Photo courtesy of Liberty Athletics

The outcome of Liberty’s match-up versus Syracuse was disappointing, but we can still celebrate players who performed well in the loss. Looking at the evening as a whole, it is evident that QB Malik Willis stood out as a tide-changing player for the Flames.

Things were pretty stagnant for the offense in the first half. It wasn’t until the end of the second quarter that Liberty got on the board behind a couple QB keepers and two completions of 20+ yards from Willis. The offense was a different machine in the second half though. The offense clawed their way back from a 7-21 score starting with a 9 play/73 yard drive capped off by a 23 yard strike from Willis to WR CJ Daniels.

The next offensive possession was a 5 play/45 yard drive resulted in a 33 yard touchdown toss from Willis to WR DeMario Douglas. Willis also picked up his first career reception which went for 13 yards. It was a result of a double-pass to Daniels. Daniels intended to take a shot downfield, but when nothing was open, Willis leaked out of the backfield as a checkdown option.

Malik finished the night 14-19 for 205 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also had 16 carries for 81 yards before sacks and a reception for 13 yards.