Liberty improved to 4-1 on the season with a 38-24 win over Old Dominion on Saturday night at S.B. Ballard Stadium in Norfolk, Virginia. Dae Dae Hunter and Shedro Louis each went over 100 yards rushing in the victory, while Hunter scored three touchdowns on the night. Here is everything head coach Hugh Freeze had to say following the game, beginning with his opening statement:

“Just grit. Leadership from people like JB, Scruggs, those guys. They’re just going to keep fighting. I told them in the locker room and this is how I’ll sum it up. We can make it really, really ugly at times but we’re not going to quit fighting. Not going to quit trying to make adjustments. I thought we had a really good plan in the second half offensively. Defensively, we didn’t. It wasn’t the kids fault. It was our coaches, we’ve got to have a better plan for these third and fourth and longs. We’ve got to make a kick that puts the game away. There’s so many things we can improve on. We’ve just got to keep working to improve.”

“At some point, I believe that Kaidon Salter is going to become a really, really good quarterback. It’s coming. He’s just young. I got too negative on him, but he was just doing some crazy things and he was not feeling well. He’s not well. He can’t move right now and that’s got his mind messed up. We’ve got to get back and see if our trainers can get him well for our second half of the season.”

“I’m proud as heck of our coaches, our kids. That’s a big win against a very physical, good football team who has gotten better every week offensively. That quarterback is tough. He played hard and played well. He’s got good receivers. Big win.”

HOW BIG HAS DAE DAE BEEN?

“Dae Dae is a football player. He played really well. We had a good plan in the second half to highlight him and Shedro. He happened to have the explosive plays. I thought JB made some good decisions too to get him the ball on some of those swing routes and things. Dae Dae, he’s a good football player.”

DID BENNETT SETTLE YOU DOWN?

“He absolutely had good poise and presence about him. He sure did.”

HOW CRITICAL WAS THAT 99 YARD DRIVE?

“It was critical. At that point, it’s a one score game. They’ve got us pinned back to the half yard line. That 99 yard drive is things that will win a lot of games for you. That was big and JB was very solid on that drive.”

WAS IT YOUR DECISION TO GO WITH JB IN 2ND HALF?

“The exact conversation was just, “I don’t think I can move around. I think I can stand in the pocket and still throw.’ I just knew, the way they were bringing pressure, I just didn’t think that was the right answer. It was my decision. He would have tried to go. I really felt like that we had some things in our spread sets if I could empty the box and let the quarterback run some. We he said he couldn’t do that, I felt like it was best to go with JB.”

WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT JB TO BE ABLE TO STAY CONNECTED?

“We are a team. It takes all three of these quarterbacks right now and probably will the rest of the season it looks like. It takes us all. I’m proud of JB for just staying the course. The process is the important thing and what we’re becoming in it. He’s handling it well.”

DO YOU THINK YOUR DEFENSE DID WELL IN THE 2ND HALF?

“Yes, but it’s overshadowed by us having a very poor plan for the third and fourth and longs. That’s not the kids, we just had a very poor plan for that. That’s got to get fixed. The kids played hard. They are rushing. They’ve got big offensive linemen. They never stopped. Got a big turnover to win the game. Our kids played well, we’ve just got to have a better plan.”

I KNOW NICK MISSED THE KICK AT THE END, BUT IT WAS BIG TO HIT THAT 49 YARDER EARLIER?

“He did, it’s good to see, but these one for two nights on chip shots that end the game, the game’s over. Those are the things we’ve got to get, us growing up into where he is relaxed enough just to swing it like he swings an extra point. He swung that thing like me trying to hit a big hook off a tee box. Why is that? Because we’re young, I guess. I love the way he swung it until that point tonight. I told him that. I was praising him, but that was a game winner. We’ve got to chip that thing through there.”

TO BE STANDING HERE 4-1, WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT THIS TEAM?

“They are fighters. We are going to keep fighting. We are one step closer to being bowl eligible with a very difficult schedule, with a lot of games that could have gone either way. We’re not far from being 5-0. It doesn’t get any easier. We’re going to get their best shot. I’m sure we’re going to be beat up because it was a really physical game. We’ve got to get back, have another late night. I’m begging Ian to let us have a noon kick soon to let us rest these kids some. We will get back and hopefully get in there tomorrow and start getting healthy. We’ve got another road test next week.”

HAVE YOU SEEN A CATCH BETTER THAN THE ONE JAIVIAN MADE?

“When he came to the sideline, I said I’ve got a few words for you. I said dadaduh, dadaduh, because that is probably going to be on SportsCenter.”