Fan the Flames Preview: James Madison

Well readers, for the first time ever, I am not doing a postmortem post the week after the final regular season game for the Liberty Flames football team, after Chima Uzowihe swatted away a potential game-winning field goal by Coastal Carolina kicker Alex Catron, preserving a 15-14 Flames victory, the 7th Big South football championship in 8 years (5th shared title) and an automatic bid to the NCAA FCS playoffs, becoming the third Big South team (second current) to qualify, joining CCU and current CAA member Stony Brook.

Stephon Masha in his second career start, threw one TD pass to first team all-conference WR Darrin Peterson (more on All-Conference in just a minute) and Big South Special Teams Player of the Year Jon Lunsford kicked the go ahead field goal setting the stage for the exciting conclusion.

This win was a statement for Liberty. In the 8 years since current Richmond HC Danny Rocco took over the Flames in 2006 (2007-2014), The Flames have played a game where at least a share of the Big South title was on the line...6 times (2007, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014), the Flames came out on top. The only two losses came in 2009 and 2011 against Stony Brook.

Well a new journey begins this weekend in Harrisonburg...

#20 Liberty (8-4, 4-1 Big South 2014 Big South Champions)

vs.

 #15 James Madison (9-3, 6-2 Colonial 2014 CAA at-large)

Matchup:

Location: Bridgeforth Stadium, Harrisonburgm VA

Series: 22nd Meeting (Liberty leads 19-2)

Last Meeting: 56-14 LU (09/17/2011)

Kickoff: 4:00 PM

Radio: Victory FM Radio Network (Liberty) Alan York play-by-play, JMU/Ntelos Sports Network (JMU) Mike Schikman play-by-play

Television: ESPN3 (National) Dave Weekley play-by-play

Coaches: Turner Gill (3rd Season at Liberty, 22-13 Record), Everett Withers (1st Season at JMU, 9-3 Record)
Last Week: Liberty W 15-14 vs. JMU W 59-27 vs. Elon


Prediction

This game will come down to the two QBs and the two defenses. Flames starter for much of the season Josh Woodrum will be back for this one after missing the last two games recovering from an infection to his leg. Georgia Tech transfer Vad Lee leads the Dukes into the playoffs.

There is a lot working against the Flames this weekend, but they went into a game as underdogs with a lot on the line last week and did just enough to get the win. JMU is a whole new breed of cat. I will make what a lot of people will call a homer pick and go with Liberty to face off with 6 seed Villanova next week after an old west shootout at Bridgeforth

Liberty 59
JMU 56

Do You Remember Where You Were...?

I am contributing a little something to a site called LibertyFlamesNation.com for a feature they are doing called "FlameFans Featured". Here is my post:


There are some moments in life that are so profound that you always remember where you were when they took place...The Kennedy assassination, the first walk on the moon, 9/11...

The same can be said for sports moments as well. Whether its "The Catch" by Dwight Clark, The Music City Miracle, Sid Bream in the NLCS...

Jon Carone mentioned where he was in 2008 when Liberty lost out on a playoff berth on Selection Sunday. I was at home in Portsmouth, VA that evening, but I had made travel plans to be back in Lynchburg so I could be part of the marching band. It was a gut wrenching feeling when I got word online that we had not made the playoffs...reading FlameFans that night and in the days that followed was like watching the Five Stages of Grief unfold on an internet message board.

I spent the Stony Brook game the next year in the computer lab in DeMoss following the game on ESPN StatTracker, again preparing my travel plans for a playoff game...that TD to Jordan Gush hit me like a 12th round desperation haymaker to the chin...and once again, Liberty came up short.

I have been in church, in bed recovering from surgery and last year, I was traveling with my newly pregnant wife when I got the seemingly inevitable word...but this year, I can remember where I was for a different reason. This year I remember where I was...when history was made. I was in my parents' family room helping prepare for family coming in for Thanksgiving. I had the live stats up on the computer nearby because I could not bear to watch (or even listen to) another year of heartache. As one of the resident "koolaid drinkers" on FlameFans, the losses were particularly painful, because deep down inside, I was losing hope. I knew I could not keep mustering up excuses and explanations and Chicago Cubs fan style "wait til next year" posts...so when I refreshed the page on Twitter and saw Chris Lang post..."blocked" on that final field goal attempt...I didn't scream, I didn't go running all over the house with my shirt off...I simply breathed a sigh of relief, pulled on my Liberty University hoodie and quietly said to myself, "finally" as I headed outside to do some yardwork.

While I won't be in Williams Stadium (or Bridgeforth Stadium for that matter) witnessing the 2014 Liberty Flames football team make history on Saturday, I do know I will be wearing my red...and glad I have a story to tell my now 17-month old son about a pretty special Saturday that I and I'm certain many other members of Flames Nation, will not soon forget...

BJ Williams
Liberty '09
Writer, Father, Broadcaster and Flames Fan til I die

FAN THE FLAMES
#BEATJMU

http://flamesfootball2008.blogspot.com

Fan the Flames Preview: Charleston Southern

The Liberty Flames overcame a plucky Monmouth Hawks squad last week on Military Appreciation Day at Williams Stadium 34-24. The Flames wore these special logos on their helmets to mark the occasion:

Josh Woodrum was Captain America for the Flames, finishing with 203 yards, becoming the fourth QB in Liberty history to throw for over 7,000 yards in a career. He added two TD passes to raise his career total to 49, tying with former standout Paul Johnson, who was part of the Flames transition to Division I football under Sam Rutigliano.

Darrin Peterson played the part of the invisible man on Saturday, as the 5th rated receiver in all of FCS finished with only 1 catch for 31 yards...it did go for a TD.

DJ Abnar was an absolute mule last Saturday, carrying the ball 39 times for 164 yards and the other 2 TDs.

With the win, Liberty guaranteed a shot at the Big South title and NCAA automatic bid down in Conway, SC against Coastal Carolina. Before that though, there is one more home game...

Charleston Southern 7-3 (2-2 Big South)

vs.

 Liberty 7-3 (3-0 Big South)

The longest tenured series in program history is renewed once again in Lynchburg as the Flames close out the home portion of the season against the Buccaneers. Liberty first faced off with CSU in 1993 (a 42-6 Flames victory) and has won 19 of the previous 21 meetings between the two, including two streaks of 7 wins or more (including the current eight game run). CSU got their only win in Lynchburg in the series in 2000 when they won 25-0.

A late breaking development came in on the FLameFans message board last night as Flames starting QB Josh Woodrum was apparently injured at the end of practice on  Wednesday, and his availability for today's game  is now in doubt. If he cannot go, the keys to the Corvette that is the Flames offense will be handed to Stephon Masha, who has made some appearances as a third RB option with Todd Macon out due to injury. Macon is available to return today which is something Flames fans are no doubt happy about.

Matchup:

Location: Arthur L. Williams Stadium, Lynchburg, VA

Series: 22nd Meeting (Liberty leads 19-2)

Last Meeting: 56-14 LU (11/23/2013)

Kickoff: 3:30 PM

Radio: Victory FM Radio Network (Liberty) Alan York play-by-play, Buccaneer Sports Network (CSU) Kevin O'Rourke play-by-play

Television: Liberty Flames Sports Network, Mike Tilley play-by-play/ESPN3 (National) Mike Hogewood play-by-play

Coaches: Turner Gill (3rd Season at Liberty, 21-12 Record), Jamey Chadwell (2nd Season at Charleston Southern, 17-6 Record)
Last Week: Liberty W 34-24 vs. Monmouth, Charleston Southern W 44-14 vs. Gardner-Webb

Prediction

Masha is a very athletic QB as he showed not only in his high school film but also in spring practice. With only a couple days to get first team reps, Coach Stamn no doubt will play to his strengths, but not open up things as much as he would with Woodrum running the show, especially with the Big South Championship game coming next week down in Conway.

CSU is playing well, I just do not see them as being able to get over that hump with the Flames and the defense makes enough plays to keep them off the board much until late, and whoever the Flames QB is, they make enough plays to help LU cruise on down to Myrtle Beach...

Liberty 38

CSU 14

Fan the Flames Review: Monmouth

Josh Woodrum became the 4th QB to throw for over 7,000 yards in a career, finishing with 203 yards and 2 TDs, and DJ Abnar finished with 164 yards on a workmanlike 39 carries. Darrin Peterson had one of the lowest games productionwise of his career due to the Hawks defense double and triple-teaming him in coverage, but he did finish with his 8th TD of the year and now stands 22 yards away from joining the 1000 yard club and 36 yards from entering the top 5 for single season yardage total.

The Flames won their 4th consecutive game, and improved to 3-0 in the Big South, cementing a winner take all matchup with Coastal Carolina down on the Grand Strand in 13 days.

It wasn't the prettiest of victories, especially considering the Flames were 20 point favorites over a team they had beaten by 30 in Lynchburg last season, after giving  up 24 points, when averaging 7 points allowed in the last 2 conference games, but as I said on the Flamefans board,, it doesnt matter if you win pretty or win ugly, as long as you have one more point than the other team when the clock strikes 0:00 in the 4th quarter.

Inside the Numbers

Here are a few numbers to take away from yesterday's win

9- Liberty head coach Turner Gill improved to 9-0 in the month of November. The man certainly knows how to finish strong.

Josh Woodrum threw for a TD pass for the 9th straight game after failing to toss one in the loss to UNC at the beginning of the year.

2- DJ Abnar is averaging 2 times as many carries in the last 4 games (30) than in the first 6 games (14)

10- With the win, Liberty clinched a winning conference record for the 10th time in the 12 year history of the Big South as a football conference. The only times the Flames have not finished with a winning record were 2005 (0-4) and 2006 (2-2)

20- The win is the 20th in 21 Big South home games dating back to 2006

With one touchdown next week, Josh Woodrum can move into 4th on the single season touchdown passes list, after tying former QBs Brock Smith and Antwan Chiles at 19.

50- Also, next week with a TD pass, Woodrum becomes the third QB in program history with 50 career TD passes

We will have an expanded preview coming on Tuesday in preparation for the home finale against Charleston Southern.\

Some Monmouth Perspective on the game

We are less than 24 hours from the annual Military Appreciation Day game against the Monmouth Hawks. Before we jump into my chat with Monmouth beat writer Josh Newman from the Asbury Park Press, here is a look at the helmet the Flames will be using for the matchup tomorrow (credit to Liberty Flames Equipment on Twitter(:

DEfinitely one of my favorites as far as helmet logo goes...

Anyway, Thanks to Mr Newman for answering a few questions for us ahead of tomorrow's game. I hope he had a good trip and enjoys himself in Lynchburg this weekend (well except the final score). Here is our chat from Wednesday:

Fan the Flames: Monmouth is in its first season in the Big South after years in the Northeast Conference, which had fewer scholarships. How have the growing pains been for the Hawks as they adjust to the new conference and the increase in talent in addition to the scholarships?
Josh Newman:   I think the growing pains are evident in Monmouth’s first two Big South games, an 18-12 loss to Presbyterian and a 27-0 loss to Charleston Southern. Those teams were talented, but they were deep at most positions, athletic at the skill spots and big across the lines. The increase in the scholarships is certainly something that Monmouth is growing into as it now has 50 at its disposal with that number set to rise. The staff had 50 for this current freshman class, which they are quite high on for the future, so they need to keep up the recruiting momentum if they hope to get on par with these Big South teams.
FTF:  What lessons did Monmouth learn from their first trip to Lynchburg last year that they can take with them into this year's matchup?
JN: That game at Liberty last year was Monmouth’s first lesson in Big South football. They went to Lynchburg as an independent and saw firsthand what the crowd and atmosphere of a big-time FCS football really looks like and I think it helped to have some sort of knowledge of what they were up against going into this season. Also, and this goes back, to my point in question No. 1, they learned what it’s going to take in terms of personnel to compete at this level. As a whole, they’re not quite there yet and I think everyone within the program realizes that at this time.
FTF:  How have the Hawks rebounded following the two losses to Presbyterian and Charleston Southern after starting the season with 5 wins in 6 games?
JN: To be honest, I’m not sure they have rebounded yet. Monmouth really took it on the chin Saturday against Charleston Southern at home, so it’ll be interesting to see how they respond going into what will obviously be a hostile environment against a Big South power in Liberty. I’m certainly interested to see how they respond after a loss like that as it was easily their worst showing of the season after a very promising 5-1 start against their non-conference schedule.
FTF: What are three keys for the Hawks to come out of Lynchburg with a victory?
JN:   First and foremost, Monmouth absolutely needs to find a way to deal with Josh Woodrum, which is easier said than done. Woodrum is dangerous with his arm as well as his legs, so not an easy matchup for the Hawks, let alone anyone really. No. 2, get the run going. Monmouth’s run game behind sophomore Lavon Chaney had been solid before going stymied the last two weeks against PC and Charleston Southern. It’s been my contention that the run game needs to get going because you don’t want to have to put everything on QB Brandon Hill’s shoulders. Hill has had a fine season, but it’s just not ideal to do that. Third, and this is probably cliché, but overcome Williams Stadium. That is one of the great atmosphere in FCS, so overcome the initial wave that that crowd will bring and settle into the game. If Liberty jumps out early and that crowd is engaged, it could be a long day.
FTF: What is the matchup you are most looking forward to seeing on Saturday afternoon?
JN: The matchup I’m looking at is Woodrum vs. the Monmouth secondary. That Hawks unit came into the season young and inexperienced and while there have been hiccups, guys like SS Mike Basile, a Jerry Rice Award candidate, and freshman CB Marcus Leslie have come along well and the future is bright for the younger guys in that defensive backfield. Woodrum, as I indicated, is special at this level, so I’d like to see how bad he picks on some of the guys. 

Thanks again to Josh for taking a few minutes to talk ahead of the matchup tomorrow. The game can be seen at 3:30 on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network as part of the American Sports Network Big South football package. Evan Lepler will be on the call for this one.

 

Fan the Flames Preview: Monmouth

The Liberty Flames extinguished the hopes of the Presbyterian Blue Hose with a 28-7 win down in Clinton in what can only be described as some of the most backwards weather I have seen in recent memory (even though I did not make the trip to South Carolina).

There is no rest for the weary as the Flames continue their run through the Big South to conclude the season:

Monmouth (5-3, 0-2 Big South)

vs. 

Liberty (6-3, 2-0 Big South)

In an unusual turn, the Monmouth Hawks make a second consecutive trip to Lynchburg, their first as a member of the Big South Conference. The Hawks came to Lynchburg last year as an FCS Independent program after making the decision to go full scholarship, and depart their longtime home for the past 18 years, the Northeast Conference. Liberty jumped out to a 31-6 lead and cruised to a 45-15 win. Darrin Peterson electrified the crowd with an 85 yard touchdown reception, one of two on the night, and Josh Woodrum threw for 237 yards.

UMass transfer Brandon Hill threw for 97 yards and a TD for Monmouth, but the Flames picked him off three times, including a pick six by Kevin Fogg.

Matchup:

Location: Arthur L. Williams Stadium, Lynchburg, VA

Series: 2nd Meeting (Liberty leads 1-0)

Last Meeting: 45-15 LU (09/07/2013)

Kickoff:; 3:30 PM

Radio: Victory FM Radio Network (Liberty) Alan York play-by-play, Shore Sports Network (Monmouth) Matt Harmon play-by-play

Television: American Sports Network (National) Evan Lepler play-by-play

Coaches: Turner Gill (3rd Season at Liberty, 20-12 Record), Kevin Callahan (22nd Season at Monmouth, 125-100 Record)
Last Week: Liberty W 28-7 vs. Presbyterian Monmouth L 0-27 vs. Charleston Southern.


Monmouth was one of the hottest teams on the East Coast, winning 5 of their first 6 games, breaking the 50 point barrier three times, including a 61 point outburst against Columbia from the Ivy League. The Hawks were under consideration for a national ranking, but then the wheels fell off with back to back losses to Presbyterian and Charleston Southern, scoring a total of 12 points in both games.

Prediction
The key for Monmouth, in my opinion, is to do something that very few teams have done on the year, and that is slow down the passing game for Liberty. With one of the top WRs in the nation in Darrin Peterson, and the #8 QB in all of FCS in passing yardage in Josh Woodrum, that is a very tall order. The Hawks defense, has allowed 200 or more yards passing 5 times in their first 8 games, while Josh Woodrum has thrown for 300 or more yards 4 times, and 200 or more yards 7 times in 9 games.

The Hawks can score, but I think the Flames defense keeps the high flying Hawks grounded and the Flames go into their final two games on a bigtime winning streak

Liberty 38
Monmouth 17