By KEVIN NOONAN

It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. Massachusetts won the coin toss before its game against Delaware on Saturday and nine times out of 10 the coach who wins the flip wants the ball. Well, UMass coach Kevin Morris saw the wind whipping the flags at Delaware Stadium and went with the one-in-ten – he deferred the decision to Delaware.

One quarter and 21 points later, UMass was on its way to a 21-10 upset of No. 7 Delaware, and even though the Minutemen can’t compete for the CAA football championship or a spot in the postseason – UMass will jump to a new conference next year and isn’t eligible for the CAA championship this year – they can still make a lot of noise.

They made plenty of it on Saturday and it started with that decision, which put the wind at their backs in the first quarter. UMass wanted to start quickly and take the crowd out of the game, and they wanted Delaware to play from behind so it would have to pass the ball and not be able to let star RB Andrew Pierce control it.

The decision paid off as UMass jumped to a 21-0 point lead, and to put that into perspective: The last time Delaware trailed in the first quarter of a game by 21 points or more was back in 1975, when Temple scored 24 points in the opening period en route to a 45-0 victory.

“We wanted to get the wind in the first quarter,’’ Morris said. “We wanted to pin them deep and get good field position and take advantage of it. And that’s what we did.”

And it didn’t take them long. Delaware took the kickoff and right away things started to go badly for the Hens — on first down, QB Tim Donnelly was flagged for intentional grounding and before they knew it, the Hens were facing fourth-and-21 from their own 22. The Minutemen took over in Delaware territory, so Morris’ decision to defer paid off right away.

That decision looked even better when, on first down, QB Kellen Pagel fired a 41-yard touchdown pass to senior WR Jesse Julmiste, and UMass led 7-0 before many of the crowd of 21,902 had time to make their way into the stadium from their tailgate parties.

If any of those fans loitered to enjoy another cold beverage, they might have also missed the Minutemen’s second touchdown, and this one was scored without the benefit of great field position. After another short-lived, wind-in-their-face possession by the Blue Hens, UMass took over on their 18. A couple of short passes moved the ball to the 42 to set the stage for another big play, a 39-yard run by RB Jonathan Hernandez, to the Delaware 19.

UMass eventually scored on a 6-yard pass from Pagel to TE Emil Igwenagu for a 14-0 lead and the Minutemen were well on their way to their most impressive victory over the season.

“It was a battle of field position today,’’ UMass LB Tyler Holmes said. “And we definitely won it.”

Another Delaware mistake – Donnelly’s wobbly pass was intercepted by S Darren Thellen – set up another UMass touchdown, and once again a big play paved the way. This time, Pagel rolled to his right and fired a 27-yard strike to Julmiste, down to the Delaware 22. Three plays later, WR Julian Talley scored on a 3-yard reverse and the stunned Blue Hens found themselves trailing 21-0 as the first quarter ended.

“We had poor tackling and we gave up too many big plays,’’ Delaware LB Paul Worrilow said. “”We can’t put our offense in a 21-0 hole like we did today.”

The Hens finally got on the scoreboard and they had to work hard for it – it took them 11 plays and 6:33 to drive for a touchdown. They scored when Donnelly zipped a 14-yard pass to freshman TE Nick Boyle, who scored his first career TD. That cut the UMass lead to 21-7 and a late field goal made it 21-10 at halftime.

“They hit the big plays and we were methodical,’’ Delaware coach K.C. Keeler said. “And we got 10 and they got 21.”

Delaware may also get a new quarterback. Trevor Sesak started the season-opener vs. Navy and injured a knee and he’s spent the last five weeks watching Donnelly play. But Keeler put Sesak in Saturday’s game in the fourth quarter and now Keeler said he’s not sure who will start next week’s game at Rhode Island.