Recap
The Liberty Flames made history of sorts on Saturday. Josh Woodrum passed for 208 yards and TD while the Flames defense pitched the first shutout of the season as Liberty picked up its second ever victory in the city of Norfolk 17-0 over the Norfolk State Spartans.
The day started inauspiciously as Liberty went three plays and out on the first drive of the game, as two DJ Abnar rushes and an incomplete pass led to a punt from Trey Turner. Norfolk State took over on its own 42 and drove down the field with relative ease against the Flames defense, until Jacob Hagen made his presence felt, stripping Aaron Daniels of the ball as he crossed the 10 yard line. Rejuvenated, the offense drove 88 yards, capping the drive with an Avery Echols field goal, his first in a Liberty uniform. That first drive was the closest NSU would get to scoring the rest of the day.
Both teams exchanged punts repeatedly, until NSU freshman QB Terrance Ervin, making his first career start against the team he once committed to, tossed his first interception, as Hagen stepped in front of a pass and returned it into NSU territory. The Flames would cash in two plays later as Josh Woodrum would score his first rushing TD of the season, and first since the 2013 finale against Charleston Southern.
The teams would have some success moving the ball, but largely it remained a punting competition until the 4th quarter, when Woodrum hooked up with DJ Abnar for the first passing TD of the season on a throwback screen.
Neither team ran the ball particularly well, with the Flames finishing with 72 yards on 26 carries (2.8 per rush), while Norfolk State ended the afternoon with 159 yards on 45 carries (3.5 yards per rush). DJ Abnar finished with 38 yards on the ground for Liberty, while Aaron Daniels, despite the fumble, finished with 75 yards to lead Norfolk State. Darrin Peterson finished with 69 yards to go over 1000 receiving yards for his career. The Flames finished with 6 sacks on Ervin while the NSU defense got to Woodrum twice.
Inside the Numbers
Im debuting an interesting sidelight to the blog, and will give some numbers you won't usually find if you look at the boxscores from week to week.
Here are this week's interesting numbers coming out of the game:
9- It has been 9 years since Liberty rushed for fewer than 100 yards in consecutive games. More than likely that run will continue with Brevard coming to Lynchburg next week
1050- Number of receiving yards Darrin Peterson has following his performance on Saturday.
6- The win yesterday ended a 6 game losing streak for Turner Gill away from Williams Stadium. The win also ended a 6 game losing streak against in-state teams not named VMI on the road (Last win: 17-6 vs. Norfolk State in 1997)
10- Josh Woodrum threw for 208 yards, his 10th game with 200+ yards through air.
17- 17 is the fewest points in a Liberty victory since scoring 17 in a win over VMI in 2013 (The record for fewest points in a victory is 9, accomplished 3 times, most recently 1992)
99- The Flames have scored a point in 99 consecutive games dating back to 2005. The last time Liberty failed to score a point was in a 56-0 loss to William and Mary (10/22/2005).
45- Liberty has scored in double figures in 45 consecutive games. The last time Liberty failed to score in double figures was 2010, when the Flames lost to James Madison 10-3 in Harrisonburg.
23- The shutout yesterday was the 23rd in program history, and the first over a non-conference, Division I opponent since a 21-0 win over Western Carolina in 2006, This is the first ever over an in-state non-conference opponent.
We will be back with a preview of the home opener tomorrow.
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