Liberty (5-4, overall, 2-1 Big South) and Presbyterian (3-5, 1-1) will meet this weekend at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg. The Flames lead the all-time series 6-4, and have won the past 4 meetings since Presby has moved to the Big South. Liberty won last season’s meeting 56-7 in Clinton.
Why Presbyterian can win this game
Since Liberty and Presbyterian resumed playing each other in 2007, the Blue Hose have consistently proven to be a tough out for Liberty. It started in 2008 when Presby upset Liberty 31-28 in Clinton. That loss likely cost the Flames a playoff spot in a season they finished 10-2. Then in both 2010 and 2011, with Liberty a heavy favorite, the Flames won by a combined 17 points. In Presbyterian’s last trip to Williams Stadium, the Blue Hose forced double overtime before eventually falling 27-20.
Presby’s Jeremiah McKie
Jeremiah McKie. The sophomore wide receiver has been a do-it-all player for the Blue Hose this season. He ranks 2nd in the Big South (behind Coastal’s Taliaferro) in all purpose yards with 114.8 yards per game. He’s also 8th in the conference in both receptions and receiving yards per game, but where McKie has made his mark this season is in kick returns. He ranks 1st in the conference in kick return average at 27.4 yards per return including a kickoff return for a touchdown he had earlier this season.
Presbyterian has been a sneaky good offensive team this season. The Blue Hose rank 3rd in scoring offense in the conference behind Liberty and Coastal Carolina. Presby scores an average of 27.2 points per game. Presbyterian has scored 40 or more points in each of their 3 wins.
Just a few weeks ago, the Blue Hose were 1-4, with their only win coming against Division II Brevard, and were coming off huge losses to Charlotte (45-21) and Wofford (55-14). Head coach Harold Nichols switched to freshman quarterback Heys McMath going into their bye week. McMath has started the past 3 games while the Blue Hose have posted a 2-1 record. The 6’4″, 200 pound McMath has been impressive. He is 48/79 passing for 780 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Presbyterian has scored an average of 38 points per game with McMath as their quarterback.
Why Liberty can win this game
While Liberty played very well on defense against VMI, the offense was rather lackluster. Don’t expect that to happen again. The Flames will come out fired up and focused from the outset, on both sides of the ball.
The Flames’ defense. Presby has scored 42 or more in each of their wins this year while the Blue Hose defense is giving up 37.75 points to opposing teams. Factor in Liberty’s stingy defense, and Presbyterian faces an uphill challenge. Liberty is allowing just 18 points per game.
Liberty is the better team and has the better program. This has been the case for a while. It looked like the gap was closing a couple years ago when the Blue Hose nearly stunned the Flames in Lynchburg, but Liberty proved last season it was the dominant program when they blitzed Presby 56-7.
Abnar could have increased role this week
X-Factor for this game
Liberty’s run game. Des Rice, who has emerged as the Flames’ rushing leader this season, is listed as questionable. That leaves Clifton Richardson, DJ Abnar, and Aldreakis Allen as the backs to count on this week if Rice can’t go. Richardson has been underwhelming in his first year playing for the Flames after transferring from Virginia. Richardson has 247 yards in 8 games played this season. Abnar has come on as of late, but only has 279 yards this season. Plus, DJ can’t really be counted on as an every down back at this point in his career. Allen has missed the entire season thus far, first due to suspension, and more recently due to a calf injury. He is listed as questionable this week. The Flames must have something dependable in their run game on Saturday afternoon to consistently move the chains.
Score prediction
Liberty 31 Presbyterian 17
