North Texas leads Liberty 21-7 in lightning delay

Here’s a quick update on the first half and first few minutes of the 3rd quarter action, before we entered the 2nd lightning delay of the game:

• 3rd scheduled home game and 3rd straight weather nightmare. After a 50 minute lightning delay against Old Dominion and the Norfolk State game being postponed due to Hurricane Florence, the Flames and Mean Green had to wait an extra 45 minutes to kickoff thanks to lightning. Rain and wind were steady throughout the evening.
• On each of Liberty’s first two possessions, the Flames were unable to convert on 3rd and long pass plays. Each time, the receiver was bumped by the North Texas defender, but no flag was thrown, much to the chagrin of Liberty offensive coordinator Joe Dailey. Mason Fine and the Mean Green quickly marched downfield on their first two possessions to take an early 14-0 lead.
• After falling behind 14-0, Buckshot led the Flames’ offense into the red zone as LU looked to cut the deficit in half. Facing a 2nd and 6 at the 8 yard line, Calvert tried to hit Farrow on a slant in the end zone. He was open, but Khairi Muhammad who intercepted his 3rd pass in two weeks to end the Flames’ drive.
• Liberty’s defense settled in and stopped the Mean Green offense on 4 consecutive drives to keep the Flames in the game.
• It took Liberty just 4 plays to go 67 yards in 1:09 to finally get on the scoreboard and cut the lead to 14-7. Buckshot connected with AGG for 30 yards, then Farrow for 37 yards, before finding B.J. in the end zone for a nice 4 yard touchdown grab.
• After the 4th consecutive defensive stop of a UNT drive, Liberty got the ball back at their own 19 yard line with 2 minutes left in the first half. 3 quick incomplete passes from Buckshot led to a Flames’ punt after just a 28 second drive. This left Mason Fine with plenty of time to march downfield and score a touchdown prior to half to push the Mean Green to a 21-7 lead.
• Perhaps due to the weather, Liberty punter Aidan Alves struggled. His first 3 punts traveled just 65 yards with a long of 26 giving the Mean Green good field position throughout the first half.
• North Texas got the ball to start the 2nd half, but was forced to punt after driving to midfield. The Flames picked up two first downs, moving the ball to their own 44 yard line. At that time, the game was suspended due to the 2nd lightning delay of the game.