Liberty Football puts UMass down in 63-21 victory, shattering team record in the process

 Back in 2017, quarterback Stephen Buckshot Calvert broke the program’s previous record for passing yards in a game, amassing 447 yards against Baylor. Calvert threw the ball 60 times in that game and completed his last pass with less than 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Against UMass (1-8) Saturday, Nov. 2, Calvert shattered his own record, throwing for 474 yards while barely seeing the field in the second half. He only threw the ball 27 times and left the game with 13 minutes left in the third quarter.

The Liberty Flames (6-3) strolled into halftime with 49 points and 502 yards of offense on their way to a 63-21 win over the Minutemen. Head Coach Hugh Freeze’s offense ended the game with 730 yards, 242 of them coming from the rushing attack.

Both Frankie Hickson and Joshua Mack rushed for over 80 yards, and Antonio Gandy-Golden caught 6 passes for 137 yards and one score. Seven different skill players rushed or caught touchdowns, including three from Hickson on the ground.

While Liberty lost the turnover battle, giving up three fumbles and only forcing one, the Flames managed to prevent UMass from capitalizing on those opportunities, only allowing seven points from those lost fumbles.

Defensively, the Flames held UMass to 240 total yards and sacked quarterback Andre Brito five times. Isaac Steele led the defense with seven tackles. 

The Flames need one more win in their next three games to reach the seven wins needed for bowl eligibility. The Flames continue their four-game road trip when they travel to their nationally-televised matchup against BYU Nov. 9 at 7:30 on ESPNU.