The Liberty Flames (2-0) were able to outlast the Troy Trojans (1-1) on a humid Saturday night in Troy, Alabama, 21-13. Malik Willis was able to make plays for the Flames when he needed, routinely converting 3rd downs by making plays with his legs, and the Liberty defense held Troy in check for the majority of the final three quarters to pace the team in the win.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze said following the win. “Coming on the road, beating a good Troy team, and going back to Lynchburg tonight 2-0. I thought our kids played every snap with great energy and passion. Our kids found a way to win. We know this year, this schedule, there’s going to be a lot of dogfights. That team’s going to win a lot of football games, watch and see.”
In a game that had an over/under of 62 entering the contest, it was the defense that held the potentially potent offenses in check for the majority of the game. It didn’t start that way as each team scored on their opening possession, with the Flames scoring on the team’s first two drives. With Liberty leading 14-7 midway through the second quarter, the two teams’ defenses flexed their muscles and held the opposition in check throughout.
The Flames won the toss and deferred until the second half, giving Troy possession of the ball to open the game. The Trojans, behind Missouri transfer quarterback Taylor Powell, were able to methodically march down the field for a touchdown on a 13 play, 75 yard drive that took over 5 minutes off the game clock. Liberty quickly fell behind, 7-0, the first time the Flames had trailed in a game since last year’s NC State game on Nov. 21, 2020.
Liberty would respond with a touchdown drive of their own on its first possession, a drive that was capped by a 32-yard touchdown strike to Demario Douglas. That even the game at 7, and after the Flames’ defense forced a Troy punt, Liberty responded with a 13 play, 90 yard drive that took 7:20 and ended with another touchdown. The Flames went for it on 4th down twice on the evening, converting both, the first one coming on the final play of the drive, a 4th and goal from the two yard line. Willis was able to find Jerome Jackson just beyond the defender over the middle on the play-action pass.
After allowing 101 yards of offense in the first quarter, the Liberty defense made adjustments and kept the Trojans from making any credible scoring threats until the 4th quarter. Troy had just 7 yards of offense in the 2nd quarter and finished the evening with only 131 yards of offense in the final three quarters, 64 of which came on the final possession.
“I think Coach Symons and our defensive staff, along with our kids, really settled in after that first drive,” said Freeze. “Made necessary adjustments and played really solid defense, gave up a couple of explosive plays on 4th down that last drive. Outside of that, I thought they were phenomenal.”
Troy kept the game close, just trailing by one score late in the third quarter. That is when Malik Willis took matters into his own hands. Liberty retained possession at their own 10 in the final 2 minutes of the third quarter, and Willis would guide the Flames on the second 90 yard drive of the night for the Flames that ended in a Willis 4-yard keeper around the right side for the score to put Liberty up 21-7.
The Liberty defense then forced a quick three and out, and the Flames took over after a Troy punt with a two possession lead and just over 10 minutes remaining in the contest. Head coach Hugh Freeze had intentions on eating up time of possession and putting points on the board to effectively end this one. The first part worked, the last part no so much. The drive traveled 51 yards and dissolved nearly 7 minutes of game time and Freeze sent the field goal unit onto the field to attempt a 33-yard field goal to put the Flames up three scores. Barbir’s kick was blocked, giving the Trojans new life with 3:55 to play.
With a boost of momentum, Troy quarterback Taylor Powell guided the Trojans all the way to the 1 yard line in just 87 seconds. That’s when Liberty’s defense showed up one more time. After stopping the rush attempt for no gain on two straight plays, Liberty linebacker Storey Jackson burst through for a sack and 10-yard loss which forced the Trojans to burn its final timeout. Troy would score the touchdown on 4th down and the extra point would be blocked.
“What a valiant effort they put up to make them use their last timeout at the one yard line and use some clock there at the end of the game,” Freeze stated. “For our defense to do that, I thought that was a phenomenal effort. They ran a good play on us there, the 4th down play.”
Only 1:14 remained on the game clock, and the Flames were able to recover the onside kick as Ben Alexander fell on the ball. Willis was able to take just two knees to run out the clock and send the Flames home with a victory.
Willis finished the game completing 13 of 18 passes for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also led the team with 20 carries for 93 rushing yards and another score. TJ Green led the Liberty running backs with 10 carries for 56 yards.
“I thought he willed us to win,” Freeze said of Willis. “I hate to put him in those positions sometimes where he has to run it for us to get the three yards or the four yards, but at the end of the day, I think he would say it’s team first and whatever we need to do to win the game. Truthfully, we were struggling to block their front in the pass game and in the run game some. I knew we could get in a couple sets and run him and get positive yards, and obviously those were critical plays when we did that. He has a will to win.”
Demario Douglas led the team in receiving for a second straight game with three catches for 41 yards and a touchdown. Malik’s 13 completions were to 7 different receivers. In addition to Douglas, only DJ Stubbs (3 receptions, 34 yards) and Shedro Louis (3 receptions, 28 yards) finished with more than one reception.
Liberty returns home next Saturday to face in-state FBS rival Old Dominion. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. from Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia. The Monarchs are 1-1 this season under first year head coach Ricky Rahne after opening the year after falling to Wake Forest, 42-10, in the season opener and defeating Hampton, 47-7 on Saturday night.
