A few quick-hit notes following the matchup between #7 Montana and #14 Liberty, the first ever Top 15 matchup at Williams Stadium:
- The biggest keys to this game for Liberty were possessing the ball with long, sustaining drives and keeping the Grizzlies out of the end zone with their bend, but don’t break defense. Well, Liberty won the time of possession battle 36:13-23:47. The Grizzlies first three trips to the red zone ended in just 6 points, and they scored on just 3 of their 6 red zone opportunities.
- The Flames got off to a terrific start taking the opening drive 74 yards in 5:38 for a touchdown. Then the defense forced a quick 3 & out, and 1 play later Woodrum connected with Dante Shells for a 72 yard touchdown strike. 7 minutes in and its 14-0 Flames.
- Coach Wimberly had the Flames’ defense playing very well tonight. Montana had just 62 yards of offense in the first quarter. Holding this team to 19 points (21 if you count the last second safety) is no small feat. The Grizzlies had 459 and 544 yards in their first 2 games under new head coach Bob Stitt. Liberty held them to 303 yards. Montana only had 21 rushing yards on 26 carries.
- The Flames’ had some very aggressive play calling all night. Coach Gill even elected to go for it on 4th down from the Flames’ own 39 yard line.
- Coach Stamn opened up the playbook tonight using Stephon Masha on several occasions. We even saw a WR pass from true freshman Damian King that resulted in a touchdown. It’s easy to say the Flames’ played the first two games very vanilla.
- Montana’s starting quarterback Brady Gustafson got hurt midway through the 2nd quarter and left the game with the Griz trailing, 17-0. His back up, Chad Chalich replaced him and led Montana on 12 unanswered points to close the half giving Montana the momentum going into the break.
- Liberty responded after the break forcing a 3 & out and then a quick strike touchdown to stretch the lead back to double digits, 24-12 early in the 3rd quarter.
- Montana was driving late in the 3rd quarter, and they got all the way to the 1 yard line before Grizzlies running back Joey Counts fumbled. The Flames recovered and that was pretty much the game.
- Williams Stadium set a new record with 22,551 fans in attendance.
- Huge win! Not just for this season, but for the program. String together multiple seasons with wins over teams like the #1 team in the nation, James Madison, and Montana, and people will start noticing. We can’t give it up though and lose to Southern Illinois next week. That will be a tough game. But let’s enjoy this one tonight!
