On Tuesday, Liberty quarterback Malik Willis and offensive linemen Thomas Sargeant and Brendan Schlittler took questions from the media. There was a wide range questions and below is ASOR’s report from the player interviews…
OFFENSIVE LINE PRAISED
In Saturday’s season opening win at Western Kentucky, the Flames rushed for 354 yards on 6.1 yards per carry while only allowing one sack on the day.
“They played great,” Willis said of the line. “They worked real hard with Coach Dom throughout training camp and throughout the summer just trying to be the best they could be.”
Starting center Thomas Sargeant said it gave the line a huge confidence boost.
“It’s a huge confidence boost, especially when we can get over 300 yards,” he said. “That’s a big deal for rushing. In the past, that hasn’t always been the deal, but now we can do it. We have a very solid group, so it’s awesome we can do that.”
Redshirt-sophomore Brendan Schlittler, who made his first career start at WKU, agreed with the senior captain.
“Our group was very confident going into the season, but I think this showed us how good we could be,” said Schlittler.
TALKING ABOUT WILLIS
ON HIS FUMBLE
“I haven’t been hit in a minute and that showed. I just got to take care of the football and be cognizant of who is around me. When I’m in traffic, just grab it with both hands, take care of it.”
“I’ve got to take care of the football, that’s priority number one. That’s a big no-no regardless of the good I did.”
HE TALKED WITH BUCKSHOT FOLLOWING THE GAME
“I talked with him Saturday a little bit. He was just like, keep doing what I’m doing. That’s my guy though. That’s the man right there. I learned a lot from him.”
ON GRADING HIS WEEK 1 PERFORMANCE
“If I’m being generous a C+, maybe a B-, I don’t know. I’ve got a lot to work on and a lot to fix. The O-Line made it easy for us. I was handing it off a lot of times. I feel like I got a lot to work on and a lot of room to grow.”
ON EARNING THE TEAM’S TRUST
“I really try to come with the same mentality every day. Just go out there and work hard, just go out there and grind. You can show people how you work, that’s what earns their respect more than one performance. You just got to keep going out there and showing them that you’re dependable and consistent. That’s my main thing, just keep working hard every day regardless of what is going on and that will earn their respect.”
ON MAINTAINING HIS CONFIDENCE
“Your confidence always has to be solid regardless of what the outside world is saying because that’s not what you’re worried about in the first place. You’re worried about going in there with Coach Dom, going in there with Coach Austin, going in there with Coach Freeze, working every day at your craft, getting better. You only see the game time stuf. You don’t see everything that goes into it, so you don’t really make a sound decision on how somebody is and what they can and can’t do because you don’t really see it except in game time. I don’t really worry too much what’s going on outside of our bubble. You just got to keep your confidence. If you lose your confidence, then people around you will see you lost that confidence. How can they be depending on you, if you don’t depend on yourself?”
ON THE TEAM’S BOND
“This brotherhood goes beyond football. We love each other, so we got to hold each other accountable. We respect each other, but sometimes you got to step to somebody if somebody’s not doing something the right way because that’s how you build culture. If you can come to me as a man and tell me something I’m doing wrong because you want to see my life better, I have no choice but to respect that and take it into account. I feel like we have to do that both ways. We have to see when our brothers are in trouble or need help and be able to step into their lives and help them out.”
KEEP THE FOOT ON THE GAS
Liberty’s players are confident they can continue to play at a high level and are guarding against a let down as they return home for three straight at Williams Stadium.
“We definitely got to keep the foot on the gas,” said Sargeant. “We can’t take a lull. As Coach Freeze said, the first week of camp is always great, then after that you take a lull, then it builds back up. We can’t have a lull in week two. We have to stay technically focused. We can’t underestimate anybody. FIU is a good opponent. They have good players and they play hard.”
SCHLITTLER LEARNED FROM DUFF
Schlittler made the start at right guard, the first player to start at that position in over three years as Dontae Duff manned the spot. Brendan says he learned a lot from Duff.
“Dontae was very mature,” he said. “Dontae took care of business. Every day he came and he did his job. That’s something, with a long season, consistency is incredibly important, and Dontae was consistent. Every practice and every game he did his job and he did it well. That’s something everyone can learn from behind him. It’s not we play good for week one, it’s we need to play good for the next 10 games. That’s something Dontae taught us.”
3 LINEMEN MAKE FIRST CAREER START
In addition to Schlittler, Jacob Bodden and Cooper McCaw also made their first career starts on Saturday against Western Kentucky.
“It was awesome,” Schlittler said of the experience. “I was so happy to see Jacob and Coop get their first start. Both of those guys have put in so much work, and I think it’s just a testament to the development here. I think they did a great job, and I’m excited to continue to play next to them.”
