Mickey Matthews said he “didn’t understand at all” why a win Saturday for the Massachusetts football team over James Madison (2-2 1-1 Atlantic 10) would be considered an upset.

The veteran Dukes’ coach felt the Minutemen (3-1 2-0 A-10) were quite similar to his own outfit, as both teams featured injury-prone, veteran quarterbacks, experienced receivers and talented first-year performers in the backfield.

So following UMass’ 31-26 win over JMU before a capacity home crowd on Band Day in Amherst, Matthews was correct on many fronts. While UMass’ Jeff Krohn was good on 18 of 34 for 214 yards and three touchdown passes, Matthews’ own fragile quarterback, junior Matt LeZotte, completed 21 of 38 for 248 yards and a career-high three scores as well.

Along the same lines, Minuteman receiver Jason Peebler was hauling in eight catches for 116 yards, while Dukes’ counterpart Alan Harrison snagged nine balls for 78 yards.

As is often the case, though, the effective difference between the two teams came on the ground. Sophomore tailback Steve Baylark finally emerged as a workhorse, tallying 146 yards on 35 carries and two touchdowns, and an aggressive Minuteman defense knocked highly-touted freshman tailback Alvin Banks out of the game in the first quarter after gaining just seven yards, allowing the Maroon and White to hold off a late JMU charge and preserve the victory.

“I’m really happy with the win.” Whipple said. “We did some good things and played well enough to win. It’s been five years since we’ve been 3-1 and 2-0 in the Atlantic 10, and I feel a lot better now than I did outside North Carolina State a year ago. That’s the bottom line.”

Massachusetts finished with 385 total yards while JMU totalled 319 yards, despite UMass out gaining JMU 171-71 on the ground. The Minutemen were, however, flagged for season-high fourteen penalties for 140 yards.

“At times, we played as well as any team I’ve had at UMass.” Whipple said. “But other times we did some things out there that were just dumb.”

The Minutemen made a late bid to fall victim to complacency following Baylark’s 1 yard touchdown plunge that made it 31-13 at the 13:37 mark of the fourth quarter, and the Dukes nearly one-upped the 17 point comeback that was good enough to topple Hofstra a week ago.

LeZotte was a perfect 5 for 5 in spearheading a six-play, 74 yard drive on the ensuing possession, which culminated with a 7 yard touchdown catch by receiver Tahir Hinds.

Then, with the score 31-20, JMU turned what was potentially a rout into the nip-and-tuck battle Matthews had expected, as Isaiah Dottin-Carter picked off a deflected Krohn pass and rumbled 22 yards to narrow the margin to just 31-26.

The two point conversion attempt failed, however, and a UMass defense which was in the JMU backfield consistently all afternoon, held the Dukes on consecutive drives and forced LeZotte into a Hail Mary that fell incomplete.

“I think we fell asleep with the score 31-13, but you have to credit JMU.” Whipple said. “When we went ahead like that … there was an attitude like ‘they’re going to roll over for the mighty Minutemen.’

“I did not have a good feeling in my gut … they have a good team, and they came fighting back. They came off a comeback win last week and it gave them confidence to come back down the stretch.”

Massachusetts got on the board first, as Krohn found fullback Rich Demers for a five yard scoring strike with 6:47 remaining in the first period. Following a missed 32 yard field goal by JMU kicker Burke George and a 43 yard scamper by Baylark down to the JMU 32 yard line, true freshman placekicker Michael Torres made the score 10-0 in favor of the Minutemen with a 46 yard field goal.

“Special teams always shows up in the end.” Matthews said. “We missed an extra point and a field goal, and [Torres] hits a big field goal for them and we lose by five. It’s something that really hurt us.”

LeZotte finally got JMU on the board late in the second quarter, as the junior signal caller took the Dukes 61 yards in just four plays, capping the drive with a 21 yard TD pass to wide receiver Nic Tolley. George missed the extra point, making the score 10-6 with 3:13 remaining in the half.

The Maroon and White immediately answered, however, as Krohn marched the offense 71 yards in just over three minutes, concluding the seven play drive with a three yard touchdown pass to Peebler to up the score to 17-6 just before halftime.

On James Madison’s first possession of the second half, UMass quickly regained possession as cornerback Steve Costello forced Harrison to fumble into the hands of freshman Charles Walker. UMass immediately capitalized on the turnover as Baylark found the end zone from five yards out for his second touchdown of the day, making the score 24-6.

The Dukes narrowed the margin to 24-13 when LeZotte hit Harrison for his second touchdown pass of the day. JMU seemingly tacked on a crucial two point conversion when LeZotte found Tahir Hinds, but the play was negated following an illegal receiver downfield penalty, and the Dukes settled for the PAT to make the score 24-13.

Baylark concluded UMass’ scoring nearly on his own early in the fourth quarter, carrying the ball six times for 37 yards in an eight-play drive that resulted in the sophomore’s second and final touchdown of the afternoon.

Linebackers Isai Bradshaw and Trey Townsend led the way for James Madison defensively, as the duo recorded 13 and 11 tackles respectively. Tri-captain Anton McKenzie paced the UMass unit with 11 tackles, nine solo.

Massachusetts returns to action next Saturday to host New Hampshire at McGuirk Alumni Stadium for Family Day.