Liberty was 32.5 point favorites against ULM on Saturday night in Louisiana, but the Warhawks used 28 unanswered points in the third quarter to spring a monumental upset with a 53-yard field goal in the final minutes. Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze met with the media following the loss. Here’s everything he said:

OPENING THOUGHTS

“I mean we’re not taking care of the ball. We’re not winning the line of scrimmage offensively. Obviously, I did not have them prepared. I’ve got to figure out how to make sure no matter the circumstances or where you’re playing. Credit ULM, Rich Rod called a heck of a game, and they made the plays when they had to. That’s a great kick for their kicker. We can’t turn the ball over like we did. We never established the line of scrimmage offensively at all.”

HOW BIG WAS THE GOAL LINE STAND FOR ULM EARLY IN THE GAME?

“Big. First and second down, thought running backs missed the holes. Third and fourth, they controlled the line of scrimmage there. Those possessions really sting.”

MALIK PICKED OFF AT THE END OF THE GAME, WHAT DID YOU SEE ON THAT PLAY?

“Well, he probably should have went to his check down. I couldn’t see if he had to throw over somebody was the reason it was high or he just threw it high. I’m not real sure on that. The play before was the one you cant take a sack in two minute drill. One thing we go over all the time and just went over in the huddle, that really stung setting us behind the chains there.”

WAS THE 3RD QUARTER DEFENSE SHOCKING TONIGHT?

“Yep. A little bit. Disappointing for sure. Shocking. Again Rich Rod did some good things in the third quarter that we didn’t see in the first half, but we’ve got to tackle better for sure. We hurt ourselves with penalties again which is disappointing.”

DID IT FEEL LIKE THEY HIT YOU IN THE MOUTH IN THE 3RD QUARTER?

“It certainly wasn’t good. They tempo’d us and made a little sucker-scheme that we hadn’t really seen and wasn’t ready for that. We kinda made adjustments to that in the 4th quarter. They hurt us on two wheels out the back door, one with the tight end, one with the tailback. You can’t turn the ball over and give it to them on the one yard line. Certainly that was a turn in the momentum of the game, for sure.”

WHAT WAS YOUR MESSAGE TO THE TEAM AFTER THE GAME?

“This is a great lesson for us. We have to come to play every single day, every single night. We have to prepare better, obviously. I’ve got to coach better. I’ve got to coach our coaches better. I’ve just got to look at everything right now because obviously it is a game that we felt like we should have won. I don’t want to take anything away from Monroe. They coached a great game, their kids played extremely hard. I know this is a tough place to play. We were a little short-handed, obviously, and that probably wore on us probably defensively some. We missed Demario, some, possibly, also, but there’s no excuses for us to play as poorly as we did tonight other than it falls in my lap. I told our team that. I told them it’s going to be a disappointing flight back, for sure.”

A COUPLE BLOWN COVERAGES, WAS THAT DOWN TO NOT HAVING REESE?

“Again, we were shorthanded and it certainly doesn’t help, but I can’t say that those two touchdowns were just because we didn’t have him. They were two good calls, but I think our Will backer was responsible for both of those. Would it help to have him in the game? Sure, we would have loved to have him.”

IT LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD TROUBLE ESTABLISHING THE RUN, WHAT DID THEY DO TO KEEP YOU FROM RUNNING THE BALL?

“Played a six man box and was more physical than we were it appeared. I’ll have to go look at the film but that’s what I meant by we just never established the line of scrimmage tonight. That’s one of the few games we haven’t done that in.”

IT SEEMED WHEN YOU WENT TEMPO WAS WORKING SOME TONIGHT.

“Probably should have used it more. It obviously was good to us when we did. They stung us there on a blitz on it there though on the next to last possession that put us behind the chains. It’s something we’re prepared to do every game. It was helpful tonight, for sure.”