Football falls short in triple overtime

Liberty University Flames junior quarterback Buckshot Calvert dropped back, looking to unleash his 35th pass for a touchdown.

He was trying to finally put away a University of Massachusetts-Amherst team that had clawed back from a late 14-point deficit and now had forced the game to triple overtime on a sunny but windy afternoon Saturday, Nov. 3.

But Calvert, after bumping into junior running back Frankie Hickson in the pocket, underthrew his target in the middle of the end zone and was picked off by UMass Minutemen senior linebacker Jarell Addo. 

Following Calvert’s fourth interception of the game, the Minutemen’s junior placekicker, Cooper Garcia, nailed a 22-yard field goal despite swirling wind to bury the Flames, 62-59, at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium in Amherst, Massachusetts.

“I’m going to take this responsibility on me,” Flames Head Coach Turner Gill said. “I’ve got to coach better. There are some things that we could have done a little bit better on my part. Some calls and different things of that nature.”

Senior wideout Andy Isabella paced UMass (4-6) in their upset of Liberty (4-4), as the Minutemen rallied after trailing 45-31 with less than seven minutes in regulation. 

Isabella, who came in as the FBS leader with 1,091 receiving yards, set a UMass record with 303 yards on nine receptions. His performance, along with the UMass’s 777 total offense yards (708 in regulation), easily broke Liberty-opponent records.

“We need to work better as a unit,” Liberty linebacker Solomon Ajayi said. “We need to pay attention to the details and then do the things that the coaches coach us to do, just exactly how they want us to do it.” 

Junior Antonio Gandy-Golden, the Flames wide receiver, had a monster game similar to Isabella, with 205 yards gained over nine receptions, including two touchdowns. 

Calvert, despite the turnovers and a completion percentage of 45.7 percent, still passed for 272 yards and led Liberty to almost 500 total yards and 59 points.

The Flames defense was shredded, though, for the second straight game. UMass senior quarterback Ross Comis more than doubled his season stats while completing 29 of 44 pass attempts for 540 yards and four touchdowns, plus two rushing scores.

“It’s extremely frustrating because we know we’re a better defense and we know we’re capable of getting off the field on third down,” Ajayi said.

Instead of getting those crucial stops that defined the unit as they held Troy to 16 points Oct. 13 and Old Dominion University to 10 points in the Flames Sept. 1 season-opener, Liberty allowed UMass to make every big play necessary to steal the win.

The Flames need to figure things out quickly, as the loss puts them in a difficult position as Liberty attempts to appear in a postseason bowl game in their first season at the FBS level. 

They travel to face the ACC’s University of Virginia (6-3) next Saturday, Nov. 10, at 3 p.m., before playing a perennial SEC contender in the University of Auburn (6-3) the following weekend. To close the regular season, Liberty takes on New Mexico State Nov. 24 and FCS opponent Norfolk State on Dec. 1 at home.

Since the NCAA stipulates only one win over a lower-level team will count towards the six victories needed to qualify for the postseason and the Flames already defeated the FCS’s Idaho State Oct. 20, Liberty may need to upset one of the Power 5 schools over the next two weekends to have a chance to play in a bowl game.

Getting that upset may necessitate some major adjustments in strategy and execution by the Flames.

“All of us as a staff, myself and coaches, we have to coach better and prevent some things from happening,” Gill said. “There were some good things that happened today — no question about that — on offense, on defense, special teams, and so on and so forth. We just didn’t make enough plays, and (UMass) earned the win.”