Liberty travels to Clinton, South Carolina to face the Presbyterian Blue Hose on Saturday at 2pm.
When conference teams square off, throw records out the door.
That was the sentiment from the coaching staff this week. “It doesn’t matter what their record is,” Coach Gill said referring to Presbyterian, “they are going to be ready to play. We’ve got to be able to match that (focus), and when you’re on the road you have to have that extra focus.”
Defensive Coordinator Robert Wimberly expounded on that point. “Anytime you play a conference team, everyone is familiar with each other. So, you can kind of throw the records out the door. They know us, we know them. You’re talking about a team that knows Liberty football. Both coaching staffs have faced each other for a number of years. They will be excited, they will be ready to play. So, it’s our job to make sure our guys meet that challenge. Once again, you can throw the records out the window when it comes to conference play.”
Be remembered in November.
Liberty is 13-2 in November games under Turner Gill, with both losses coming against Charleston Southern. The Flames are tied with Montana for the 4th highest November winning percentage (.867) among FCS teams during that time span. Liberty trails UNI (15-1), North Dakota State (12-1), and San Diego (12-1), in the category. The Flames have recorded 3 wins over top 10 opponents in November under Gill and notched the program’s first-ever FCS playoff victory over James Madison in November 2014.
“The games that are in November, those are the ones that you remember,” Gill stated.
Liberty is 4-0 with Buckshot as the starter
“Coach Gill has a saying, you want to be remembered in November.” Coach Wimberly continued, “I think our guys get excited about November. We’ve proven that we can play big and play well when it comes to November.”
Flames riding a 4 game win streak.
After starting the season 1-3, Liberty has suddenly won four in a row. It’s the first four game win streak for the Flames since the middle of the 2014 season. Liberty hasn’t won 5 straight games since the end of the 2013 season. A win against PC would also give Liberty its first 4-0 start in Big South play since 2011 when Liberty won its first five conference games.
“It gives you confidence when you win 3 or 4 games in a row,” Gill said. “You continue to know that you can find a way to win games even when things get tough. That helped us this last ball game (Gardner-Webb). We have found ways to win games, but we didn’t have one tough like that. It continues to build confidence in your team offense, defense and special teams.”
Flames seeking 11th straight winning season.
With one more win this season, Liberty will clinch their 11th straight winning season. The Flames are one of five active FCS programs with a current streak of 10 or more winning seasons in a row, along with Harvard, Jacksonville State, New Hampshire, and McNeese State. Harvard, Jacksonville State, and New Hampshire have already clinched another winning season in 2016, and McNeese State needs just one more win to extend their streak.
Magic number: 20.
The Flames are 2-0 this season and 20-1 under Turner Gill when holding an opponent to fewer than 20 points. The only loss came in the 2013 season opener at Kent State, 17-10. Presbyterian has only scored 20 points once in eight games this season, when they scored 31 points against Campbell. The Blue Hose rank dead last in all of FCS scoring just 10 points per game. In 4 games this season PC has failed to score a touchdown.
Notable quote.
Turner Gill on the team winning a close game against Gardner-Webb – “It’s a great energy boost. It really shows the team that you can handle adversity. You’re going to have that in a football game. You’re going to have that during a season, and championship teams find a way to win. It’s great to see our team accomplish that. We haven’t had that this season.”
Robert Wimberly on the team winning 4 straight games – “We knew when we were sitting there at 1-3, as a coaching staff, we had to let the guys know that we believe in them, that we were fine, that we had to take it one day at a time.”
Joe Dailey on the Buckshot/Shells relationship – “It’s a savvy veteran, who’s played a lot of football, being in a situation where he knows he has a young guy who can throw the football all over the field. I think those two have a unique understanding of each other in a sense that if I just put it in his vicinity, his hands are going to be on the football. That’s kind of what Woodrum had last year with Darrin Peterson. If I just get it anywhere near him, I know there’s a chance he’s going to come down with it. They have a very similar relationship.”
My prediction:
Liberty 31, Presbyterian 3
