Here are our quick-hit notes following Liberty’s 35-14 loss to Louisiana:

  • This team against the Ragin’ Cajuns looked very similar to the team we became accustomed to last year. Liberty’s defense did a poor job tackling and was just overall unable to stop the Louisiana offense. If it wasn’t for their kicker missing 3 field goals in the first half, they would have scored on nearly every one of their early possessions.
  • Louisiana ended the game with 593 yards of offense and 407 rushing yards. This comes one week after the Liberty defense looked very good under new Defensive Coordinator Scott Symons in the season opener against Syracuse when the Flames held the Orange to 368 total yards of offense.
  • After being shutout against Syracuse last week, the Liberty offense opened the game with possession and quickly marched down the field for a touchdown on a well executed drive. That drive gave us all hope as it looked like Week 1’s inept offensive performance may have just been an aberration. It took 4 more drives before anymore points were scored and that was done by one big play – a Frankie Hickson 66 yard rush for a score. The rest of the evening, Liberty struggled to move the football consistently.
  • Buckshot Calvert continues to struggle when pressured. The more game film there is of him the more opposing defenses will do all they can to get into the Liberty backfield. He finished the game 21-of-37 passing for 212 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception.
  • Antonio Gandy-Golden again made his presence known, but after focusing on him on the first drive of the game Louisiana attempted to take him out of the game. The Flames need other receiving options to step up and consistently make plays. AGG finished the evening with 6 receptions for 70 yards.
  • Frankie Hickson got the bulk of the work at running back after being rotated in and out of the lineup against Syracuse last week with Peytton Pickett and Joshua Mack prior to his first quarter fumble. Hickson went over the 100 yard rushing mark with 133 yards on 18 carries.
  • The Ragin’ Cajuns’ 3-headed monster at running back gave the Flames fits all nights. Trey Ragas finished the night with 129 rushing yards on just 9 carries, Raymond Calais had 111 yards on 8 carries, and Elijah Mitchell added another 74 yards.
  • This is a disappointing loss, but Louisiana is a good team that will be in the thick of the championship race in the Sun Belt. They were a double digit favorite coming into this one for a reason. The first two losses to open the Hugh Freeze era hurt, but the schedule is going to ease up here over the next few weeks. Next week’s opponent Buffalo gave top 15 Penn State all they wanted tonight and will be a challenge, but after that the Flames will have games they will be favored in.