As Liberty prepares for it's toughest football this Saturday at West Virginia, some thoughts on the Delaware State game and LU's chances against WVU.

- the first 2-3 possessions the defensive line of Delaware State shut down the LU running attack. Several running plays were for loses and the OL of LU seemed over matched. About the 3rd possession, things began to change and adjustments were made and Rice seemed the better option against the Hornets defense. Great awareness and recognition by the LU coaches to realize the defensive scheme and to adjust. Results, Rice 149 yards and Abner 89 yards. That tandum as Knucklehead posted on Twitter is as strong as anybody certainly in the BSC, maybe FCS and possibly even more.

- penalties, With a 7:10pm start and about 10:20 ending, it was a LONG game. Granted it was the first game for both teams and one can expect timing issues, especially with newer players, but this needs to be corrected and addressed immediately. LU should have had a winning margin of at least 2 more touchdowns but were bogged down with penalties. With WVU on the horizon, this needs to be fixed this week in practice or a long day for LU as for GaSo.

- defense, LU kept constant pressure on the DS quarterback, which in turn created turnovers and only allowed 49 yards rushing for the game. Outstanding.

- Woodrum, senior that was calm and provided leadership with strong play and passing skill. His interception was a tipped ball and not a poor throw. His long TD throw to Peterson was on the money and his tight, short passes were accurate and decisive.

And now West Virginia. Georgia Southern was drubbed by WVU 44-0. GaSo, as the team favored to win the Sun Belt Conference, that was a reality check for the Panthers. Let's hope GaSo is not that bad and that the Mountaineers are not that good.

Lastly, LU has played WVU in WV before and should not be intimidated by their fans and setting. LU's opportunity to win this game, or the two strong points LU can hope to use to it's advantage to win are, the OL opening holes for Abner and Rice and strong running performances by them. We know they can juke (Abner) and run with power (Rice) with speed. If holes are open, LU can control some of the clock and keep WVU off the field.

Defense - LU's front line appears strong. The secondary is suspect and can be expected to be exploited. The linebackers played well on Saturday with big hits (O'Grady) and will need another strong performance on Saturday.

How can LU win?
- fewer penalties
- strong OL line play to help the running backs
- Abner and Rice to pound the ball and have games approaching 100 yards
- safeties and db backs to limit big plays
- control the clock keeping WVU off the field

Unlike other years when LU was playing strong FBS programs, a possibility now exists that a big time upset could happen. With an excellent quarterback and running backs, LU has the opportunity to make this close. And if is close going into the 4th quarter, who knows. Just ask App St or JMU. It can happen.

WVA's stomping of Georgia Southern was impressive. I don't think Gill showed many of his cards last night. We'll see a few more this week. GO FLAMES!

I certainly am not saying Liberty will win, but I do expect the margin to be far less than the GaSo spread.

Ad for the DSU game, it's about what I expected. There was some good play and some sloppy play. The main thing I came away with was there were far too many penalties.

(09-06-2015 11:43 AM)army56mike Wrote:  I certainly am not saying Liberty will win, but I do expect the margin to be far less than the GaSo spread.

Ad for the DSU game, it's about what I expected. There was some good play and some sloppy play. The main thing I came away with was there were far too many penalties.

LU will be like GaSo if we have lots of penalties and turnovers. If we can stay close and keep the time of possession in our favor by successfully running the ball we'll have a chance.