UMass outlasts Liberty

By Zander Manning 

AMHERST — After consecutive overtime quarters with scores on both sides, UMass finally pulled out a 62-59 victory in the third on a 22-yard field goal by Cooper Garcia.

A leaping interception by Jarrell Addo on Liberty's final overtime possession put the Minutemen in prime position to win.

UMass improves to 4-6, while Liberty falls to 4-4. The Minutemen have won two in a row for the first time all season, and keep their hopes of qualifying for a bowl game alive.  

Senior wide receiver Andy Isabella caught nine passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns. The yardage mark set a school record. 

“Just a great, great win for our seniors and the guys in the program,” UMass coach Mark Whipple said. “They battled. . . . The fourth quarter there was a lot of frustration showing. They didn’t seem like the same team I coached last week at UConn. I just got more positive with them and brought them in. . . . We flipped it, I don’t know how, but credit to those kids.” 

“We thought we’d have some looks to get (Isabella) some catches downfield,” Whipple added. “We kept at it, and (quarterback) Ross (Comis) threw some good balls, and Isabella’s got the speed to go downfield that if he gets a little bit open to give him a shot. He played great.” 

The teams traded touchdowns in each of the first two overtime periods, as Liberty scored on a Frank Boyd 5-yard run and Frankie Hickson 2-yard rush, respectively. UMass answered in the first with a Samuel Emilus 7-yard reception from Comis in the first, then led off with a 23-yard connection from Comis to Emilus in the second.

But when the Flames opened the third extra session, Addo made the crucial stop with his pick to set up Garcia's game-winner.

With 7:12 to play in the first quarter, the Minutemen struck first when Comis hit Isabella in stride at midfield thanks to a fingertip catch by the wideout, who broke away from the Liberty corner, sprinted down the right sideline and scored, as UMass took a 7-0 lead. 

“I actually didn’t think I was going to get to it at first,” Isabella said. “The wind was going crazy, but I got to it and it was a good feeling (to score).” 

Two minutes later, the Flames tied it up on a 15-yard touchdown pass by Stephen Calvert to Antonio Gandy-Golden. 

With two minutes to play in the opening quarter, Comis rolled out of the pocket to look for a receiver, but couldn’t find one. He ran the ball himself and dove into the end zone. 

As time expired in the first quarter, Liberty tied it up at 14 on an 11-yard touchdown run by Hickson.  

With 13:55 to play in the second quarter, Isabella went in motion and Comis found the senior on a short screen play. Isabella tip-toed the sidelines and beat the Liberty defense by two steps, giving the Minutemen a 21-14 lead. 

“We’ve been playing together for the last two years,” Isabella said of Comis. “He does a great job, he trusts me, I trust him and that’s a big part of it.” 

Liberty cut the UMass lead to 21-17 on a 21-yard Alex Probert field goal early in the second quarter, then took the lead on one of the more bizarre plays of the season.

Calvert launched the ball downfield and was intercepted by UMass senior cornerback Lee Moses. Moses, however, fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Liberty's Kedrick Bradley, who waltzed into the end zone, giving the Flames a 24-21 lead with 4:30 left in the half. 

With seven seconds left before the break, Comis completed a pass to Emilus, who quickly ran out of bounds. The play was reviewed to see how much time was left, and the Minutemen were awarded two seconds. 

Garcia put it through the uprights from 28 yards out to tie the game at 24 after two quarters. 

UMass pulled back ahead in the third on a 4-yard rush by Marquis Young to help give the Minutemen a 31-24 lead. 

Liberty came right back and scored two touchdowns on Boyd runs within 21 seconds of each other. The first was a 12-yarder, and the second from a yard out following a fumble by Young.  

UMass rallied to send the game into overtime with two straight touchdowns. The first came off the legs of Comis, who ran it in from 6 yards out. Comis ran to the right, hit the Liberty defense, spun to his right and scored to help cut the deficit to 45-38.  

Then, with 25 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Young ran to the right, flipped over the Liberty defense and landed on his feet, and the Minutemen tied the game at 45. 

Next Saturday, the Minutemen take on another FBS Independent in BYU at noon at Gillette Stadium. 

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