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:
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
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