Uzowihe named Big South Defensive Player of the Year
Chima Uzowihe was named the Big South’s Defensive Player of the Year, he is the first Liberty player to ever receive this honor. Josh Woodrum finished 2nd in voting to De’Angelo Henderson for the Big South Offensive Player of the Year award, Woodrum was named 2nd team-all Big South at quarterback. The Flames had 4 first-team honorees in Darrin Peterson, Jonathan Burgess, Max Sommer, and Uzowihe. & other Flames were selected to the 2nd team in Woodrum, Zac Parker, Nick Newman, Chris Turner, John Lunsford, Trey Turner, and Hunter Winstead.
10 consecutive seasons with a winning record
With the win against Coastal Carolina last week, Liberty clinched a winning record for the 10th consecutive season dating back to 2006, Danny Rocco’s first season. The Flames are 1 of just 5 FCS teams to accomplish the same feat joining Harvard, Jacksonville State, McNeese State and New Hampshire.
Flames finish season undefeated at home
Liberty closed out the 2015 football season with a perfect 5-0 mark at Williams Stadium including 2 wins against top 10 teams (Montana, Coastal Carolina). It’s the first undefeated at home since 2010 when the Flames finished 4-0 at Williams Stadium. There were only 4 games at Williams Stadium that season due to stadium expansion. The last time the Flames finished the season undefeated at home in at least 5 games win in 2007 when Liberty was 6-0. The Flames are now 19-5 at home under Coach Gill.
Liberty against ranked opponents
The Flames finished this season 2-1 against ranked FCS opponents, all 3 games coming against teams that were ranked in the top 10 at the time Liberty faced them. It’s the first time the Flames have ever won 2 games against top 10 teams in the same season. Under Coach Gill, Liberty is 4-3 against top 10 opponents. Prior to Coach Gill’s time at Liberty, the Flames were 0-13 all-time against top 10 FCS opponents. Liberty is 18-51 all-time against ranked opponents, but have won 6 of their last 9 games against ranked opponents. Under Coach Gill, the Flames are 7-8 against ranked opponents.
Attendance record set
Liberty set a new record for average home attendance averaging 18,990 fans per game in 2015. The previous high was set in 2014 with an average home attendance of 17,016.
Coastal series update
The Liberty-Coastal Carolina series has concluded as a Big South rivalry with the Chanticleers set to join the Sun Belt. Liberty owns the slight edge in the all-time series, 7-6 after winning back-to-back games in the series for the first time since winning 3 straight from 2007 to 2009. Each of the last 3 games in the series have been decided by 3 points or fewer. The Flames and Chanticleers are expected to meet on the gridiron in a nonconference game in Conway in 2016.
FCS Playoffs begin Saturday
The FCS Playoffs begin this weekend with 8 first-round games. Notable games this weekend include Coastal Carolina hosting the Citadel at 2pm on ESPN3, Montana hosting South Dakota State at 3pm on ESPN3, and William & Mary hosting Duquesne at 3:30 on ESPN3. Charleston Southern received the #8 seed and a first round bye. The Buccaneers will make their playoff debut on December 5th against the winner of the Coastal Carolina-Citadel matchup. CSU defeated both Coastal and the Citadel earlier this season. We debuted a new feature this season with our playoff projections, and we correctly picked 23 of the 24 teams in the playoff field. Our only miss was having 7-4 North Dakota in the field ahead of Western Illinois. James Madison made the field with the #5 seed while Danny Rocco and the Richmond Spiders received the #7 seed.
6-5 WIU or 6-5 Liberty?
It’s uncommon for the FCS playoff committee to include a team with less than 7 Division I wins. However, they made an exception this year as 6-5 Western Illinois was likely the last team to make the playoff field. Bringing up the question, who was more deserving of a playoff spot, 6-5 Liberty or 6-5 Western Illinois? Western Illinois was 0-1 against FBS teams with their loss coming against Illinois while the Flames were 1-1 against FBS opponents. The Leathernecks were 3-3 against teams that made the playoffs compared to Liberty’s 2-1 mark. WIU and LU had 2 common opponents in Coastal Carolina and Southern Illinois. Both teams went 1-1 in these matchups. The clincher for Western Illinois was they had just 1 loss against an FCS team that didn’t make the playoffs and it came against Youngstown State, who was ranked at the time of the meeting. The Flames, on the other hand, had 3 such losses to non-playoff teams.
Football commits update
- Stephen Calvert saw his high school career come to an end when Carol City lost to Central last Friday night. The game made national news when it ended early due to a nearby shooting.
- Brandon Tillmon’s season ended last week. He finished the season with over 1,000 rushing and passing yards for the 2nd straight season while also leading the team in sacks (11) and tackles for loss (15).
- Damian Bounds and his Stockbridge Tigers defeated Gainesville, 40-34 in overtime, last week and will face Glynn Academy tonight in the state quarterfinals. Stockbridge is 12-0 on the season.
- Aidan Burroughs and Norfolk Catholic lost this week in the state championship game, it was the team’s first loss of the season.
- Ethan Crawford and Aquinas defeated Brookstone 42-7 last week to advance to the quarterfinals against Christian Heritage. Aquinas is 10-1 this season.
- Jimmy Faulks and Lakewood High finished their season with a loss November 13th in the regional quarterfinals. Faulks finished the season with 29 tackles, 4 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, and 2 defensive touchdowns.
- Jalen Camp and South Forsyth High defeated Tucker, 42-35, last week. South Forsyth plays Colquitt County tonight in the state quarterfinals. You may recognize Colquitt County’s head coach, Rush Propst, of MTV’s Two-A-Days fame.
Flames in the NFL update
Rashad Jennings and the Giants had a bye last week, allowing Rashad to be in town for the Coastal game as honorary captain. The Giants are in Washington this weekend as they face the Redskins at 1pm on Sunday. Walt Aikens had 1 tackle in the Dolphins loss to the Cowboys.
Basketball enters big week at 3-1
The Flames concluded their 4 game home stand to open the season with a mark of 3-1. All 3 wins came against non-DI opponents and the lone loss came against William & Mary. The Tribe have started the season with an impressive 3-1 mark including a win over NC State and a narrow, 3-point loss at Dayton. Liberty has a good 3-game test this week in Nashville as they face Appalachian State, Western Michigan, and Tulane. The Flames began the 3 game invitational with a loss to Appalachian State on Thanksgiving Day. Liberty faces Western Michigan Friday afternoon and Tulane on Sunday.
Flames conclude signing period with Koval, Hicks signings
Coach McKay announced the signing of Hayden Koval and Brody Hicks this past week to conclude the 2015 early signing period. Koval is a 7’0”, 220 pound center from Texas where he plays for CHANT Homeschool. Last season, Koval averaged 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks per game. He also had an offer from Oral Roberts. Hicks is a 6’3” guard who plays for Cave Spring in Roanoke. As a junior, he averaged 15.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. Both Koval and Hicks are recruited walk-ons. Koval and Hicks round out a 5 person class of 2016 that also includes Xzavier Barmore, Brock Gardner, and Josiah Talbert. Liberty’s 2015-16 basketball roster features just 2 players over 6’5”. This signing class features 3 players 6’7” or taller.
Women’s basketball drops 2 straight
After opening the season with wins over Appalachian State and Elon, the Lady Flames have lost consecutive games to NC State and James Madison. Liberty now travels to Las Vegas where they face #11 Ohio State on Friday and #16 California on Saturday as part of the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout.
Other Sports update
Your weekly non-football Fall sports update:
- Freshman Ednah Kurgat made program history with her 12th place finish in the women’s 6K in last week’s NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. She became the Lady Flames’ first-ever NCAA Division I women’s cross country All-American.
FlameFans thread of the week
This week’s FlameFans thread of the week is Season postmortem as we try to put our final thoughts on Liberty’s 2015 football season.
