The Liberty Flames opened their home slate with a 58-17 route of the Morehead State Eagles. The Flames move to 2-0 on the season and will play host to Indiana State next Saturday evening.
GAME BALLS
B.J. Farrow: After missing the Baylor game due to “eligibility concerns,” Farrow made an instant impact on his first game of the season. On the 3rd play from scrimmage he caught a 25 yard touchdown pass. He went on to finish the game with 6 receptions and a career-high 177 yards and 3 touchdowns. The 3 touchdowns tie a school record.
Kentory Matthews: The JUCO transfer running back went over the 100 yard rushing mark, finishing with 103 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on just 13 carries in his 2nd game with the Flames.
Buckshot: He only played the first half, but lit up the scoreboard with 5 touchdowns on 21 pass attempts. His 13 completions went for 281 yards. Buckshot has now attempted 81 passes on the season and has 8 touchdowns and no interceptions.
RANKING THE TOP PLAYS FROM THE GAME
- Damian King took a bubble screen and dashed and darted 42 yards for a touchdown to give Liberty a 14-0 lead 5 minutes into the game. Look up the highlight as our description doesn’t do the play justice.
- Early in the 2nd quarter, Buckshot stepped up into the pocket and slung it 62 yards in the air where he found B.J. Farrow 3 yards behind the defender. The play resulted in a 76 yard touchdown pass which gave Liberty a 31-3 lead.
- With just 34 seconds left in the first half and Liberty near midfield, it looked like the fireworks for the first half of the game were over. Buckshot had other ideas. Two Morehead defenders pressured Calvert who utilized a spin move to escape the pressure. As he rolled to his left, he threw across his body and hit Farrow on the money in the end zone. It was Buckshot’s 5th passing touchdown in the first half.
- On the first play of the game, Kentory Matthews took a jet sweep around the right end 23 yards. The play set the tone for the game and set up Liberty’s first touchdown.
- On the opening kickoff, Frankie Hickson returned it 42 yards to midfield giving the Flames terrific field position to open the game.
WHAT IT MEANS
It was a very impressive performance by Liberty. Coming off the biggest win in school history, the team showed no let up. That takes a tremendous amount of maturity and focus. Midway through the first quarter, with the score already 17-0, the game was already decided. Can’t ask for much more than that, a very business like outing for the Flames.
Coach Gill learned that receiver BJ Farrow would be eligible to play against the Eagles on Friday, and Farrow did not disappoint. Farrow had a career game with 6 catches for 177 yards and 3 touchdowns. His presence provides a relief for Calvert when Gandy-Golden is being given all of the opposing defense’s attention.
Liberty has scored 106 points in the first two games, that’s an average of 54 points per game. The offense, led by Buckshot Calvert, is incredibly explosive with weapons all over the field. If they’re able to keep up that level of play, it will make this team incredibly difficult to be beat.
LOOKING AHEAD
The next two weeks will tell us a lot about this Liberty football team with games against strong FCS teams Indiana State and Jacksonville State. Indiana State has started the season 0-2 with losses to Eastern Illinois and Tennessee, but they are from the powerful Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Flames don’t have to have a long memory to remember the 38-19 loss suffered in Terre Haute back in 2014.
The Sycamores were 4-7 a season ago and 2-6 in the toughest FCS conference in the country. They are under the direction of first year head coach Curt Mallory who came to Indiana State after spending the previous 2 seasons at Wyoming as their pass defensive coordinator and secondary coach.
Antonio Gandy-Golden and Carrington Mosley played very limited reps against Morehead State. Coach Gill said they were held out as an abundance of caution. Hopefully that is the case and both will be a full go next weekend.
BY THE NUMBERS
5 | Buckshot had 5 passing touchdowns, and he only played in the first half. The school record is 6, and he could have easily broken that record if he played the entire game.
4.5 | The Flames’ averaged 4.5 yards per carry. Coach Gill stated pre-game that he wanted the team to average at least 4 yards per carry. The rushing attack was led by Kentory Matthews and and Frankie Hickson.
0 | The first team offense has yet to commit a turnover. The Flames had 2 turnovers against Morehead State, but they came from backup quarterback Mason Cunningham and 4th string running back Mitchell Lewis.
3/3 | Alex Probert was a perfect 3/3 on his field goal attempts against Morehead State. The sophomore kicker is a perfect 7/7 on field goals and 11/11 on extra points this season.
THEY SAID IT
Flames head coach Turner Gill on the team’s fast start:
“It was good to get off to a fast start. Proud of the way our offense executed some things. Morehead State still has some talent, has some good things, but I like the way we responded. It was great for us to get off to a really, really fast start as far as getting points on the board.”
Gill on Carrington Mosley and Antonio Gandy-Golden’s condition after not getting many reps:
“Everything is all good. We just wanted to get a little rest and get some more guys some playing time. There’s no issue there. It was a coach’s decision to hold them out a little bit, more resting their bodies from the previous game.”
Kentory Matthews on how he was able to rush for over 100 yards in his 2nd game at the DI level:
“It was just working on the little things, staying in my playbook, and following certain blocks. It’s a lot more advanced here at this level than it was at JUCO.”
B.J. Farrow on his eligibility status and when he heard he was cleared:
“It was Friday before we went out for practice. I had a meeting with Compliance and Coach Gill, and they came and told me I could play. I was waiting for it all day. They told me it would be in the morning time, but it didn’t come. So, I was anxious to see what the decision was, and, as soon as it did, I was just happy and wanted to play. (The eligibility issues) totally caught me by surprise. I knew nothing about it, thought nothing would come up like this, but I guess I’m here now. So, I’m thankful for God to let me come back and play.”
Buckshot on the team’s explosiveness:
“Even from summertime we had the mindset that we were going to come into this season and go against some tough defenses, but it’s where we stand in our mindset, how we’re going to attack them. We stuck to the game plan, and we listened to our coaches. Just having a whole bunch of receivers that can go out and make plays for you, it’s kind of hard not to get them the ball.”
Buckshot on his elusiveness in the pocket:
“Without that I probably would get sacked a couple times. (Strength coach) Bill (Gillespie) did a great job of preparing me for this season. That’ss always been kind of in my game, making a couple of people miss in the pocket and finding receivers downfield, but Bill did a great job preparing me for this season and I thank him so much for that.”
Buckshot on his success through the first two games
“(It’s just about) giving my receivers a chance. I know where they’ll be at at certain times. Like Coach DeArmon and Coach Dailey always say, for the outside receivers, just put the ball up and give them a chance. I’ve been doing that lately, and they’ve been doing a great job of making me look good. Hats off to them.”
