It’s not often that you get a chance to quickly make up for a mistake in the game of football.
Jacob Lurie had this opportunity for the Massachusetts football team on Saturday against the Liberty Flames. After missing a 42-yard field goal wide right as the clock expired in regulation, the graduate kicker got set to make up for his blunder with an extra point attempt in overtime.
The snap came, and Lurie’s foot connected with the ball. It flew through the air and crashed into the right upright.
No good.
This meant that Liberty (7-2, 4-2 Conference USA) only needed six points on its drive, which it got in just three plays before tacking on an extra point for the win.
“It’s a shame that [Lurie] wasn’t able to finish at the end of the game,” head coach Don Brown said. “The wind was there a little, it was a bit of a difficult process, but we’re not [going to] make excuses.”
UMass (2-8) scored its overtime touchdown in just two plays, with a 23-yard and two-yard run by Jalen John punching the Minutemen into the end zone. Then the decision came to go for two or kick the extra point. On paper, the kick seemed like the safer bet, but the right upright disagreed.
The drive at the end of regulation went 65 yards in 10 plays, milking the clock down to just three seconds left. On the play prior to the field goal attempt, quarterback AJ Hairston took the snap and went down in the middle of the field, setting up his kicker with a straight-on kick.
At halftime, it seemed like the game wouldn’t be nearly as close as it wound up being. UMass led 20-7 and the Flames had struggled to get their offense going. The team flipped the script in the final 30 minutes, changing its game plan around to spark a change.
“[Liberty] said, ‘To heck with this throwing stuff,’ and just ran the ball,” Brown said. “… That’s been a strength. Their offensive line is legit, and they’ve got three legit running backs, and the quarterback can run.”
The running game for the Flames made the difference on Saturday as they finished with 309 yards between four different ballcarriers, the most they’ve put up against an FBS opponent this season. Quinton Cooley led the way for Liberty with 147 yards on 20 attempts with three touchdowns.
Despite the success on the ground for the Flames, the Minutemen held a seven point lead with just over seven minutes remaining. A 34-yard rush by Billy Lucas helped set up a red zone opportunity for Liberty, but UMass held strong, or so it thought.
The Flames were tasked with a fourth-and-seven from the 17-yard line and targeted cornerback Lake Ellis by the back left pylon. The graduate student prevented a catch, celebrating with his teammates before noticing a flag had been thrown behind him. The call was pass interference, giving Liberty a first down that eventually led to a game-tying touchdown.
“I thought that was a difficult call, for sure, to take,” Brown said.
The call put a damper on what was a solid defensive effort for the Minutemen against the Flames’ offense, which came in averaging 31.33 points per game. The unit tied its season high with three sacks and forced two turnovers.
With under two minutes to play in the first half, Liberty came out of a UMass timeout looking to drive down the field and put some points up before receiving the second half kickoff. Kofi Asare had other plans for the Minutemen, coming around the left edge with a power move and crashing into the Flames’ quarterback Kaidon Salter. The collision knocked the ball loose, and Asare jumped on it for a fumble recovery.
The turnover gave UMass the ball at the Liberty 45-yard line with just over 60 seconds on the clock. A 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on the Flames and a 15-yard carry by John set up a first-and-goal from the two-yard line. Hairston kept the ball on a read option, lowering his shoulder into the end zone to score with 10 seconds remaining in the half.
The Minutemen put together an efficient first drive on offense, running the ball 10 times for 77 yards. John led the way with 41 yards on the drive, with each of his five carries going for six or more yards. The redshirt junior darted through the middle of the defense on the 10th play of the drive and barreled into the end zone from nine yards out, living up to his “Arizona Flash” nickname that Brown gave him.
With two young quarterbacks running the offense for UMass, the team relied heavily on its run game throughout the contest, finishing with a season high 263 rushing yards.
Up next for the Minutemen is their third SEC opponent of the season, the No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs. Kickoff from Sanford Stadium in Athens, GA is set for 12:45 p.m. on Nov. 23. The game can be watched on SEC Network.
“We’ve got two games left, and we better be focused on the next one, because that’s [going to] take everything we’ve got if we’re [going to] have a chance [against Georgia],” Brown said.
Mike Maynard can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @mikecmaynard.
