Liberty suffered defeat on Saturday afternoon to Missouri State, falling 21-17. The Flames are now 4-5 on the season and 3-2 in conference play. Here’s how we have the team graded out for this game.

Quarterbacks: D-

  • Ethan Vasko completed his first 8 passes as Liberty got out to an early lead, but he would only complete 10 of his final 25 passes finishing the game at 18 of 35 for 196 yards with one interception. He also had a crucial fumble in the closing minutes of the game that cost the Flames field position and potentially a first d own that could have melted the game away.

Running Backs: B-

  • Evan Dickens ran for a career-high 28 carries for 127 yards and a touchdown averaging 4.5 yards per carry. Jaylon Coleman (3 for 40) and Vaughn Blue (5 for 34) also had productive days as the Flames went over 200 rushing yards for the second straight week, the only two weeks surpassing 200 yards on the ground this season. Still, the offense had a few opportunities in the closing minutes to pick up a first down to melt the game away and did not. There were also a few run plays where it looked like the ball carrier could have taken it the distance, but arm tackles would knock him down.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: C

  • Some of t he stats look decent like Reese Smith catching 4 of his 5 targets for 62 yards and Donte Lee having 3 catches for 57 yards. Lee was targeted 10 times though. There were also a couple of drops in critical situations that could have kept drives alive.

Offensive Line: C

  • Liberty rushed for 4.7 yards per carry while the offensive line allowed just one sack. They also take some of the blame for the team not being able to run the clock out at the end of the game when the Flames could have won the game with another first down.

Run Defense: A

  • The Flames held Missouri State to 46 yards rushing on 1.9 yards per carry. A strong performance.

Pass Defense: D

  • The Flames were good in the first half, but struggled after the intermission. After getting four first  half sacks, Liberty did not get another the rest of the way. Jacob Clark threw for 286 yards and 2 scores, including the game winning touchdown drive where Clark and the Bears went 70 yards on just 4 plays.

Special Teams: B+

  • Jay Billingsley made both of his extra points and his only field goal. The Flames were also solid in the rest of the special teams units.