A few quick-hit notes following Liberty’s huge, 22-16, win against Troy:

  • That’s arguably Liberty’s biggest win in school history. Only the win over Baylor could be considered to be against a better team. The Trojans entered the game 5-1, having won 5 straight, receiving top 25 votes, winners of 12 of their last 13 games, and winners of 7 straight road games dating back to last season. That streak was the 3rd longest in the country behind Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
  • After struggling defensive performances most of the season, Liberty made an adjustment by moving defensive coordinator Robert Wimberly to the press box. He hadn’t coached from there since 2003 when he was a grad assistant at Wisconsin.
  • The Flames’ defense responded, holding Troy to 293 total offensive yards, the first time Liberty held an opponent to less than 300 yards all season. The Flames’ made new QB Sawyer Smith, in for the injured Kaleb Barker who tore his ACL last week, drive the field. On 2 trips in the red zone, Troy had to settle for field goals both times.
  • With Liberty trailing, 16-14, and only 6 minutes left in the game, Buckshot led the offense on a 14 play, 89 yard drive that took 4:03 and put the Flames ahead. On the drive, Buckshot converted 3 third downs, two of them 3rd and 10 or longer. On the drive, he completed 5-of-7 passes for 69 yards and a 9 yard touchdown pass to BJ Farrow. Hickson also had 6 carries on the drive for 33 yards.
  • Antonio Gandy-Golden was a late scratch from the game due to having mono. His absence left a once deep receiving corp suddenly very thin. Damian King and JT Wood also missed the game due to an injury and Kevin Shaa has elected to redshirt.  Redshirt-freshman Khaleb Coleman made his first career start, and caught a touchdown pass in the process.
  • On one drive late in the 3rd quarter, sophomore Jayod Sanders had a tackle, tackle for loss, and sack to force a Troy 3 & out.
  • For the 2nd straight home game, Liberty punter Aidan Alves had a rough afternoon. He had two 9 yard punts and one that only traveled 21 yards. He finished the game with an average of 28 yards per punt on his 9 punts. Fortunately, it didn’t cost the Flames.
  • For the first home game this season, we had nearly perfect weather. It was a welcome sight after two games delayed due to lightning and the Norfolk State game being postponed to December 1st.
  • The new press box on the east side of the stadium was opened for the first time. It’s a huge upgrade from the old press box. There’s enough seats for about 40 members of the press, compared to about 12 in the old press box. It’s definitely an FBS level press box.
  • There were AutoNation Cure Bowl representatives in attendance for the game. As announced before the season, Liberty is a fallback option for the Cure Bowl if either the Sun Belt or Conference USA don’t have enough bowl eligible teams.