3rd and 3. 7:51 remaining in the game. Liberty 20 Lehigh 14. Lehigh ball. This is when the game turned. Lehigh QB Michael Colvin took the snap and went 68 yards virtually untouched for the touchdown that put Lehigh ahead for good. Lehigh won the game 28-26. Lehigh moves to 4-0 as Liberty falls to 0-4.
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| Photo Courtesy: Liberty Flames Athletics |
The Flames now head into a bye week before beginning conference play on October 6 against 0-4 Gardner Webb.
R-Fr Josh Woodrum got the nod for the start (which we were the first to report on our twitter handle @LUFlamesNation). This was Woodrum’s 2nd start as he also started last week at Montana. Woodrum finished the game 20-27 for 236 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. His 2nd interception was returned for a touchdown to give Lehigh the 28-20 lead with 6 minutes remaining in the game.
Liberty dominated the stats for the game as they outgained the Mountain Hawks in total yards 488-301 and won the time of possession battle 42:25-17:35. You would think these stats would lead to a victory, but for the 4th consecutive game this season penalties, turnovers, and missed assignments were costly.
Liberty Head Coach Turner Gill is in his 7th season as a head coach. His career record is 25-53, and is on a personal 14 game losing streak dating back to last season at Kansas. In his 7 seasons as head coach Gill has had the following 4 game opening records (final record in parenthesis):
2006: 1-3 (2-10)
2007: 1-3 (5-7)
2008: 2-2 (8-6)
2009: 1-3 (5-7)
2010: 2-2 (3-9)
2011: 2-2 (2-10)
2012: 0-4
Several questions remain unanswered for Turner Gill and the 2012 Liberty Flames. Will Liberty stay committed and confident in its abilities to win after the 0-4 start? Can Liberty win under Turner Gill? Can Gill build a winner? In his first 6 seasons he has only 1 winning year.
These questions will be answered in the coming weeks.
