AMHERST — Andy Isabella remembers watching Victor Cruz torment NFL defenders on Sundays.
At that time, the Mayfield, Ohio, native did not know where Cruz played his college football. Not only did he not know Cruz wore the same maroon and white he wears every Saturday, he hadn’t even heard of UMass until coach Mark Whipple called him five days before signing day. Now, Isabella and Cruz are linked in UMass history for all the right reasons.
The senior wideout shattered Cruz’s record for receiving yards in a game after accumulating 303 yards on just nine catches in Saturday’s 62-59 triple-overtime victory over Liberty. Cruz’s previous record was 262 yards against James Madison in 2008, a total Isabella surpassed with a 48-yard catch midway through the third quarter.
“It’s kind of cool; it’s better with the win (though),” Isabella said. “It wouldn’t have meant anything if we didn’t get the win.”
Isabella’s effort kept UMass alive in the first three quarters as he gained 53 percent of the Minutemen’s yards in those 45 minutes. Half of his catches in the first three quarters went for at least 40 yards, including his 89-yard and 61-yard touchdowns. His 61-yard score was Isabella at his finest as he turned a simple screen pass into a touchdown by sidestepping away from one defender and using a block to outrun the defense.
But it was his longest catch that epitomized the issues Liberty had with defending him. Senior Ross Comis executed a simple play-fake and looked up to see Isabella two steps behind Bejour Wilson. Comis lofted a pass to Isabella in the windy conditions that the senior barely caught with his fingertips before securing it and easily sprinting into the end zone.
“He launched it and I didn’t think I was going to get to it at first,” Isabella said. “The wind was going crazy, but I got to it.”
Isabella made such a habit of streaking past Liberty’s defenders that the Flames had to dedicate too much energy to stopping him. Once it fell behind by two scores in the fourth quarter, UMass targeted Isabella just twice – a 13-yard catch that was negated by a holding penalty and an incomplete pass that Comis overthrew when Isabella had a step on his defender. Still, the Minutemen scored touchdowns on each of those five possessions to win the game as Comis threw for 135 of his 540 yards on those drives.
“Obviously Andy was killing them so they had to do something,” Comis said. “They had two guys on him or rolling the coverage to him, and it left some holes backside or in the middle of the field. Those wide receivers made some plays, they stepped up and that’s what we ask them to do.”
WIND DOESN’T AFFECT COMIS: Although the wind was gusting up to 25 mph during most of the game, Comis still recorded the second 500-yard passing performance in UMass history. He ended up 49 yards shy of Blake Frohnapfel’s 589-yard masterpiece against Bowling Green, but it was only the second time in his career that Comis exceeded 200 yards passing.
It was Comis’ arm that made the biggest plays for UMass, completing a pair of fourth-down throws to Sadiq Palmer, one on each of UMass’ final two drives of regulation. He finished 29 of 44 with four touchdowns and an interception.
Comis said the key to throwing the ball well in the conditions was making sure his mechanics were perfect because he knew his senior wideout was going to be there to make the catch.
“When it’s windy like that, you just got to be able to spin it,” Comis said. “If you’re not throwing a spiral, it’s just going to go wherever. I just focused on my arm motion and knew that Andy was going to make some plays. He got open, I just had to throw it out there.”
WEIRDEST TOUCHDOWN EVER: UMass will not allow a touchdown more bizarre than the one Liberty scored with 4:30 left in the first half. Flames quarterback Stephen Calvert launched a pass in the direction of Khaleb Coleman, but he vastly underthrew his receiver and it was easily intercepted by Lee Moses. Moses, however, dropped the football while trying to squeeze it to his chest and Coleman scooped up the loose ball and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown. The score gave Liberty its first lead of the game at 24-21.
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.