AMHERST — It may have taken a lot longer than they hoped for, but the UMass football team finally earned that coveted second win they’ve talked about since defeating New Mexico State way back in August.

UMass scored on its first two offensive possessions and used a career day from junior Kay’Ron Lynch Adams (234 yards, three touchdowns) to beat Army 21-14 and pick up its second road victory of the year on Saturday. The win erased a few droughts for the Minutemen, as they now have won two games in the same year for the first time since 2018, and won two away contests for the first time in eight years. They have the opportunity to win consecutive games for the first time in five years as well if they beat Merrimack this Saturday.

Head coach Don Brown has made sure that UMass will stay hungry and remain dissatisfied – especially with an inferior opponent coming into McGuirk Alumni Stadium for Homecoming – even after the impressive win at Army, as he eluded to in Monday’s press conference.

“Complacent? Oh my god, we’ve won two games,” Brown said. “Now the good thing about that, it’s the first year we’ve won two road games since 2015 so that’s a good thing. Going for back-to-back wins for the first time since 2018, that’s a good thing. But in terms of complacency, I can promise you the guys won’t be complacent – it won’t be that issue. We got an opportunity two take care of business two weeks in a row. Now we gotta put our foot on that gas pedal.”

Lynch Adams continued to add to his best season of his collegiate career. He scored each of the three Minutemen touchdowns and picked up chunk yards seemingly every time he got the call – averaging nearly seven yards per carry. He now sits at fourth in rushing yards in FBS and is 74 yards shy of a 1,000-yard season.

The Golden Knights are one of the most run-heavy Division 1 teams every year. UMass, however, out-gained them on the ground 231 to 204. If it weren’t for Army gaining 38 yards on the final play from scrimmage in a last-gasp hook-and-lateral attempt, that rushing margin would’ve been even wider.

“We out-rushed Army. That’s hard to do. I don’t know if I’ve ever done that before,” Brown said. “We’ve won before, but I don’t know if we’ve ever done that piece. So that’s a huge one. Kay’Ron (Lynch) Adams had a lot to do with that on the offensive side, and obviously defensively it’s a team effort. If we hadn’t had that lateral play at the end of the game, we would have really been in a sizable rushing lead. That part was pretty good.”

Quarterback Taisun Phommachanh only put up 121 passing yards in the win, but he showed poise and efficiency throughout. While UMass would have liked to get the pass game going a little bit more and let Phommachanh run the show, there was no reason for them to get away from what was working well. The Minutemen ran less than six plays on only one drive, and that one drive was the only three-and-out they had all game.

Offensive coordinator Steve Casula was smart to simplify the game plan and keep attacking on the ground, and the defense coming up with three turnovers allowed the offense to chew more clock.

“Efficiency was all there. Did we want [Phommachanh] to have more yards? I don’t know. He did what we asked him to do,” Brown said. “The bottom line is, offensively when you’re going through your game plan and the game is going on, sometimes things develop. Well, the thing that developed was they couldn’t get Kay’Ron on the ground. In the second half, we kind of rode that… We rode Kay’Ron from a clock standpoint, and we were able to play complementary football at the same time. In our two wins, our [defensive] turnovers were up. When you have the turnovers and your offense is executing at a high level, good things happen.”

The offensive line was responsible for the rushing output almost as much as Lynch Adams. UMass pushed the Golden Knights around up front and allowed for the star running back to pick his way and find holes in the second level. Army recorded zero sacks, the fewest – obviously – the Minutemen have allowed this year, and as a unit the line limited those drive-killing penalties that have plagued the offense at certain points.

Lynch Adams also took pressure of Phommachanh and made his life easier – as all he had to do was turn around and stick the pigskin right between Lynch Adams’ arms. 

“He plays a big role, he keeps it balanced,” Phommachanh said of his backfield mate. “We like to put the ball in the air, but when you can run the ball as well I think that opens up some of the pass game for us. It’s great having a dude like that in the backfield with me where I know I can flip him the ball and he’ll do everything in his will power to go get some yards. It’s good to have him on my side, for sure… I wanna shout out the o-line for this past weekend,” Phommachanh said. “They did their thing. They kept me from getting hit a couple times, and that’s all I can ask for.”

Every cornerback available on the depth chart that suited up against Army saw significant playing time. The thin group was already without Jordan Mahoney and Noah Boykin, two veteran defensive backs who have emerged as legitimate play makers for UMass. Add in Isaiah Rutherford dealing with his stomach issues on the sideline during the game, the Minutemen needed guys to step up.

And they did.

Freshman Donovan Turner got his first snaps of the season, and freshman Jeremiah McGill responded to being thrown in the first with a clutch fourth-quarter interception. Juan Lua also came up with his second pick as he continues to improve with more game reps. Yes, Army isn’t a team that throws the ball a whole heck of a lot, but it still speaks to the next man up mantra and the depth UMass has at the position.

“It was really the moment,” Brown said of playing every corner available. “Obviously Noah’s been ill. Really, we had four active corners, and they all played. It was crazy because at one time, two were down, really three for a second. We were in a timeout trying to buy time to get Rutherford back on the field because he was over there puking… It was like, ‘What in the heck are we gonna do?’ Because then you start thinking about do I put a safety in here… It was a concern for sure. We’re trying desperately to get Mahoney back this week, and Noah back. But [against Army] we were really short-handed.”

With a bye week looming after the Homecoming game against Merrimack, UMass can really build some momentum heading into the final stretch of the season. Brown doesn’t underestimate the importance of this game and what it would mean for the program moving forward.

“[It’s going to mean] a lot,” Brown said. “I think this is a big game. Here we are on our turf, I’m anticipating a good crowd, a chance to win at Homecoming. If you’re a football player that’s a big deal.”