Photo Courtesy LibertyFlames.com

When previewing the game this week, Liberty head coach Turner Gill stated there were 3 key areas of emphasis: turnovers, tackling, and touchdowns. The “3 T’s.” Coach Gill said Liberty must win each of these 3 areas in order to win the game. Well, they certainly did as the won the turnover battle 5-0, scored a touchdown on their only trip inside the 10 yard line, and was solid in their tackling.

In Liberty’s first ever win over a top 10 opponent, Liberty (5-5, 4-1 Big South) knocked off #6 Stony Brook (9-2, 5-1) 28-14. The win extends Liberty’s Big South record of 18 consecutive home conference wins. This dates all the way back to 2006. It also keeps alive Liberty’s hopes of finishing the season with a winning record for the 7th consecutive season, and an outside shot at capturing the Big South’s auto-bid.  

Liberty did not score on offense in the second half, but it was the defense that catapulted them to the victory. Two 2nd half turnovers resulted in returns for touchdowns. These 2 turnovers went along with a total of 5 forced turnovers for the Liberty defense who had only forced 5 turnovers for the entire season coming into the game. 

Brian Hudson, who was the starting quarterback at the beginning of the season, but has been relegated to a reserve “wildcat” role since early in the season, scored Liberty’s only 2 offensive touchdowns. One was a 49 yard touchdown pass to running back Desmond Rice, and the other was a 4 yard run. 

But the story of the game was Liberty’s defense holding Stony Brook’s vaunted rushing attack to 156 yards rushing. Miguel Maysonet had just 70 yards rushing. Stony Brook came into the game averaging over 40 points per game, but the Flames defense held them to just 14. The defense was able to force Stony Brook quarterback Kyle Essington to throw more than he is used to as he attempted 31 passes.

Stony Brook has completed their regular season, and will now await to see what their playoff fate is when the FCS pairings are announced.

Liberty closes out their regular season with a trip to Lexington, VA to take on the Keydets of VMI. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30.