Liberty lost to James Madison, 31-13, this past Saturday as the team has slipped to 1-3 on the season. Here’s how we have the team graded out for this game.

Quarterbacks: D

  • Three quarterbacks played for the Flames as Ethan Vasko went down to injury late in the first half. Michael Merdinger and Ethan Houck played in the second half. They combined to go 7 of 21 passing for 75 yards while rushing 19 times for 83 yards and 1 touchdown.

Running Backs: C-

  • Evan Dickens led the way at 17 carries for 67 yards, good for 3.9 yards per carry. After him the running backs combined for 6 carries for 8 yards.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: C

  • It’s hard to give a good grade for the pass catchers as they just didn’t have many opportunities. How much of that was due to the quarterback play and how much was it due to them not getting open or running the right routes? Jamari Person had 2 catches for 29 yards on 5 targets. No other receiver or tight end had more than one catch.

Offensive Line: D-

  • The offensive line gave up 3 sacks and 5 TFLs, a reoccurring negative trend. There’s also very little to no depth as only five offensive linemen played the entire game.

Run Defense: D+

  • The Flames allowed 227 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns at 5.4 yards per carry.

Pass Defense: C-

  • JMU’s Alonza Barrett threw 17 of 25 for 213 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception.

Special Teams: B-

  • Jay Billingsley was probably the bright spot of the game for the Flames as he knocked down both of his field goals from 47 and 35 yards. Max Morgan was solid in the punt game, averaging 42 yards per punt. Punt and kick coverage were solid while the Flames did not have any returns.