AMHERST — The decision was the right one. It did not pay off.

In a tie football game, UMass kicker Jacob Lurie had a chance to be the hero. All he had to do was boot a 43-yard field goal as time expired to give his team a hard-fought victory over Liberty Saturday at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

UMass quarterback A.J. Hairston lost two yards on a third-down play as he looked to put the ball right down the middle. That pushed Lurie back two yards. His kick was long enough, but he pushed it to the right, forcing overtime.

In overtime, after UMass' Jalen John scored on a 2-yard run, the UMass kicker rattled the extra point off the right upright, which left the door open for the visitors from Virginia. Quinton Cooley got a 4-yard TD run on the Flames' second play from scrimmage. The difference was Colin Karhu made his PAT kick and the Minutemen came up on the short end of a 35-34 game.

"It's been a tough, long season for us," UMass coach Don Brown said after the game. "The thing I like about this group of young men is they're very resilient. They come back to work every week. They give me everything they've got.

"At the end of the day, I just like the way this group responds."

It was the first PAT kick Lurie had missed all year. Unfortunately for the kicker, while he made a 44-yard field goal in the second quarter, he has missed eight of 11 from 40 yards or beyond. Lurie was 10 for 10 inside of 40 yards.

"He's a young man that had really some good moments with us. It's a shame that he wasn't able to finish at the end of the game," Brown said of his kicker. "The bottom line is we'll spend time and talk about it man-to-man. We're not going to give up on him, that's for sure. He can kick it.

"We're not going to make excuses. That's the one thing we're not going to do."

The score was tied 28-28 and the UMass defense, which had been gashed for 241 rushing yards in the second half, stiffened and forced Liberty to punt on a three-and-out.

UMass (2-8) took over on its 10-yard line and Hairston, a freshman, hit T.Y. Harding for 15 yards and a first down on the first play of the drive. The key play of the drive was a 15-yard pass to Jakobie Keeney-James on third-and-5, giving UMass a first down on its 45.

Consecutive throws from Hairston to tight end Dom Mazotti of 15 and 9 yards put UMass in field goal range. Hairston lost two yards moving the ball to the middle of the field, which set up the 43-yard field goal that was wide right.

UMass lost the toss going into overtime. In college football overtime, teams get the ball on the opponent's 25-yard line and try to score.

Jalen John, who ran for a UMass career-high 119 yards, gained 23 yards on first down, and got into the end zone on the next play. Lurie's PAT kick caromed off the right upright.

Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter was flushed out of the pocket on first down and gained seven yards. Then, Cooley got 13 yards and a first down, scoring on the next play, a 4-yard run.

Karhu split the uprights for the PAT, and the visitors escaped with a victory.

It was the second overtime game for UMass, which lost 23-20 at Miami (Ohio).

It was UMass' first game without starting quarterback Taisun Phommachanh, who suffered a season-ending injury at Mississippi State two weeks ago. 

Without the starter, Brown and his staff used two freshmen quarterbacks. Haston got the start and split time with Hairston. Haston was on the field primarily for running plays while Hairston did all the throwing. Haston had six carries for 62 yards. Hairston's numbers were pretty good for a freshman, completing 13-of-25 passes for 163 yards. He did not throw an interception and was not sacked. Keeney-Jones had six catches for 75 yards and Harding had three catches for 50 yards. The two wide receivers were targeted on 15 of Hairston's 25 pass attempts.

"The good thing was we had the bye week and obviously, these guys have been practicing,” said Brown. “We kind of knew what we were getting. I thought [offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery] managed it really well in terms of giving both of those guys playing time and sharing the load. They kept their cool about them. Not every snap was perfect, but I thought they represented themselves really well."

UMass led 20-7, scoring 10 points in the final minute and a half in the second quarter, converting a fumble by Salter into a 2-yard run by Hairston with 10 seconds left in the half. Kofi Asare forced the fumble and recovered the ball on the Liberty 48 with a minute left.

After the third-quarter kickoff, Liberty (7-2) marched 82 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown. It was part of the second-half narrative. Until UMass' fourth-quarter touchdown, the Minutemen had run six plays from scrimmage compared to 29 for Liberty.

That disparity aside, the Minutemen did come back but could not close the deal in overtime.

It doesn't get any easier for UMass, as the Minutemen will go between the hedges next week for a game at 11th-ranked Georgia. Then, the Minutemen will come home to finish 2024 against UConn.

"We've got two games left and we better be focused on the next one," Brown said, "because it's going to take everything we've got if we're going to have a chance in that one."