Fan the Flames Game #2: Ball State

The Liberty Flames got off to a slow start in their opener at Lynchburg's City Stadium but after getting down 7-0 early, woke up in a big way as Mike Brown finished with 338 yards passing and 4 TDs and the Flames rolled to a 52-7 win over St Francis. This week, Liberty steps up in competition facing a new foe from a familiar place:

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This will be the first meeting between Liberty and Ball State but the Flames have faced MAC competition before, most recently in 2008 when they fell to Toledo 35-34. Ball State defeated another FCS team, SE Missouri State in its opener 27-10. Liberty is not the least bit intimidated by their foe as they have played well against FBS teams since Danny Rocco's arrival in 2006 (including holding a 12 point lead at Toledo before falling). One thing that the Cardinals do well is run the ball, as they did against SEMO. Look for three guys to get the ball throughout, MiQuale Lewis, Cory Sykes and Eric Williams (who led the way with 105 yards last week). If there is one area where BSU could be exposed, its the QB. Kelly Page took up the mantle of departed star QB Nate Davis and had his struggles last year as the Cardinals finished 2-10. Last week against the REdhawks from SEMO, he finished 10-17 for only 85 yards. If Liberty is winning this game they will have to force Page to be the one to beat them. If LU can contain the three back attack, I think they get the upset and finally get that second win over a 1-A/FBS opponent. Im picking the Flames to do just that


Liberty 35
Ball State 24.