In 2012, Josh Woodrum was not much more than a game manager. Expectations of him were to keep the Flames in the game while other players would make the big plays. He was considered to be doing well if his TD/INT ratio was above 50/50, and was given no opportunity to lead as he was involved in a position battle. In 2013, Josh has pushed himself to a whole new level.
“I was more of a game manager last year, and now I’m more of a focal point of the offense, so everyone looks to me to make plays.”
Woodrum rushed for a total of -3 yards in 2012, but already has 74 yards on the ground thus far in 2013.
In 2012, Woodrum accounted for only 44% of Liberty’s offensive yards, but this year that number has jumped to 54%, and 67% if you take out the Kentucky Wesleyan game in which the second team played most of the contest.
Josh told us yesterday he added a lot to his game in the offseason. After dealing with a lingering hamstring injury throughout last season, he said he focused on his mobility for this year. It has definitely shown on the field as Josh has run with a sense of fearlessness when needing to pick up tough yards on the ground for the Flames. Josh also talked about wanting to make the big plays for the Flames and working on his downfield accuracy. “I missed a couple of shots that could have blown games wide open” he said, ” this year I feel like I’ve taken advantage of a lot of those plays.”
Failure can be devastating for a player that exemplifies ambition the way Josh does. When I brought up the Old Dominion loss he told us about how tough it was to get past the heartbreaker. “We were real down. I was talking to Kevin Fogg and we were like, man I don’t even want to play football anymore, it was really that emotional.” A huge matchup with Coastal Carolina with Big South Championship implications on the line may be just what Woodrum and the Flames needed to help them regain their fire. “We are amped for this game” he told us when the Chanticleers were brought up, “We are ready.”
There are a lot of interesting match ups to watch this week. One of the them will be seeing how Woodrum and the Flames offense operate against Quinn Backus, the 2012 Big South Defensive Player of the Year. Backus totaled an eye popping 139 tackles last year, setting a Coastal Carolina record. Josh told us that he isn’t intimidated. “Quite honestly, no one really intimidates me on the field. You have to respect players when they are good, and obviously he’s a good player who makes plays and is very instinctive.” One of the best at reading plays, we’ll see how well Backus is able to diagnose what Woodrum throws at him Saturday. You’ll want to keep an eye on this matchup for sure.
“Being a quarterback is real unique, when you have one coming back it’s special because you know you have a leader coming back” Woodrum said in acknowledgement of his leadership role in this year’s offense.
After losing his entire receiving corps last year, there were a lot of questions about whether all the new faces would be able to perform. Josh explained that the chemistry with this group is actually even better. “Losing Pat and all those receivers last year, I wasn’t really worried because the people I had been working with had been Dante, Gabe, and Petey since I’ve been here. We’ve always had good chemistry.” His stats have reflected this chemistry as he is on pace to do better in almost every category, and has shown a lot more willingness to throw the ball downfield this season.
Having a determined young quarterback coupled with young receivers that are already having success gives Liberty fans high hopes for the future. There’s really no limit to how good this group could be.
We’d like to thank Josh for the interview, and wish him the best of luck as he continues to reach his potential and lead the Flames.
Now that the season is at its halfway point, here’s a review of our spotlight series:
Week 7: Walt Aikens
Week 6: Cory Freeman
Week 5: Gabe Henderson
Week 4: Kevin Fogg
Week 3: Grant Bowden
Week 2: Darrin Peterson
Week 1: Scott Hyland
