Game Notes:

Liberty came out with a solid first drive of the game, but things shifted quickly after Presbyterian blocked Liberty’s field goal and recovered in Flame territory. They would take it down to the seven yard line but were held to a field goal.

Presbyterian 3, Liberty 0.

The Flames had a chance to capitalize on a Presbyterian fumble that gave the Flames a first down from the Blue Hose 11, but were stuffed on a fourth down attempt.

Presbyterian 3, Liberty 0.

Liberty would take their first lead of the game with 12:24 in the second quarter on a drive that was kickstarted by Zac Parker’s 23 yard punt return. Todd Macon would take it around the edge from 24 yards out to cap off the first touchdown of the game. Macon bounced outside more than usual this game, and looked pretty agile in the open field.

Presbyterian 3, Liberty 7.

A punt fest ensued for the remainder of the second quarter as there were 6 total punts in the quarter. Both defenses found their footholds.

Presbyterian 3, Liberty 7.

Presbyterian took control in the third quarter as they gashed Liberty on a 7 minute drive to take a 10-7 lead. The drive was 82 yards, while the Blue Hose were held to just 71 yards in the entire first half. A crucial play came when Ben Cheek was able to break a tackle to pick up a first down on 4th and 6. Presbyterian 10, Liberty 7.

Liberty, meanwhile, totaled just 2 yards the entire 3rd quarter, and were completely shut down by Presbyterian.

Presbyterian 10, Liberty 7.

Presbyterian would have another huge drive that lasted 6:22. Ben Cheek actually took the ball into the end zone from 30 yards out in what would have made the game two possessions with around 8 minutes left in the game. Fortunately, the play was overturned and gave Liberty an opportunity to hold Presby from the 11. The defense came up with a huge stop and held the Blue Hose to a field goal, making the game 13-7 rather than 17-7.

Presbyterian 13, Liberty 7.

With 6:52 left in the game, Woodrum hooked up with Peterson multiple times en route to a Des Rice touchdown drive that gave the Flames a 14-13 lead.

Presbyterian 13, Liberty 14.

Ben Cheek almost immediately threw an interception on a ball that deflected high off a Presbyterian receiver and right into the hands of Jimmy O’ Grady. Liberty began their drive from Presbyterian’s 9 yard line and a Todd Macon rush would put the Flames up 21-13 with 1:43 left in the contest. Still just a one possession lead.

Presbyterian 13, Liberty 21.

Tyrin Holloway would all but seal things for Liberty with an interception with 1:16 in the contest.

FINAL Presbyterian 13, Liberty 21.

Thoughts:

Liberty narrowly avoided what would have been an embarrassing loss at home to 1-7 Presbyterian. I know they have a solid defense, but this offense has too many playmakers to have been stagnant for the majority of the game.

I think it is worth noting that Presbyterian is much better than their record shows. They have had a number of tight, down to the wire contests, this year.

Des couldn’t do anything on the ground for the Flames. While a lot of the blame should fall on the push of the O-line, Macon looked much better, finding room around the outside a couple of times.

The defense played valiantly, holding Presbyterian a couple times with their backs against the wall, giving the offense the chances they needed at the end.

With that said, Flames still need to do a better job wrapping up and containing running quarterbacks.

If the Big South didn’t have replay review, I don’t know if the Flames could have pulled this one out. Presby went up 17-7 with around 8 minutes to go, but the touchdown was overturned. The way our offense was playing, I didn’t see us scoring twice at the time.

Once Liberty took a 14-13 lead, Presbyterian was done for. They didn’t have the sort of passing game necessary to drive down the field late game. They threw two interceptions on their final two drives.

Josh Woodrum had a rough game, going 16-33 with an interception and no touchdowns. The senior quarterback had some questionable throws at the end of game that could have been very costly, but was able to get the job done. He also broke the Big South record for career passing yards on the go-ahead drive.

We had another blocked kick, so that’s still a problem.

Liberty is now 4-0 at home and 1-4 on the road. No doubt the Flames are much more comfortable in the Bill.

Now that Charleston Southern has clinched the conference auto-bid, it is no longer about just winning for the Flames. They need to win games impressively if they are to receive an at-large bid.

Granted, there are still two great chances to impress the playoff committee, I think its safe to say that the 21-13 win over 1-7 Presbyterian will not be impressive enough to do much for the Flames’ playoff chances.