Its been a while since my last post so let's recap:
After a soul crushing loss to Charleston Southern in the home finale, the Liberty Flames traveled down to Conway, SC to face the #1 ranked Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, in a place Liberty had only won one time in program history. Chima Uzowihe got his massive paw up and blocked an Alex Catron field goal as time expired and Liberty got the upset victory 15-14.,, clinching the first ever playoff bid for the Flames, despite having to share the title with the Chants.
The Flames then headed down I-81 and faced off with one of the hottest teams in FCS in JMU, who had won 7 games in a row coming into the matchup, led by Payton Award finalist and Georgia Tech transfer Vad Lee. Liberty rallied with 16 straight points, capped by a 1 yard Nicky Fualaau touchdown after a program and season defining 17 play drive in the 4th quarter to win the game 26-21.
The Flames then headed up to PA and faced off with the 6th seed Villlanova Wildcats and eventual Payton Award winner John Robertson. The Wildcats turned the tables on Liberty and capped off their own soul crushing drive with a 1 yard RObertson sneak to cap off a 29-22 victory.
Tthis season was all about resolve in the second half of the year. After losing to Richmond in overtime, most expected "typical Liberty" to fold and finish off another mediocre year and miss the playoffs once again. The season turned the week after the UR loss when Liberty knocked off first year FBS and former FCS national champion Appalachian State down in Boone, NC 55-48. It seemed after that game that there was a new attitude, and it showed the rest of the season, save the CSU loss, and that attiitude bore fruit down the stretch.
Now as we look ahead to 2015, the expectations are significantly higher. Gone is the "typical Liberty". That was blown to smithereens with that run at the end of this past season. Next week we will begin taking a look at the 2015 Liberty football team as we count down to spring football, and will hopefully have a chat with Jon Manson of LibertyFlamesNation.com
