By Ryan Barry
NEFJ Staff

AMHERST – In front of 9,115 fans at McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Saturday, UMass found yet another soul-crushing way to disappoint fans.

The Minutemen allowed the Liberty Flames to storm back and steal a 35-34 overtime win after a missed PAT for UMass.

After leading 20-7 at halftime, the Minutemen (2-8) were outscored 28-14 in the second half and overtime combined to fall to the Flames for the sixth time since 2018.

UMass nearly had the game in hand at the end of regulation after a superb drive from freshman quarterback AJ Hairston (13-for-25, 163-yards; six carries, seven-yards, one touchdown) put them in position to win.

With three seconds in the fourth quarter, graduate kicker Jacob Lurie missed a 43-yard field goal while tied at 28 forcing them to go to overtime.

The Minutemen struck first with a Jalen John (15 carries, 119-yards, two touchdowns) rushing touchdown to take the lead, but a missed extra point from Lurie gave them a six point lead.

Just three plays later Liberty running back Quinton Cooley (20 carries, 147-yards, three touchdowns) scored from five yards out and Colin Karhu’s extra point secured the 35-34 win.

The offense featured both Hairston and redshirt freshman Ahmad Haston (six carries, 62-yards, one touchdown) at quarterback throughout the game.

When asked about splitting the reps, UMass head coach Don Brown was overall pleased with what he saw.

“We kind of knew what we were getting,” said Brown. “I thought coach (Montgomery) managed it pretty well in terms of giving both of those guys playing time and sharing the load, and I thought they kept their cool about them.”

The dual usage played out well in the first half against the Flames, but after a series of halftime adjustments the Flames slowed down their offense.

Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter (9-16, 114-yards, one interception; 13 carries, 58-yards, two touchdowns) was fairly limited through the air, but had a solid day running the ball.

The Flames picked things up in the second half and finished the game strong with 309 total rushing yards.

“They had success on the ground,” Brown noted. “Their offensive line is legit, they’ve got three legit running backs, and their quarterback can run, so you’ve got your hands full.”

Defensively UMass had three sacks against a talented team and had seven tackles for loss, with their performance overall not being entirely reflective of the final score line, especially with how well they defended the pass.

The Minutemen started the game with an outstanding 10 play, 77-yard drive that ended with a John nine-yard touchdown run to snag an early 7-0 lead. On the opening Liberty offensive drive the Minutemen came out aggressive and forced an interception at midfield with Te’Rai Powell coming down with the tipped pass.

The UMass offense looked outstanding again on their second drive of the game but were unable to convert a fourth and one from the Liberty 16-yard line to keep the drive alive.

Another solid defensive stand from the Minutemen was negated by a roughing the punter call, but a few plays later the defense came up with another big stop on their own half to force a punt.

The Minutemen made the stop count with a 10 play, 86-yard drive to increase the lead to 10-0 after a 22-yard Lurie field goal.

The Liberty offense finally woke up on the ensuing drive by making easy work of the Minutemen, as Cooley’s 11-yard touchdown run cut the lead to 10-7.

Needing all the points they could to stave off a Liberty resurgence, Lurie’s 43-yard field goal after another solid UMass drive extended the lead to 13-7.

With 1:24 to go in the first half and two timeouts, Liberty’s dreams of cutting the lead were dashed after a Salter fumble at midfield was recovered by UMass.

The Minutemen made quick work of the Flames and increased their lead to 20-7 with nine seconds to go thanks to a two-yard touchdown run from Hairston. Back from the locker room, the Flames came out on fire with an 11 play, 82-yard drive that finished with a Salter quarterback keeper to cut the lead to 20-14.

Consecutive three-and-outs from the UMass offense opened the door to another Liberty score to give them a 21-20, with Cooley notching his second score of the day.

Needing a response to stay in the game, the Minutemen went on an 11 play, 75-yard drive that ended with a Haston two-yard touchdown run and successful two point attempt to go back up 28-21.

The Flames responded right away with another impressive drive to set up Salter’s second rushing score of the day to tie things up at 28.

The disappointing finish marked another chapter in the endless story of missed UMass football opportunities.

A trip to Athens, Georgia next week to take on the Georgia Bulldogs caps off the final road trip of the season before wrapping up the season at McGuirk against the UConn Huskies after Thanksgiving.