Fan the Flames 2015 Week 3 Preview: Montana

The Liberty Flames return to Williams Stadium this week for what is likely their biggest game in school and stadium history this Saturday night as they celebrate Hall of Fame Weekend and induct the new class into the Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame. First, a quick recap of last week:

The Liberty Flames fell to the West Virginia Mountaineers from the Big 12 last Saturday afternooon by a score of 41-17. The Mountaineers scores the first 20 points of the game en route to the win, as Liberty finished the first half with only 4 possessions, 3 of which ended with a missed John Lunsford field goal.

Josh Woodrum finished with 280 yards passing, his 8th career 250 yard game, and moved into third on the all-time Big South total offense list, as well as 1,586 yards away from the all-time career passing yards record held by LU Hall of Famer Robby Justino. In order to pass Justino in the regular season, Woodrum needs to average just north of 176.2 yards per game over the final 9 games.

Des Rice finished with 37 yards on the ground as the Flames as they focused on the passing game in Morgantown. Todd Macon had the lone rushing TD for Liberty, finishing with 31 yards.

Darrin Peterson and Dante Shells led the receivers, combining for 135 yards on 8 receptions.Nick Newman and Avery James led the way for the defense with 9 tackles each and Chima Uzowihe added another 1.0 sacks to his career total, putting him second all time on the Flames' career sack list, only 1.5 behind leader Aaron DeBerry.

The Flames fall to 1-5 in FBS matchups under Turner Gill following the loss and remain winless in school history against "Power 5" programs.


Before moving onto the game preview for the week and grades for the West Virginia game, I want to send a quick congratulations to the earlier mentioned Liberty University Hall of Fame Class of 2015, which will be honored on Friday night: Eric Green (football, Liberty's first and to this day only first round NFL Draft selection), Katie Feenstra Mattera (basketball- 3 time Big South Player of the Year, Honorable Mention AP All American, all time leader in field goals and blocked shots, as well as most points in a single game), Mike Hatch (wrestling- all time leader in wins, two time Division II All American), Sam Rutigliano (football- all time leader in wins and longest tenured coach in football history, coached LU to first ever win over a 1-A/FBS program in 1989 (Eastern Michigan)), and Pat Sipe (baseball- all time leader in hore runs, total bases, runs scored and RBI)

Grades for Week 2:

Offense: C+
Woodrum passe for 280 yards which was nice, but missed opportunities in the first half, including missing Peterson for a TD as well as a fumbled option pitch, in addition to 3 missed Lunsford field goals put a damper on the Flames, although they did get a Des Rice TD run, a nice hookup between Woodrum and speedy Zac Parker and Lunsford connecting on his final attempt of the game. With a high powered Grizzlies offense coming to town, the home team canNOT have any missed opportunities or empty possessions. The offensive line does deserve a shoutout though as they did not allow a sack for the entire game.

Defense: B-

While allowing 41 points might be seen as a failure to some, the defense did well in spurts before the overall depth of the FBS Mountaineers showed itself. Nick Newman and Avery James led the way in tackles, Chima had another solid day  and the defense had much to learn from as they head into the remainder of their schedule

Special Teams: D
Lunsford's three missed field goals definitely dragged this unit's grade down, but Trey Turner was booming them again, finishing with a 38.8 yard average on 4 punts. DJ Abnar and true freshman Damian King had some nice returns on kickoffs, but Parker again had issues on punt returns, including allowing one ball to bounce inside the 5 yard line and pin the Flames deep


Now, on to this week's big game:

 #8/7 Montana 1-1 (0-1 Big Sky)

vs.

 #15/14 Liberty 1-1 (0-0 Big South)

The Flames welcome the Grizzlies for the first time ever to Lynchburg to complete their home/home agreement started in 2012 when Liberty traveled to Missoula.

Matchup:

Location: Arthur L. Williams Stadium, Lynchburg, VA
Series: Second Meeting (Montana leads 1-0)
Last Meeting: 34-14 UM WVU (09/15/2012)
Kickoff: 3 PM
Radio: The Journey FM Radio Network/Liberty Flames Sports Network (Liberty) Alan York play-by-play, Montana Radio Network (Montana) Mick Holien play-by-play
Television: ESPN3/Big South Network (National) Mike Hogewood play-by-play
Coaches: Turner Gill (4th Season at Liberty, 23-15 Record), Bob Stitt (1st Season at Montana, 1-1 Record)
Last Week: Liberty L 17-41 vs. West Virginia,  Montana had a bye week


Prediction
This game can go one of two ways with two high powered offenses meeting on Saturday night. Either, both teams will put up a ton of points and we could see a score on par with the CCU homecoming game in 2013 or the App State game in Boone last year, or we could have the two defenses put on a clinic and end up with a game much like the Griz had two weeks ago against Cal Poly and the two teams are lucky to break 45 points (the o/u for this game). I am thinking a result closer to the former. Deep down in my heart of hearts. I want Liberty to win this game. It will be a signature win over a historic program, in front of what will likely be a record crowd in Lynchburg on Saturday night thanks to the fact that is also is Parent's Weekend AND College For A Weekend at Liberty. I am picking the Griz in a close one, but I will have zero problem rejoicing over a Flames victory

Liberty 31
Montana 34

Fan the Flames 2015 Week 2 Preview: West Virginia

Sorry to jump in a little late this year readers, but life has been busy for this intrepid blog writer. But we are back and so let's recap the opener against Delaware State before jumping into this week's opponent:

The Flames kicked off the 2015 season with a 32-13 victory over the Delaware State Hornets from the MEAC.  Desmond Rice, in his first game since 2013, rushed for 139 yards and 2 TDs, while Josh Woodrum began his final assault on the all-time passing yards record by throwing for 188 yards and 2 TDs.

The Flames jumped on the board first, thanks to the first of Woodrum's two TDs, a 26 yarder to Darrin Peterson. After a Wesley Scott INT, the Flames doubled their lead on the ensuing possession, capped by Des Rice racing in from 23 yards out.
A Nick Newman safety was followed by a John Lunsford 52 yard field goal to push the lead to 19-6 heading into the half.

Woodrum found his favorite target again in the third quarter, this time from 6 yards out and the Flames extended their lead to 19 after a missed two-point conversion. DSU cut the deficit to 12  25-13 on a 2 yard Jamal Jackson run, but the Flames capped off the scoring with a 6 yard Rice touchdown for their 8th win in the last 9 openers at Williams Stadium (the 2010 game against St Francis (PA) was played across town at Lynchburg City Stadium).

Grades for Week 1:

Offense: B-

Some may call me generous for that, but there was a lot of good to see from this group. the O-line did well keeping JW upright, and paved the way for a good rushing night for Des Rice. Petey was...well Petey, although he did have to be carted off the field. Zac Parker had 6 catches for 41 yards and LCA grad BJ Farrow caught his first collegiate ball for 20 yards.

Defense: A-

THe boys up front did well in the new 4-2-5 package, routinely getting into the DSU backfield, including the aforementioned Newman safety, and finishing with 5 sacks, 2.5 from preseason all-conference pick Chima Uzowihe, who was named the conference defensive player of the week today.

The defensive bakfield had some nice plays, but as was noted by one of the posters on FlameFans, routinely got beaten on deep plays where they were not looking back for the ball. That is something that canNOT happen this week.

Special Teams: A

John Lunsford added to his reputation as "Leg-A-Tron 2.0" with a 52 yad field goal that would have been good from 60,and  Trey Turner blasted the FLame's only 3 punts including a 61 yarder. the return game had a decent night, although only 3 balls were returned total on the night, so most of this grade is on the kickers.

Now, on to this week:

 Liberty 1-0 (0-0 Big South)

 vs.

 West Virginia 1-0 (0-0 Big 12)

The Flames return to Morgantown, WV for the first time since 2009 as they face off with the Mountaineers, now a member of the Big 12. The last time these two teams met, WVU was part of the now defunct Big East Conference (which was reborn as the American Athletic Conference). An unknown player named Mike Brown made his debut in that game and began his journey into the annals of Flames football history with his performance. Here is hoping we get another breakout performer in the red, white and navy blue this year. Here is the rundown:

Matchup:

Location: Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, WV
Series: Second Meeting (WVU leads 1-0)
Last Meeting: 33-20 WVU (09/12/2009
Kickoff: 3 PM
Radio: The Journey FM Radio Network/Liberty Flames Sports Network (Liberty) Alan York play-by-play, Mountaineer Sports Network (West Virginia) Tony Caridi play-by-play
Television: Root Sports/Fox Sports Net (West Virginia) Mark Followell play-by-play
Coaches: Turner Gill (4th Season at Liberty, 23-14 Record), Dana Holgorsen (5th Season at West Virginia, 29-23 Record)
Last Week: Liberty W 32-13 vs. Delaware State, West Virginia W 44-0 vs. Georgia Southern

Prediction

Liberty has shown well against FBS opponents in the past 9 seasons, and if not for a bad case of the "yips" in the third quarter, would have had another close game against UNC this year. If the FLames can work out the rough stuff that took place last week, we could be looking at another one of those matchups against a P5 FBS opponent. I have the Mountaineers winning this one, but I would not be surprised if the Flames do not go down as easily as the former FCS national champion Eagles did in Morgantown.

Liberty 24
West Virginia 38