Offense: A
They didn’t exactly burn the place down, but the Flames offense gets an A for balance and innovation. They had 32 pass attempts, and 34 rush attempts, perfectly evening out an attack that included a nice wrinkle with Desmond Rice throwing for a touchdown from the running back position. The biggest negative was Josh Woodrum throwing a pick, but one turnover for the whole game is not a huge deal.
Defense: A+
Liberty dominated the line, decimating Gardner-Webb’s running attack, and put great pressure on quarterback Lucas Beatty, sacking him 6 times. Most importantly, they were clutch. They stopped the Runnin’ Bulldogs on multiple 4th down attempts and forced a decisive turnover late in the 4th quarter. They didn’t choke down the stretch, like the last two games, and put up their first goose egg of the year, so they get an A+.
Special Teams: B
The Flames special teams did a great job defending kick/punt returns, holding Gardner-Webb to only 11 return yards, on three attempts. However, they get a B, because their returners were held to only 26 return yards. Also, John Lunsford missed another field goal.
Overall: A
The Flames played a great all around game. They completely shut down the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ offense, put points on the board, and, for the most part, protected the football. This is the kind of football Liberty will have to play if they want to win another Big South title.
