AMHERST — The largest crowd at McGuirk Alumni Stadium in at least the last two seasons was treated to a second straight UMass football victory for the first time in five years. The Minutemen started slowly, trailing 7-0, but ripped off the game’s next 31 points to defeat Merrimack 31-21 on homecoming weekend.

Greg Desrosiers Jr. stole the show one week after Kay’Ron Lynch Adams’ career day on the ground. Desrosiers Jr. rushed for 162 yards and three touchdowns on only 1o carries, good for 16.2 yards per rush. As every running back is quick to do after an impressive outing, Desrosiers Jr. credited the offensive line for dominating for the second straight week.

“I gotta give props to the o-line,” Desrosiers Jr. said following the win. “They’ve been doing so well. Last week, Kay’Ron had 200-plus on the ground, so that’s all props to them. They’ve been doing great in practice, they’ve been working hard. Especially going into this week. We knew Merrimack is an FCS school, this and that, but we took it seriously.”

UMass was supposed to beat Merrimack as 17-point favorites prior to kickoff – the result didn’t come as a shock to anybody. But with now three wins this season, two more than in 2022, and still two more games to go, the Minutemen are trending in the right direction.

Two weeks ago the record may have said 1-7, but a handful of those losses were certainly winnable had just a few plays gone differently for UMass. Head coach Don Brown isn’t surprised at the recent string of success considering how competitive his group has been this season.

“I felt good prior to this that we were going in the right direction, now you’ve got some credible criteria where you can say we are,” Brown said after the game.

The word complacent was thrown around all week after beating Army. Brown and the Minutemen vied for that second win ever since they got the first one, so once they got it, the question was whether or not they were hungry for more. UMass put those concerns to rest during the week leading up to the game with one of its best weeks of preparation according to Brown.

The sluggish start and self-inflicted wounds didn’t sit well with him, but all things considered, Brown was pleased with the win and his team’s effort at home – a place they hadn’t yet won in 2023 before Saturday.

“I had a lot of people reach out to me (saying), ‘You better watch out for complacency,’” Brown said. “That was not an issue all week. The guys just came in, got ready to play, and went out and played, I thought, a solid game. 

“There’s things that happen in the game that you’re not very happy about, kickoff return for a touchdown is not good, two unsportsmanlike penalties, a couple DPIs, not good,” he continued. “But a lot of good stuff, complementary football. Defensively, we took care of business in the first half and gave the offense the opportunity to get their motor running. Second half the offense took it to them, for sure.”

The game stayed close entering the fourth quarter, but that’s when Desrosiers Jr. turned it up a notch in front of the antsy and excited Amherst crowd. He ripped off two long touchdown runs on back-to-back possessions, the first being a 57-yard dash followed up by a 46-yard run just six minutes later.

Desrosiers Jr. has dealt with small nagging injuries throughout the season. Having both he and Lynch Adams fully healthy and sharing the load provided the Merrimack defense with a task too tall to overcome. Lynch Adams is more of a patient, run-you-over back (which takes a toll on a defense over the course of a game) while Desrosiers Jr. can rip off a big play in an instant when he finds a crease. They complement each other perfectly, and the Warriors couldn’t find a way to stop both for a full 60 minutes.

“We didn’t run the ball very well in the first half, but in the second half, we ran it at will,” Brown said. “Greg kind of gave us the lightning strike there, it seemed like every time he was touching the ball it was a multiple-yard deal. Good for him. What a great young man, and a first-class individual.”

Balling out on homecoming weekend was a cool moment for Desrosiers Jr., a Lawrence native who grew up a short drive from Merrimack. He knew he, and the rest of the team, would be ready to go once they saw the bleachers loaded – UMass football speaking – on Saturday.

“We knew it was going to be packed, and that definitely motivated us,” Desrosiers Jr. said. “We had to put on a show for them. That definitely did have an impact on us.”

The Minutemen have their second and final bye week coming up this Saturday. Although they’re playing their best football of the season right now and having another game this weekend would probably be preferred for the players, it gives them a chance to repeat the same exact process from two weeks ago – when they beat Army fresh off a bye – as they prepare for an undefeated Liberty team.

“When we came off the bye and then beat Army, the preparation on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday – boy, I thought we did the right things on those particular days football-wise,” Brown said. “I’m looking forward to that piece. I don’t know about the [getting some] rest part of it. I’m just looking forward to having another great Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in a very similar structure that we had getting ready for Army.”