Anything and everything about Liberty Flames football. Your comments on games, recruiting and the direction of the program as we move into new era.

Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke, Class of 20Something

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By Racenut
Registration Days Posts
#632314
Hate to lose one this way after having chances and the courageous effort to come back. We score with the 4th and goal and the coach is a genius and I'm sure no one feels worse than Malik about the fumble. Obvious good adjustments at half time but #34 was a beast. Hope the guys can shake it off, UAB always has guys who couldn't quite get into Auburn or Alabama. Seem to remember being upset about a loss to Presbyterian that most likely kept us out of the FCS playoffs not too long ago. My how far we have come.
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By LUOrange
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#632315
Despite giving up all of the rushing yards, I thought our D responded and played well.
Between another missed FG and all of the K/PR penalties, our Special Teams needs some help.
Don't know what happened to our OL, but Troy and Syracuse have got to Malik way too easily and often. UAB, Ole Miss, ULL, and Army all could be hairy if they don't figure it out.
Seems like TJ Green needs more carries. However, our RB's will do better when we fix the OL issues.
Should've kicked the FG on 4th or at least thrown the ball.
We have an over reliance on Malik, which is probably partly why we didn't kick it and why he didn't just take the sack.
We don't run the up tempo/hurry-up/no huddle/warp speed enough. We should've ran it more against NC State, Troy, and now Syracuse. We needed to wear all of their D's out quicker.
Freeze, Malik, and Co. are entitled to not be perfect all of the time.
#BeatUAB!
Last edited by LUOrange on September 25th, 2021, 12:23 am, edited 2 times in total.
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By jinxy
Registration Days Posts
#632316
Hchf 4 life but im not a fan of his end of game management. Also barbir has to be replaced. It is what it is.
Hate the designed runs in tight red zone. Shoukd be pass plays to spread them out and then let malik do his thing.
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By LU 57
Posts
#632317
Yeah I was thinking we have one of the best QBs in the country, if not the best. I know he is a great great runner, but everyone is expecting that. Let him throw it!! Roll him out and give him the option to throw or run if nothing is there.

Oh well. HCHF has turned this whole operation around, so he is entitled to an occasional mistake🤣.
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By rtb72
Posts
#632319
LUOrange wrote: ↑September 25th, 2021, 12:07 am Despite giving up all of the rushing yards, I thought our D responded and played well.
Between another missed FG and all of the K/PR penalties, our Special Teams needs some help.
Don't know what happened to our OL, but Troy and Syracuse jave hot to Malik way too easily and often. UAB, Ole Miss, ULL, and Army all could be hairy if they don't figure it out.
Seems like TJ Green needs more carries. However, our TB's will do better when we fix the OL issues.
Should've kicked the FG on 4th or at least thrown the ball.
We have an over reliance on Malik, which is probably partly why we didn't kick it and why he didn't just take the sack.
We don't run the up tempo/hurry-up/no huddle/warp speed enough. We should've ran it more against NC State, Troy, and now Syracuse. We needed to wear all of their D's out quicker.
Freeze, Malik, and Co. are entitled to not be perfect all of the time.
#BeatUAB!
By paradox
Registration Days Posts
#632322
In the final analysis, Freeze trusted the O-line on that 4th down play. That's where he placed his bet. He believes in his players. It's time for them to step up. As far as the turnover goes, Malik trusted his protection, he saw something downfield, tried to make a play. An extra split second, and he probably connects. Obviously, the O-line needs to get better. Otherwise, we fall short.
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By Kricket
Registration Days Posts
#632324
I'm with everyone else. I'm grateful we can be upset about a road ACC loss. We've come so far.

One thing I'd like to see is Malik having the chance to throw the ball more. He's an efficient passer but we don't give him too many chances to throw.

Anywho, tough loss, but UAB is tough too, gotta refocus fast.
By willflop
Posts
#632326
At least for Willis' sake, with all eyes on him, he still completed more than 73% of his passes with no interceptions, unlike the NC State fiasco. After we come out of the half with a 3 and out, then they get a TD to go up 21 to 7, I thought we were on pace to get royally embarrassed.

Syracuse had to basically run a gimmick game plan to beat us. Their one dimensional pass it off to 34 every time isn't sustainable and isn't going to work against anyone else in the ACC. And in reality, it didn't even work against us.

Going into this game, we were ranked 96th in the country for sacks allowed. Syracuse is going to add six more sacks to this, so it's very likely we could of be one of the worst teams in the country for this category. I'm not sure what the root problem is here, but it's no longer just a fluke.
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By JK37
Registration Days Posts
#632327
I’m not ever happy with a loss. Some of you are resting on laurels and program improvement.

“Can you believe we’re calling a loss to an ACC team an upset?!” Are you kidding me?!

I was yelling for the FG the whole time. Confidence in OL wasn’t deserved. Previous runs inside the 5 hadn’t worked. We needed two full yards. Confidence in the D was warranted at that point, and was confirmed again on the next drive. Sidebar: Barbir’s confidence must be nil now. Take your first lead and trust your D. I’m sure Malik wanted the ball on fourth down. Part of leading is knowing what’s best for followers even when they don’t.

I cannot fault Malik for fumbling trying to be Superman. Coaches put him in that situation by what they did on the previous drive. He’s a competitor, you want him straining. That’s what’s gotten him this far. What we saw there was the bad side of that. He does hang on to the ball too long; we all know that. Sometimes the magic happens, sometimes not. Gotta live with it.

Then the clock management was a total mystery.

After all this: Coaching (defensive adjustments) got LU back into the game. And Coaching (HC decisions) lost LU the game.

Thing is, I’m sure the coaches know this and are sick with themselves today. Could be fixable.
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By Kricket
Registration Days Posts
#632328
JK37 wrote: ↑September 25th, 2021, 9:41 am I’m not ever happy with a loss. Some of you are resting on laurels and program improvement.

“Can you believe we’re calling a loss to an ACC team an upset?!” Are you kidding me?!

I was yelling for the FG the whole time. Confidence in OL wasn’t deserved. Previous runs inside the 5 hadn’t worked. We needed two full yards. Confidence in the D was warranted at that point, and was confirmed again on the next drive. Sidebar: Barbir’s confidence must be nil now. Take your first lead and trust your D. I’m sure Malik wanted the ball on fourth down. Part of leading is knowing what’s best for followers even when they don’t.

I cannot fault Malik for fumbling trying to be Superman. Coaches put him in that situation by what they did on the previous drive. He’s a competitor, you want him straining. That’s what’s gotten him this far. What we saw there was the bad side of that. He does hang on to the ball too long; we all know that. Sometimes the magic happens, sometimes not. Gotta live with it.

Then the clock management was a total mystery.

After all this: Coaching (defensive adjustments) got LU back into the game. And Coaching (HC decisions) lost LU the game.

Thing is, I’m sure the coaches know this and are sick with themselves today. Could be fixable.
I don't see how you can't do both. Understand how far we come and still not be happy with a loss.

The players and coaches already know what went wrong, to your point. Not worth dwelling on... yet. Fix it, and move on.
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By TH Spangler
Registration Days Posts
#632329
Not trying to second guess anything when I say this. My 2 disappointments are, Willis in true NFL form brought him team back from an impossible second half deficit for what should have been a showcase win. And Alex really needed to make a FG to put us back up, to build confidence going forward.
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By LUOrange
Posts
#632335
TH Spangler wrote: ↑September 25th, 2021, 9:03 am :lol:

https://www.si.com/college/syracuse/foo ... ls-liberty
And to think that when this 2 for 1 contract was signed, they were expecting 3 easy wins. Now they're celebrating a very close win against a 3rd-4th year independent FBS team still with a significant number of FCS players.

It's too bad that this series has come to an end and that the ultra liberal-hokey-wokey Syracuse sports media and student body had to be their pitiful selves and harass the Syracuse Admin liked they did. Cause this turned out to be a nice little rivalry that'd I'd love to see continue.
By paradox
Registration Days Posts
#632341
Syracuse has a rich FB tradition. They are a proud eastern program. They absolutely hate losing to us. Last year, we could sneak up on people. This year they're throwing the kitchen sink at us. This would especially be the case here because they got smoked last year.
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By TH Spangler
Registration Days Posts
#632342
What was the penalty for when we had them stopped deep in their end? They went on a long scoring drive after it. I missed the call. It turned out to be as big as the play calling late.
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#632347
Thanks to @Cider Jim spoiling the final result for me I haven’t had a sense of urgency to watch this game and probably won’t.

For those questioning HCHF decisions I laugh. LU is still the kid trying to break into the party. You need to take high risk high reward opportunities in order to do that. You don’t get noticed for playing it safe.
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By rtb72
Posts
#632364
Purple Haize wrote: ↑September 25th, 2021, 1:56 pm Thanks to @Cider Jim spoiling the final result for me I haven’t had a sense of urgency to watch this game and probably won’t.

For those questioning HCHF decisions I laugh. LU is still the kid trying to break into the party. You need to take high risk high reward opportunities in order to do that. You don’t get noticed for playing it safe.
Absolutely. And FB is a game of inches. He played his gut and came up short. If we had gotten it...he'd been a hero, but now, everyone knows better. I think we grow from this and will be more hungry than ever. Fixes will be made. UAB, unfortunately for them, is next on our schedule. The way I look at it, the season begins now.
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By LUDad
Posts
#632370
Purple Haize wrote: ↑September 25th, 2021, 1:56 pm Thanks to @Cider Jim spoiling the final result for me I haven’t had a sense of urgency to watch this game and probably won’t.

For those questioning HCHF decisions I laugh. LU is still the kid trying to break into the party. You need to take high risk high reward opportunities in order to do that. You don’t get noticed for playing it safe.
Speaking of risk/reward situations...Do you think that style points ever enter into PART of the equation when making a decision? For instance, going for a TD to cover the line vs. attempting a FG?
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#632371
LUDad wrote: ↑September 25th, 2021, 9:19 pm
Purple Haize wrote: ↑September 25th, 2021, 1:56 pm Thanks to @Cider Jim spoiling the final result for me I haven’t had a sense of urgency to watch this game and probably won’t.

For those questioning HCHF decisions I laugh. LU is still the kid trying to break into the party. You need to take high risk high reward opportunities in order to do that. You don’t get noticed for playing it safe.
Speaking of risk/reward situations...Do you think that style points ever enter into PART of the equation when making a decision? For instance, going for a TD to cover the line vs. attempting a FG?
From a coaching standpoint? No. From my standpoint ? It should :D
By rtb72
Posts
#632376
rtb72 wrote: ↑September 25th, 2021, 7:40 pm
Purple Haize wrote: ↑September 25th, 2021, 1:56 pm Thanks to @Cider Jim spoiling the final result for me I haven’t had a sense of urgency to watch this game and probably won’t.

For those questioning HCHF decisions I laugh. LU is still the kid trying to break into the party. You need to take high risk high reward opportunities in order to do that. You don’t get noticed for playing it safe.
Absolutely. And FB is a game of inches. He played his gut and came up short. If we had gotten it...he'd been a hero, but now, everyone knows better than HCHF on how it should have been played. I think we grow from this and will be more hungry than ever. Fixes will be made. UAB, unfortunately for them, is next on our schedule. The way I look at it, the season begins now.
Last edited by rtb72 on September 26th, 2021, 10:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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By thepostman
Registration Days Posts
#632387
I wasn't really so upset with the decision to not kick a FG. Especially with how our kicking game has been thus far. My biggest head scratching moment was the clock management and challenging that fumble. 3 timeouts could've gone a long way.

Regardless, Syracuse was amped up for this game for a lot of different reasons. There were plenty of things we could've done better in all 3 areas of the game and with coaching.

Hopefully they learn from it and grow.

Side note, I wish we would stop slowing things down. It is frustrating.
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By LibertyMan
Posts
#632390
Look...It does not matter how good Malik Willis is, a one-dimensional Liberty offense will struggle greatly against better competition. There is absolutely NO power coming out of the backfield from the run game. There also seems to be NO Loyalty to Joshua Mack who has contributed greatly to our run game over the past 2 seasons. Why bring back a "Super Senior" with all his upside ability and virtually bench the kid for a newcomer with no proven history at this level??? It is glaringly disrespectful. I don't want to hear all the poor excuses about how Mack is not showing enthusiasm nonsense. Hard to be enthusiastic when you are not being allowed to contribute. Sean Tucker managed 32 carries as the main RB for cuse. Mack should be getting 25-30+ carries per game...PERIOD. Shedro should be running more Jet Sweeps, passes out of the slot, and Flanker (Old School) positions putting him in open space where he does his best work. And Green should be coming in to give Mack a blow as an incoming underclassman. Willis should NOT be relied on to run more than the RBs. We run too many RPOs that take away from establishing a consistent run game out of the backfield and keeps Willis more prone to injury, sacks, and fumbles. This is a "desperation style" of game approach. This is not Hugh Freeze football!
By paradox
Registration Days Posts
#632391
Noticed we were running a number of two tight end sets to help with the blocking. Also, Shedro's big run involved Huntley sliding into the backfield and making the key block.

With this current unit, Mack is simply not quick enough to be productive. TJ and Shedro are both quick enough to find those tight spaces when they appear.

I think it all goes back to what HF said a couple of weeks ago....poor technique....poor execution. Bottom line, you have to be demanding if you want to win. It's eleven guys coming together as one team. Can't be lackadaisical. You have to be intense.
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