#14 Liberty (1-1) gets their first true test of the 2015 season when traditional FCS power #7 Montana (1-1) invades Williams Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7pm.
Why Montana can win this game
Bob Stitt is just two games into his FCS tenure and he is already taking the national media by storm thanks to his unique offense and upset of #1 North Dakota State. Flames Nation will get an up close look at his offense that is averaging 393 passing yards per game and over 500 yards of total offense.
In this new offense, signal caller Brady Gustafson is utilizing everyone. 11 different receivers have at least 1 reception while 4 receivers have 10 or more. The receiving corp is highlighted by Jamaal Jones and Ellis Henderson who are each averaging around 100 receiving yards per game.
The schedule sets up perfectly for Montana early on. First, they have already played 4-time defending FCS National Champ North Dakota State and a top 25 team in Cal Poly. After those two big tests, they had a bye last week. So, they have an extra week to evaluate themselves, prepare for Liberty and travel cross country.
Why Liberty can win this game
The Flames will try to utilize their ball control offense to keep the fast-pace Grizzly offense off the field. With Montana allowing 279 rushing yards per game and losing the time of possession battle so far this season, Liberty should have some success.
Liberty has as many weapons on offense as the Montana does, and we saw several of the more inexperienced players step up in the 2nd half against West Virginia last week. Zac Parker, B.J. Farrow, and Dante Shells all had very productive afternoons in Morgantown, and quarterback Josh Woodrum has confidence in them in addition to his go-to options in Darrin Peterson, D.J. Abnar, and Des Rice.
The Grizzlies have struggled in their red zone opportunities this season, converting just 8 of their 18 trips into touchdowns. Meanwhile, Liberty’s defense has held their opponents to field goals on 22% of their red zone opportunities and have always been a “bend but don’t break” unit under defensive coordinator Robert Wimberly.
X-Factor for this game
Liberty’s defense.
As mentioned previously, Robert Wimberly has always utilized a bend but don’t break defensive scheme especially when playing spread offenses. This includes laying off the opponent’s receivers 7-10 yards to keep everything in front of the Flames’ secondary and avoid the big play. This means the secondary has to make plays to get Montana off the field when given the opportunity.
