Liberty had its best game of the season following a 17-day break on Saturday evening, defeating Delaware 59-30 in front of a homecoming crowd. The Flames have now won three straight to get to 4-4 on the season and 3-1 in conference play. Here’s how we have the team graded out for this game.

Quarterbacks: A

  • Ethan Vasko completed 14 of 20 passes for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns while also rushing 5 times for 31 yards and another touchdown. He also had zero turnovers. His 70% passing completion should be even higher as there were two clear drops by his receivers. The Flames will take that level of performance from their QB every week.

Running Backs: A+

  • Evan Dickens ran 22 times for 217 yards and 4 touchdowns at 9.9 yards per carry. You don’t get much better than that. His career night set Liberty highs under head coach Jamey Chadwell were rushing yards and touchdowns. Not bad considering the Flames had a top 5 rushing offense each of the past two seasons. As a team, the Flames finished with 282 yards rushing at 6.9 yards per carry.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: B

  • Donte Lee had a really good game, finishing with 5 catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. Vasko targeted him early and often while Jacob Jenkins had his best day as a pass catcher in his time at Liberty, finishing with 3 catches for 83 yards and a score. Six other receivers caught one pass. The only blemish was two drops that ultimately ended the only two Liberty offensive drives that didn’t end in points.

Offensive Line: A+

  • Liberty rushed for 6.9 yards per carry while the offensive line allowed just one tackle for loss and zero sacks. A much improved performance after a lackluster first half of the season.

Run Defense: A

  • The Flames held Delaware to 76 yards rushing on 2.9 yards per carry. Granted, the Blue Hens got behind early and relied on their CUSA leading passing offense while only carrying the ball 26 times, but the Liberty run defense held them in check. QB Nick Minicucci led the team with 37 rushing yards and was able to break containment a couple of times on obvious pass plays.

Pass Defense: C

  • Against a team that threw the ball 49 times and came into the game as the top passing offense in the country, the Flames were ok against the pass. There were a few explosive plays allowed and 344 total yards given up through the air. Nick Minicucci completed 59% of his passes with one interception (should have been 2). Not a bad performance, but also not great.

Special Teams: A

  • Jay Billingsley was a perfect 8 for 8 on his extra points while Brayden Beck made Liberty’s only field goal attempt on the day. For a second straight game, the Flames got a game-changing play on special teams, this one coming in the second quarter when the Blue Hens attempted a fake punt and Liberty stuffed it to set the offense up with the ball deep in Delaware territory, leading to a significant momentum shift.