AMHERST - While the University of Massachusetts football team will need help from both other teams and the Football Championship Subdivision tournament selection committee to keep its postseason hopes alive, the Minutemen have plenty to play for when they take the field at noon Saturday to play James Madison at MCGuirk Stadium.

* UMass (5-4, 3-3 Colonial Athletic Association) can clinch a winning season with a victory.

* The Minutemen can complete the program's seventh perfect season at home.

* They can keep the current seniors in the running to match the class of 2008 as the winningest four-year group in school history. Wins in their final two games would make this group 37-14, the same mark achieved by the players from 2005-08.

UMass will honor 19 seniors before the game: offensive linemen Jared Chivers, Vladimir Ducasse and Bryan Fisher; defensive linemen Brandon Collier, Kyle Harrington, Anthony Monette and Michael Hanson; wide receivers Victor Cruz, Jeremy Horne and Joe Sanford; defensive backs Jeromy Miles and Corey Davis; linebackers Eric Dickson and Kurt Filler; kicker Armando Cuko; tailback Tony Nelson, tight end Matt Silver, quarterback Scott Woodward and fullback Chris Zardas.

"They've done a great job, It's a real strong group that's really led this team well," Minuteman coach Kevin Morris said. "I'm real happy with their leadership.

The Dukes will try to ruin senior day and pick up their third straight win at the same time. James Madison opened the season at 2-5, but have won their last two over two teams - Delaware and Maine that beat UMass.

"JMU is a good football team," Morris said. "We've got to be ready to play. Defensively they've been very good all year."

Time & location: Noon, Saturday, McGuirk Stadium

Records: UMass 5-4 (3-3 CAA); James Madison 4-5 (2-4 CAA)

Last week: James Madison beat Maine 22-14; UMass defeated Northeastern 37-7

All-time series: UMass leads 7-5-1

Last year: James Madison beat UMass 52-38

TV: Comcast SportsNet

Radio: WRNX-FM (100.9), WMUA-FM (91.1)

Internet broadcast: Links can be found at umassathletics.com

When James Madison has the ball: The Dukes aren't quite as run-oriented as they were last year with Rodney Landers at quarterback. James Madison started this season by playing two quarterbacks early, but freshman Justin Thorpe is now the Dukes' only signal-caller and their running attack is flourishing again. Thorpe, who averages 59.2 yards per game, is the league's top freshman rusher.

Throwing the ball is another story. Thorpe averages 97.9 yards per game in the air. He has thrown three touchdown passes and six interceptions.

UMass expects to get sophomore linebacker Tyler Holmes back this week. The Minutemen's leading tackler missed last week's game after suffering a concussion Oct. 31 at Maine.

When UMass has the ball: The game pits UMass, the CAA leader in passing yards per game with 239.6, against the Dukes defense which has allowed a league-low 162.2 passing yards per game. With Tony Nelson back near 100 percent and Jonathan Hernandez also expected to play, the Minutemen will likely try to establish the run rather than force quarterback Kyle Havens to take on too much responsibility. James Madison is third in the CAA with 24 sacks, but UMass has given up the fewest (11) in the conference.

Senior defensive end Arthur Moats has the most tackles (8.0 per game) among CAA defensive linemen and leads the league with 9.5 sacks for the Dukes.

NOTABLE: Cuko needs one field goal to become the school's all-time leader in field goals kicked. He and Silvio Bonvini are currently tied atop the list with 30.

Cruz needs three yards to pass Rasheed Rancher and move into fifth all-time on the Minutemen's career receiving yards list. He needs six catches to pass Jason Peebler to move into fifth on the career catches list.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.