AMHERST — Andrew Ford just needed a little time to warm up.

Making his first collegiate start, the redshirt-sophomore quarterback shook off a rough first quarter and led the University of Massachusetts to its first win of the season Saturday at McGuirk Stadium, a 21-13 victory over Florida International in front of a crowd of 12,202.

“I felt like I had a good week of practice with the guys,’’ said the 6-foot-3-inch, 205-pound Ford, who found out he was starting in place of Ross Comis prior to Thursday’s walkthrough. “They were really confident in me, which made me feel really well about the system.’’

Ford finished 28-of-42 passing for 278 yards and three touchdowns with an interception.

Adam Breneman, Ford’s former teammate at Cedar Cliff High School in Pennsylvania, finished with 10 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. Breneman became the first UMass tight end to log double-digit receptions since Rob Blanchflower in 2012.

“I was excited to play with Andrew this week,’’ Breneman said. “Obviously he did a really good job and that was a good thing going in. I think we all felt like we had two quarterbacks we felt really good about.’’

For FIU, junior quarterback Alex McGough completed 20 of 34 passes for 178 yards. Junior Alex Gardner rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.

Ford’s opening series ended with an interception by FIU’s Deonte Wilson at the Panthers’ 21-yard line, but the UMass defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing drive and Ford was able to settle in after the error.

“All quarterbacks, you’re going to make mistakes,’’ said UMass coach Mark Whipple. “You’ve got to reset. I could see it in his eyes, it wasn’t a big deal.’’

The Panthers got on the board with 6:32 to play in the first on a 47-yard field goal by Austin Taylor. The kick stood as the only scoring play in a sluggish first quarter.

UMass broke through with 9:51 to go in the second quarter as Ford capped a five-play, 48-yard drive with his first career touchdown pass, a 26-yard toss to wide receiver Jalen Williams. Sophomore Mike Caggiano kicked the extra point to give UMass a 7-3 advantage.

McGough completed a 27-yard pass to Austin Maloney to set up first and 10 from the UMass 17 as the Panthers looked for an answer to Williams’s score, but UMass defensive lineman Sha-Ki Holines forced a Gardner fumble on the next play and inside linebacker Steve Casali recovered at the 13. Both teams came up empty on the subsequent drives.

With 2:27 to play in the second quarter, Ford completed four straight passes to bring the Minutemen to the FIU 45. After an incompletion, the quarterback scrambled on third and 5, escaped a pair of tackles, and picked up the first down with a 14-yard run.

On the following play, Ford hit Andy Isabella in the end zone with a 31-yard pass to extend the UMass lead. The seven-play, 87-yard march took just 1 minute and 36 seconds.

Caggiano’s extra point gave the Minutemen a 14-3 lead at the half.

FIU scored its only touchdown with 9:17 to play in the third quarter, with Gardner running for the 2-yard score after a 75-yard drive that took 16 plays and 5:43 of game time. Taylor’s kick cut UMass’s lead to 4.

Taylor kicked his second field goal — a 35-yarder — on the following FIU possession after the Minutemen failed to convert on fourth and 1 and turned over the ball at their 44.

“I went for it on fourth down, trying to give our O-line a little confidence, and then that backfired,’’ Whipple said. “And then our defense stepped up and held them to a field goal, which was big, and then we got on track.’’

Ford answered the FIU scores with his third touchdown pass, hitting Breneman in the back of the end zone for a 1-yard score late in the third quarter. A successful kick gave UMass a 21-13 lead heading into the last 15 minutes.

Caggiano missed a 30-yard field goal with 3:20 to play, but the Minutemen held off FIU’s last-chance effort as UMass’s Joe Previte recovered a fumble by McGough on fourth down with 56 seconds to play, wrapping up win No. 1.

“We didn’t finish the game kind of like we wanted to,’’ Whipple said. “But we’re a work in progress.’’

Emily McCarthy can be reached at emily.mccarthy@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @emilymccahthy.