No UMass game last season had as many twists and turns as the Mintuemen’s triple-overtime win over Liberty.
Andy Isabella shattered the single-game record for receiving yards, UMass allowed three straight touchdowns to begin the fourth quarter to fall behind by two scores, rallied to force overtime in the final eight minutes of regulation then won the game on a field goal in the third extra period. And 364 days after that chaotic game, the Flames and Minutemen meet again in Amherst on Nov. 2, but will do so as two very different teams.
Both schools hired new coaches this offseason, UMass choosing Walt Bell and former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze taking over Liberty’s program after Turner Gill retired after last season. Freeze takes over a team that does return most of its production on both sides of the ball unlike Bell who is starting over with role players from last year’s team for the most part.
OFFENSE: The transition to FBS football last season seemed to have an impact on Stephen Calvert in his third season as Liberty’s starting quarterback. He tripled the number of interceptions he threw in 2018 compared to a sterling 2017 campaign for the Flames and threw eight fewer touchdowns.
Now with a year against the best in college football under his belt, Calvert leads the Flames offense in the hopes of ending his career on a positive note. He’ll need to not only take care of the ball, but also improve upon his 54.7 percent completion rate, which would have ranked 97th nationally if he were eligible to be ranked — as part of the FBS transition, Liberty player and team stats aren’t part of the national rankings.
He’ll return most of his top weapons around him, too, including the 6-foot-4 Antonio Gandy-Golden. The receiver caught 71 passes for 1,037 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, and torched defense with his combination of size and speed.
He is complemented on the receiving corps by DJ Stubbs, who caught 50 passes and gained 631 yards last season, and Damian King, who missed most of last season with an injury, but managed to make 12 catches in three games.
Joining Calvert in the backfield is Frankie Hickson, who ran for just over 1,000 yards and scored 11 times last year. Liberty also utilizes Peytton Pickett, who ran for 457 yards and nine scores on half as many carries, as more of a bruising back.
Freeze hired Kent Austin as his co-offensive coordinator, an interesting choice given Austin’s recent past. Although Austin served as Cornell’s coach for three seasons from 2010-12, he has spent the last six years as some combination of coach, general manager and vice president of football operations with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.
DEFENSE: Many of Liberty’s defensive playmakers also return for the Flames, giving them a base from which to build after last season.
Among the notable returners is defensive end Jessie Lemonier, who wreaked havoc with 10 sacks and two forced fumbles last season. He’ll have to anchor a defensive line that took the most hits from graduation with two starters leaving. However, he might get some help from Austin Lewis, who made 6 1/2 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks last year as a freshman.
Behind them, though, is a shifty group of linebackers who swarmed well to the ball. Solomon Ajayi tied for the team lead with 76 tackles and also added two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. He played alongside Brandon Tillmon, who made 41 stops in 10 games last season, as the only two traditional linebackers last year, but that might change under the new coaching staff.
The strength of the Liberty defense is its secondary, which features the other two in the top three in tackles last season. Safety Elijah Benton shared the lead with Ajayi with 76 tackles while counterpart Isaac Steele made 65 stops.
But Steele also had three interceptions, matching the total of Bejour Wilson, who returns as one of the two starting cornerbacks. Wilson defended 10 passes a year ago and also made 58 tackles to contribute in run defense.
Josh Walfish can be reached at jwalfish@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshWalfishDHG. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.