Liberty suffered its second straight setback with a loss to Jacksonville State on Wednesday night, 31-21. The Flames fall to 5-2 on the season and 3-2 in conference play. Following the game, head coach Jamey Chadwell met with the media. Here is the full transcript and video from his press conference (transcript to follow):
“He (Jax State RB Tre Stewart) did a great job. We had a hard time tackling him. I thought we did a better job, because I think he had 192, in the first half. So, we held him in the second half to 40 something yards. So we did a way better job in the second half. We’re not letting him break some tackles and things, but great player. They do a good job. Quarterbacks a hard and tough player. I mean, he ran the ball 20 times, you know. But, you know, they’re a really good team, and we knew that coming in. We wanted to keep the ball away from them, which we did, and just could not, could not convert some fourth and shorts, that was a big deal.”
“I told the team, our effort tonight, the way we played, we didn’t play clean, but our effort is the type of effort that’s expected from our program and what Liberty expects. We played more together tonight than probably we have all season long, truth be told, and it was in a loss, but I’m proud of the way they responded to last week. It’s disappointing, but we’re headed in a good direction, I know it’s hard to say after 2 losses, but if we can bottle the way we played tonight, as far as the effort and the mindset, then we got some better days ahead of us.”
“Obviously disappointed in the outcome. We get two fourth of shorts, you don’t get that potential six points, potential two touchdowns, two touchdowns that really hurt us there, obviously turnovers got us. Second half, we got off to a bad start. Two (three) and outs straight down. Can’t do that against a good team.”
How would you assess Salter’s decision making and play tonight?
“I don’t know if it was decision making. Made a couple of throws that were behind some guys and had opportunities. Obviously, one got picked, a little bit late, behind a guy a little bit there, and so not necessary decision. I think where he went with the ball was right, but the timing was off. I thought he played tough. We were out three starting wide receivers, so and a lot of the guys that were playing the majority of snaps were playing for a lot. We tried to be wise of what we asked those guys to do, try to put them in some situations where they could be successful. But I thought he played tough. He obviously did some things. He needs to improve, there were some throws on third down that we could have continued some drives. He also made some nice runs when we needed some runs. It was probably a typical game for him.”
The last fourth and 1, did you think about kicking the field goal and what did you see on what happened on the play?
“No, we were drawing them off sides, and we didn’t execute the call. The coaches did not execute the call the way it should have. We had mixed signals. Some guys knew we were not snapping it, some guys thought we were snapping it. One of those things where as coaches, we put our team in a bad spot right there. Because we’ve run so much quarterback sneak the last couple of weeks, we had a play specifically for a situation where we could get them to false start, but we didn’t, coaches didn’t communicate well enough. Hindsight, do you kick it there? We thought we had them on the ropes a little bit. You get that, you continue to milk the clock a little bit. You go up now they have to go down the field so, but didn’t work out. It’s unfortunate. Our men played their tails off. And it’s unfortunate that coaching wise just didn’t put them in the best position.”
How much of an impact is it having three receivers out?
“Yeah, I mean, it changed a lot because when you don’t have three guys that have played a good amount of football and Juju, this is really his first full game back, he was on a pitch count last week. He had a third down route, he ran the route on the inside, should have looked on the outside. That’s experience. He’s not done it as much. That was why they weren’t on the same page. Kaidon was thinking he’s going outside, and that’s where the route should go. He looks over to the inside, that was one of the third downs there in the second half. One of those things there, we tried to limit that, because we knew we were going to have some of those issues, because they give you some different looks, and you have to change some of the rest. We were trying to eliminate as many route concepts where the guys had to maybe adjust. You can’t limit them all, because you have to try to move the ball and score. I thought our plan was good. I thought we used the personnel that we had to help us and and I thought some guys made some plays there. I mean, 6 of 14 on third down, which is good, but then you go to 1 of 3 (on 4th down) and that kills you. Then the red zone chances, I think that was the deal there. The frustrating thing on the other side of the ball is we played better in the second half. They had a third down, they called a holding PI on us, bang bang play. THey get a cheap first down, but give up too many big plays early on.”
“In the first half, we had momentum. That’s two weeks in a row, we jumped up 7-0, and the other team scored right away, right away. From a complimentary football standpoint, we’re not playing well together.”
11 runs of 10 or more yards for the, what makes them so tough to defend?
“Obviously, the tempo they go with, and then you miss fit something. The running back’s pretty good, and they spread you out. They’ve been 50 something points. If we don’t throw the interception there at the end, maybe we got a chance to go down and tie it or something. But I thought we played way better in the second half, but you have to tackle when you have an opportunity. When you have a one on one, you gotta make a tackle. Early on, they made us miss. He doesn’t weigh but a buck whatever, but he ran through two, three tackles a bunch early on. Versus a team like that, you gotta make sure you fit right, and you line up right. At times we did that, but other times we allowed them to push the pile forward and some of those things. If they get first downs, they wear you down a little bit. That was the whole key, trying to keep them off the field. I thought we did a great job of that. Just gotta be able to finish, finish some of those drive.”
How do you convey in a lass that we’re doing the right things and stay together?
“Just because you give yourself doesn’t mean you’re gonna get what you want. It’s my responsibility, but my opinion, I think it’s the first time for a four quarter game. I’m not saying we’ve not played that way all year, but for a four quarter game, we gave of ourselves, everything for each other. The energy we played with, the effort we played with, was what we expect. Now, coaches gotta make better calls. We gotta make make some plays when we have the opportunity to do them. It’s been one of those things where you need a play to go your way a little bit, and it’s just not happening, especially last couple weeks, early on it did. That’s the ebb and flow, but that’s what I buy together for four quarters, that’s the best that we’ve played together, and playing with effort and energy for four quarters, not two quarters, not a quarter and a half, not three quarters. When you do that, then good things should happen. I mean, they’re a really good team. We had opportunities there and held them, from a scoring standpoint, held them down. I know we’re gonna go back and look, had some scoring chances. I’m sure I’ll look back and say, maybe we should kick a field goal and tie it up there, or hope to tie it up. You can’t guarantee you’re gonna make it. There’s a lot of things that I’m sure, it’s coaching error, ultimately. Offense, defense, special teams, coaching error that didn’t give us the best chance there.”
Do you concern about it spiraling now after two straight losses?
“I believe we’ve got good character people in there. I believe they’re hurting. I expect them to come back and be disappointed, but we’re all disappointed in life. You know, you don’t get the job you want. Don’t get the promotion you want. You have to respond. That’s part of a grown into being a man, being a responsible man, being a champion for Christ. If you’re going to be a Champion for Christ, part of building a testimony, is going through tests. We’re going to go through a test, and I expect that we’ll have good character people stand up and keep playing hard and keep fighting. This University has a great brand recognition, and we expect to go out and win every game. We play hard to do that. I think this will will continue to churn at us, be disciplined. But if those guys, once they get over the disappointment, get back to work in a couple days. A couple extra days to get ready for our next opponent. You go out, and you build off of what you’ve done. And hopefully we’ll continue to play better.”
Injury to Donte Lee.
“Something with his shin. Said it was broken, but then he’s out there running and playing around. Something got hit in the shin or landing. Bentley Hanshaw went out for a little bit. It’s been one of those seasons from an injury standpoint. We’ve had a lot that we’ve had to deal with. But, like I said, I was proud of the guys that were out there, and they played hard. Gave us an opportunity at the end. Disappointed that we didn’t put them in a better position.”
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
I love that we have a coach who takes responsibility for game planning, sometimes bad calls, and mixed signaling by multiple coaches. He doesn’t throw any of his players under the bus (unlike a former LU head football coach :)). We are blessed to have him and this staff. Let’s not forget that…
Everything he said in the postgame was spot on. There’s disappointment in life. That’s part of being a champion is hanging in there. Rise above it.
We’ll bounce back. We have the coaches, the culture, and resiliency by our players to stay in the fight. Much better effort from our team last night. Much more heart than we showed at KSU. Jax State is a great team. We almost had them. Can’t fold. Can’t let up. Nobody throwing in the towel on Liberty!
GO FLAMES!!!!!!!!!!!
Fourth and one on a critical down and you put the QB under center FOR THE FIRST TIME ALL NIGHT? What a bone head play call!!!