AMHERST — Don Brown continued to bring up one word throughout his weekly press conference on Monday afternoon as the UMass football head coach and his team get ready for Wagner – the Minutemen’s second FCS opponent this season – coming out of its first of two bye weeks.

That one word? Finish.

“I’m not into moral victories, but there’s been several games where we’re very close in the game, we just have to finish,” Brown said. “That’s really what it comes down to. We had that four-game stretch against primarily MAC teams, and we’re right there in every game. But we’ve gotta win, and that’s been the message – stay the course and finish what we start.”

Brown is right, the Minutemen have certainly had their chances to win football games during the first half of the season. UMass has been either within one possession or held a lead in the second half of all but one of its games in 2024, the outlier an expected 45-3 loss to Missouri two weeks ago.

But they didn’t capitalize on those opportunities, and costly turnovers, defensive breakdowns or both now have them sitting at 1-6 as they head into cupcake No. 2 – the first of which wasn’t so much a cupcake, a 35-31 win over Central Connecticut over a month ago – on Saturday afternoon. The Seahawks of Wagner come to Amherst for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

Perhaps the Minutemen took their last FCS opponent, CCSU, for granted on their homecoming weekend. Brown ensured that wouldn’t be the case with Wagner, and added that he’s urged his team to completely empty the gas tank as it searches for its second win.

“Just compete, compete at the highest level and let it loose; don’t hold anything back,” Brown said, referring to what he hopes to see from his team this weekend. “That’s really what it comes down to.”

Finishing games equates to finishing drives, both of which the Minutemen haven’t been able to do consistently. When watching UMass, it’s clear the offense has a purpose and possesses the talent to move the ball down the field. Yet when the Minutemen enter the red zone, everything seems to go awry.

Whether it be a turnover, penalties, sacks, missed field goals or some mix of each, UMass struggles to leave its possessions with points.

“The one thing that’s really jumped out is we’re holding onto the ball, we’re moving the ball between the 20s,” Brown said. “We’ve just gotta go ahead and finish. That’s been kind of the piece that we’re trying to send to our offense. Let’s finish what we start, that’s all.”

Minutemen center Josh Atwood doesn’t believe any of those issues have to do with the opposing defense tightening up or the fact that UMass doesn’t have the correct personnel.

It’s simply a road block between the ears – one that the Minutemen hope to eliminate sooner rather than later. Saturday would be a good place to start.

“A lot of it is mental,” Atwood said. “You put a lot of pressure on yourself in the red zone, and I think treating that more as just another down; we gotta move the ball the same way in the red zone as we have in the middle of the field. Getting over that mental block is gonna be big for us.”

During the early portions of the year, Wagner (4-4) wasn’t a team that typically aired the ball out. However over the past two weeks, the Seahawks have thrown it 39 and 38 times, respectively, with quarterback Jake Cady, who has combined to throw for 497 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in that span.

The recent surge in pass attempts shocked Brown when watching film. After potentially expecting a more balanced offense when first turning on the tape, he’s now prepared for an aerial attack on Saturday.

“They’ve kinda gone through a little bit of a transition,” Brown said. “Threw the ball a ton last week in their game with St. Francis, so I was a little surprised by that. Obviously they didn’t run it as much… So a little bit different, but I think their quarterback, Jake Cady, he’s a tall guy, can see over the line, he can get the ball in specific places and does a good job of throwing it down the field as well.”

“I actually think they’re gonna follow their [plan] from a week ago,” Brown added. “That would be my guess. But that’s the beauty of game-planning. We’ll see where their preparation takes them and where our preparation takes us.”

The good news for UMass? Its pass defense ranks in the top 20 in all of FBS.

The Minutemen secondary, led by Te’Rai Powell, Tyler Rudolph, Arsheen Giles, Lake Ellis and others are ready to shut down Wagner leading receiver Jaylen Bonelli (35 receptions, 556 yards, five TDs) and the rest of the Seahawks’ pass catchers this weekend.

“That’s probably one of our strengths,” Brown said of his secondary. “I think we’re giving up around 172 pass yards per game. One of our strengths has been playing the pass, and to be honest, I’ve been really happy with our back seven.”