It wasn’t pretty and it didn’t cover the 34 point spread, but it will go down as a win. Here’s a few quick hit notes following Liberty’s 17-7 victory of Big South rival VMI:

Offense:

  • That first half was tough to watch. Nothing seemed to work. Woodrum was 4/14 passing in the 1st half. Liberty had just 155 yards of total offense in the 1st half.
  • Not sure what the deal is with Josh. He missed badly on several of his throws including most of his deep balls. It could have been the wind, I guess. He finished 13/26 for 190 yards and 1 interception.
  • Des Rice had a solid, but not spectacular game. He rushed 22 times for 80 yards. He left the game late in the 4th quarter with an apparent left leg injury.
  • D.J. Abnar rushed 9 times for 72 yards including a long of 32 yards.
  • Darrin Peterson is a stud. He again goes over 100 yards receiving as he finished with 9 catches for 118 yards. Think of how many yards he could have had if he and Woodrum could connect a couple more times on the deep ball.
  • The Flames had more false starts today than they have had all season.

Defense:

  • Liberty nearly got its 2nd consecutive shutout for the first time in school history. The Flames were #8 in the country in scoring defense at 19.4 points per game allowed coming into the game. They should move up from there after allowing just 7 points. An impressive season thus far for the defense, no question about it.
  • The Flames would force 3 interceptions as Walt Aikens, Nick Sigmon, and Jacob Hagen all had 1 pick each.
  • The Keydets were only able to rack up 204 total offensive yards on the afternoon as the Flames’ defense shut them down throughout.
  • Chima Uzowihe is quietly becoming a star. He is continually getting into the opponent’s backfield creating havoc. The sophomore defensive lineman had 2 sacks on the afternoon.
  • Man, we’re going to miss Walt Aikens and Kevin Fogg next year.

Special Teams:

  • John Lunsford has one of the best legs of any kicker to ever play with the Flames, and his accuracy used to be respectable. Not anymore. Lunsford was 1/4 on field goals today. Not sure what can be done when a kicker has obviously lost his confidence.