Liberty (5-3, 1-0 Big South)
vs.
Presbyterian (5-3, 2-1 Big South)
The Liberty Flames continue their five game run through the Big SOuth to close the season, heading down to Clinton, SC to face off with the Blue Hose, who have surged in 2014, after winning a grand total of 8 games in the last 3 seasons, including back to back 2 win seasons in 2012 and 2013.
The Blue Hose are carried by the defense, which has allowed 50 total points in 5 victories, good for 10 points per game, including 12 points to the top offense in the Big South, Monmouth in a win last week. THey have improved in every defensive category and the results have shown, with wins over Furman and Western Carolina from the Southern Conference in addition to a win over Charleston Southern.
This game is about strength vs. strength. Liberty enters the game as the second highest scoring offense in the Big South, averaging 36.1 points per game, including 3 50 point games (including the win over App State before the bye week). The Flames have a lot more firepower than any FCS school on PC's schedule, save Coastal, who beat the Blue Hose 40-28 in Clinton on the strength of 20 points off turnovers.
Matchup:
Location: Bailey Memorial Stadium
Series: 12th Meeting (Liberty leads 7-4)
Last Meeting:35-14 LU 11/09/2013
Kickoff:; 2:00 PM
Radio:
Victory FM Radio Network (Liberty) Alan York play-by-play, Blue Hose Sports Network (Presbyterian) Eric Thacker play-by-play
Television: ESPN3 (National) Mike Hogewood play-by-play, Liberty Flames Sports Network (Liberty) Mike Tilley play-by-play
Coaches: Turner Gill (3rd Season at Liberty, 19-12 Record), Harold Nichols (6th Season at Presbyterian, 14-47 Record)Last Week: Liberty W 34-0. Presbyterian 18-12 vs. Monmouth.
Presbyterian, which this writer picked to win just one game in 2014 before the season, has exceeded a LOT of expectations, and is contending heading into November for the first time since joining the Big South. The one thing that has been a drawback, has been the offense. The Blue Hose have passed the 20 point plateau a grand total of twice the entire season, one of them a 69-14 win over D2 Bluefield College. Liberty has passed 20 points in 6 of 8 games this season including a season high (against D1 competition) 55 points in the win down in Boone. Josh Woodrum has rocketed up the all-time passing list at Liberty, needing only 349 yards to become the 4th QB to pass for 7,000 yards (as a side note, the redshirt junior averaged 251 yards passing the last three games and has passed 300 yards 4 times this season). Darrin Peterson, despite a very quiet outing against Gardner-Webb, is still the leading receiver for the Flames, needing 209 yards to break 1,000 yards through the season and 290 yards to break the single season passing yards record set by Chris Summers in 2010.
DJ Abnar is coming off a workhorse performance last week, finishing with 137 yards on 27 carries, just two weeks after logging 29 carries. The junior did injure his foot in the win last week, but showed no ill effects this week and will probably start once again for the Flames. The Blue Hose are not as assured at the tailback position, as starter (and senior) DeMarcus Rouse injured his shoulder last week and his status has been questionable all week. Sophomore QB Heys McMath comes into this matchup averaging 143 passing yards, so if Rouse cannot play, he will likely have to carry the offense
Prediction
This game could be a season and program-defining game for the Blue Hose, who are about three seasons ahead of schedule (minimum) as far as competing for the Big South title. Liberty comes into this game knowing that they need to keep winning to help their chances of getting an at-large berth for the FCS playoffs should they lose to Coastal in the finale. PC has crushed Liberty's playoff hopes before, knocking off the Flames 31-28 in Clinton (on November 1 of all dates) in 2008. While there aren't many players who were there for that game, the sting of that loss is something that this year's squad is very familiar with, along with the fact that PC is much more successful, they will not overlook the Blue Hose and will use their significant offensive advantage to get another win down in SC
Liberty 34
Presbyterian 17
Tomorrow I will have a look at the Big South and a few words about Flames basketball.
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