganOct. 3210 yds20 of 27, 1 TD, 1 INT

Play by playOn the field

20 of 27 for 210 yards, a touchdown and an interception. William Watson III was 5 of 9 on third and fourth down.

2 of 8 drives scored
5 of 9 on 3rd and 4th down
4 runs for 13 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
Punt2 of 3, 17 yds1
Fumble4 of 4, 53 yds
Second quarterbegan down 7-0
Missed FG3 of 3, 12 yds
TD5 of 7, 60 yds2
Third quarterbegan down 14-7
Int0 of 1, 0 yds3
Downs3 of 5, 21 yds4
Fourth quarterbegan down 28-7
Punt1 of 2, 11 yds
TD2 of 2, 36 yds
FinalL 14-38

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive this quarterback didn’t playa completion, by its yardsa runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteintercepteda runsacked

1
Incomplete to Joseph Griffin Jr. on 3rd and 4. First quarter, tied 0-0. Broken up by Eastern Michigan’s D. Williams.
2
34-yard touchdown pass to Max Dowling. Second quarter, cut it to 14-7.
3
Intercepted. Third quarter, down 21-7. Picked off by Eastern Michigan’s Caleb Dobbs.
4
Incomplete to Jabari Lewis on 4th and 3. Third quarter, down 28-7. Turnover on downs. Broken up by Eastern Michigan’s C. Dobbs.

102030405034

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

W 35-6 at Sacramento StateSept. 26101 yds11 of 16, 1 TDBox score only

11 of 16 for 101 yards and a touchdown.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

W 36-14 vs StonehillSept. 19160 yds15 of 25, 1 TD, 1 INTBox score only

15 of 25 for 160 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

W 37-10 vs Sacred HeartSept. 12152 yds9 of 10, 1 TD

Play by playOn the field

9 of 10 for 152 yards and a touchdown. William Watson III was 1 of 3 on third and fourth down.

3 of 4 drives scored
1 of 3 on 3rd and 4th down
4 runs for 40 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
TD1 of 1, 49 yds1
FG4 of 5, 41 yds
Second quarterbegan up 17-0
Punt3 of 3, 23 yds
TD1 of 1, 39 yds
FinalW 37-10

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive this quarterback didn’t playa completion, by its yardsa runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteintercepteda runsacked

No game thread archived for this game yet.

1
49-yard touchdown pass to Ty Harding. First quarter, made it 7-0.

10203040503949

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

W 37-21 at RutgersSept. 3197 yds19 of 22, 3 TD

Play by playOn the field

19 of 22 for 197 yards and 3 touchdowns. William Watson III was 3 of 8 on third and fourth down.

4 of 9 drives scored
3 of 8 on 3rd and 4th down
sacked once
5 runs for 40 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
TD2 of 3, 51 yds1
TD6 of 6, 47 yds2
Second quarterbegan tied 7-7
TD1 of 1, 31 yds3
Half2 of 3, 15 yds
Third quarterbegan up 24-7
FG3 of 3, 34 yds
Punt1 of 1, 3 yds
Fourth quarterbegan up 27-7
Punt2 of 3, 6 yds
Punt1 of 1, 2 yds
Half1 of 1, 8 yds
FinalW 37-21

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive this quarterback didn’t playa completion, by its yardsa runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteintercepteda runsacked

1
10-yard run on 3rd and 6. First quarter, down 7-0. Converted.
2
4-yard completion to Max Dowling on 3rd and 5. First quarter, tied 7-7.
3
31-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Griffin Jr.. Second quarter, made it 21-7.

10203040503130

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

Highs and lows

Only games with 20 or more plays count for best and lowest.
Best by our grade	Ball State	W 31-30 · Graded solid · Slow start, strong finish · 302 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 8 for 40, 2 TD · Sacked 1
Lowest by our grade	Stonehill	W 36-14 · Graded rough · 160 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT · Rush 9 for 2, 1 TD · Sacked 2

Where the stats rank

Leads Mid-American quarterbacks in rushing touchdowns. 2nd among Mid-American quarterbacks in completion percentage.

Stat	Player	Nation	Mid-American
Passing yards	1,327	T-93rd of 370	9th of 34
Yards an attempt	8.1	T-47th of 153	4th of 15
Touchdown passes	9	T-80th of 370	T-6th of 34
Passer rating	153.5	T-35th of 153	3rd of 15
Completion percentage	69.3	19th of 153	2nd of 15
Rushing yards	218	54th of 370	6th of 34
Rushing touchdowns	6	T-16th of 370	1st of 34

Counting stats rank all FBS quarterbacks with a pass attempt; the rates rank those with at least 10 attempts a game.

All Mid-American quarterbacks

Rk	Quarterback	Yards	TD	INT	Att	Y/A
1	John Alan Richter	2,304	18	3	276	8.3
2	Noah Kim	1,678	11	4	285	5.9
3	Dru DeShields	1,624	9	7	251	6.5
4	Jay Kastantin	1,567	11	8	225	7.0
5	Keldric Luster	1,482	10	6	238	6.2
6	Broc Lowry	1,397	11	3	194	7.2
7	Jason Wright	1,345	9	6	231	5.8
8	Brayden Roggow	1,343	7	10	192	7.0
9	William Watson III	1,327	9	2	163	8.1
10	David McComb	1,120	7	1	103	10.9
11	Nick Poulos	966	7	0	117	8.3
12	Caleb Heavner	769	4	4	125	6.2
13	Jadyn Glasser	638	3	3	93	6.9
14	Cibastian Broughton	612	4	1	100	6.1
15	Angel H Flores	475	2	2	92	5.2
16	Logan Inagawa	296	1	1	37	8.0
17	Brogan McCaughey	274	1	2	60	4.6
18	Tyler Mizzell	260	1	0	38	6.8
19	Elijah Holmes	253	3	0	61	4.1
20	Carson Conklin	222	0	1	46	4.8
21	Levi Davis	203	2	0	27	7.5
22	Brian Salazar	202	1	0	28	7.2
23	Aedan McCarthy	182	0	0	33	5.5
24	Jace Stuckey	68	1	0	11	6.2
25	Trey Petty	59	1	0	8	7.4
26	Marcus Beamon	48	0	0	11	4.4
27	Walter Moses	40	1	0	1	40.0
28	Nolan Good	24	0	2	14	1.7
29	Khamoni Robinson	21	0	1	6	3.5
30	Austin Novosad	20	0	0	7	2.9
31	Ethan Thanthanavong	16	0	0	2	8.0
32	Mason Atkins	10	0	0	1	10.0
33	Semaj Beals	0	0	0	1	0.0
34	Deante Ruffin	-1	0	0	3	-0.3

Sorted by passing yards. Gray: under 10 attempts a game, so not ranked on yards an attempt.

Passing yards1,32710th in the Mid-American this season.

Touchdown passes9tied for 6th in the Mid-American this season.

Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.

Opponents faced, by strength

Ratings of the games shown run from -29 to +1 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).

Pass targets

Harding and Griffin saw 54 of the 164 charted throws.

Receiver	Targets	Catches	Yards	Throw depth	After catch
Ty Harding	28	25	298	10.9	2.6
Joseph Griffin Jr.	26	12	211	19.0	6.6
Jabari Lewis	22	14	240	12.6	7.0
Max Dowling	22	13	98	5.9	3.6
Reece Adkins	20	16	136	6.2	3.9
7 others	42	33	336	4.8	5.7
No receiver charted	4	Both interceptions are among these

Play by play: 164 passes, 113 caught, 1,319 yards; the box score counts 163 attempts. Throw depth: average air yards per target. After catch: average yards after the catch per catch. Bar: targets; the blue part was caught.

Passing profile

Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

113/163 (69.3%) · 9 TD · 2 INT

All 163 box-score attempts covered (play-by-play lists 164 passing plays)

164 of 164 attempts charted for true throw depth

Totals here are the box score's. Play-by-play lists 164 passing plays (113 completions) against the box score's 163 attempts (113 completions), and the depth buckets use play-by-play.

Adjusted ANY/A

8.1137 of 186 QBs

Sack rate

4.1%62 of 186 QBs

Rarely sacked (62 of 186 QBs) and still 37 of 186 in Adjusted ANY/A.

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

18% of attempts (30)

93%comp

Air -2.9 · YAC 6.3 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

45% of attempts (73)

74%comp

Air 4.3 · YAC 3.6 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

23% of attempts (38)

58%comp2 INT

Air 13.7 · YAC 6.0 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

14% of attempts (23)

39%comp

Air 35.9 · YAC 4.3 avg

Overall 69.3% completion on 163 attempts · 39% completion on 23 deep attempts (20+ air yds).

Teams and coaches

2023Virginia Tech7-6HC: Brent Pry · Run-leaning

2024Virginia Tech6-7HC: Brent Pry · Run-leaning

2025Virginia Tech3-9HC: Brent Pry and Philip Montgomery · Run-leaning

2026Massachusetts5-4HC: Joe Harasymiak · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 47 (#75 of 145). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

47Rotational starter #75 of 145 · through 7 games?

13 metrics · season cumulative

through 7 games score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: interception rate (81st percentile). Strength: fumbles lost (92nd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Interception rate#30 / 158 · 81st pct

1.2%

EPA / dropback#41 / 158 · 74th pct

0.29

Sack rate#45 / 158 · 72nd pct

4.1%

Explosive rate#61 / 158 · 62nd pct

11.0%

Success rate#72 / 158 · 54th pct

43.2%

Box-score rates (8)

Fumbles lost#1 / 143 · 92nd pct

Rush TDs#12 / 160 · 91st pct

Completion %#20 / 160 · 88th pct

69.3%

Interceptions#18 / 160 · 82nd pct

Rush yards#45 / 160 · 72nd pct

218

Yards / att#50 / 160 · 68th pct

8.1

Pass TDs#82 / 160 · 44th pct

Pass yards#96 / 160 · 40th pct

1327

Season trend

EPA / dropback— first qualifying season

Success rate— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Sack rate— first qualifying season

Interception rate— first qualifying season

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Zeitgeist Passer Rating

2026 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.

After 154 dropbacks

33Zeitgeist Passer Rating100th of 119 FBS QBs

NCAA passer rating 153.5 34th of 119 FBS QBs

ZPR ranks this quarterback 66 places lower than passer rating does: the schedule adjustment debits the defenses faced.

Positive-play rate weight 24%

41.0%11th pct of FBS QBs

share of dropbacks that gained expected points · -5.8% schedule adj.

Yards per attempt weight 56%

6.6919th pct of FBS QBs

sacks excluded · -1.3 schedule adj.

Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)

6.3%38th pct of FBS QBs

the input passer rating cannot see · +1.8% schedule adj.

Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (15 of 169 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. How ZPR is built.

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2026 season · 7 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home4g	206	1.0	10.4	0.5
Road3g	168	1.7	6.9	0.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-75g	164	1.4	8.9	0.4
Weeks 8+2g	254	1.0	8.8	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Joe Harasymiak

Pass share

43.8%

233 pass / 299 run

Plays / game

59.1

9 games

Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.

Massachusetts’s quarterbacks

William Watson III	Threw in 7 of 9 games · 113 of 163, 1,327 yds, 9 TD, 2 INT · 8.1 yards an attempt on 163 attempts · ran for 218 yds, 6 TD
Logan Inagawa	Threw in 3 of 9 games · 24 of 37, 296 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT · 8.0 yards an attempt on 37 attempts · ran for 75 yds, 1 TD
Aedan McCarthy	Threw in 2 of 9 games · 17 of 33, 182 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · 5.5 yards an attempt on 33 attempts · ran for -3 yds, 0 TD

Box score. Every quarterback on the team who has thrown a pass this season.

Who threw, quarter by quarter

Who threw in each quarter. Blue: William Watson III. Gray: Aedan McCarthy, Logan Inagawa. From the play by play.

Q1Q2Q3Q4OT@ RutgersSacred HeartStonehill@ Sacramento StateEastern MichiganMiami (OH)@ Buffalo@ UConnBall State

Awards

Player standing · 2026

163 pass attempts and 45 carries in 7 games

Fewer passes and runs a game than most FBS quarterbacks who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

47 · #75 of 145 QBs · through 7 games

Three-star recruit. Now #75 at the position.

William Watson III

Style of play

This week

Worth knowing

In the game threads

Named in

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

The latest game

Game by game

Highs and lows

Where the stats rank

Pass targets

Passing profile

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Massachusetts’s quarterbacks

Who threw, quarter by quarter

Awards

163 pass attempts and 45 carries in 7 games

Four seasons, two schools

Moves

2023

2026 7 games