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 TH Spangler
Registration Days Posts
#645192
jamesda3asu wrote: September 18th, 2022, 1:02 am
JK37 wrote: September 17th, 2022, 8:33 pm I like the decision, and I don’t mind the call. (Maybe living in Philly is getting to me!). But the execution was poor. CJ barely looked Pass, tucked it way too early. So maybe prep was the issue. Definitely execution.

All those Wake fans talking smack about WF. You just got exposed. Clemson will destroy you.
Trying to remain objective but Wake looked the worst they have in years on Offense.
Liberty D is legit.
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By Ill flame
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#645193
I'm concerned about the number of injuries that are piling up. We had 6 players out for this game not including green who practiced this week and is expected to return next week in some capacity. Louis, Watkins and bodden all got hurt early in the game and never returned. Bodden ended up coming out of the locker room in a sling after the first half so I imagine he's out for awhile. We are now down 7 offensive players from our 2 deep. Luckily we should be able to run up the score early against akron and get our starters off the field.
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By LUGrad2000
Registration Days Posts
#645194
jmclaughlin wrote: September 18th, 2022, 12:41 am
LUGrad2000 wrote: September 17th, 2022, 9:45 pm Very proud of this team. Defense played great. Offense kept playing without quitting. Loved going for the win. Conversion would have been great had it worked. Their defense played it well. Worst part of the night was the ACC Network. They are beyond awful. Our production is miles ahead.
Flatbacks X 100
Duck walk X 50
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By Cider Jim
Registration Days Posts
#645196
After the game, we earned the respect of some Wake fans on their message board:

We were outgained, outcoached, outplayed by a team who wanted it more. And we won. That’s certainly a new level in our program...

Liberty was crashing down and blowing up the mesh so that Sam couldn’t “ride it” with the RB to read the defense, and one of the interesting things I saw is that in defense we were getting a lot more pressure on the QB than usual, but Liberty adjusted to our aggressiveness and started handing the ball off to the RB after our line got in the backfield, and once Libertys QB started rolling out and throwing on the run he was much more effective because he engaged our linebackers and his receivers were able to scramble open...

why couldnt we run the ball?...There was no place to run...

We did not adjust to libertys defense. They were giving up a lot underneath and taking away everything downfield. If we can’t run we need a better intermediate passing attack...

That’s the most impotent rushing performance I remember from a Wake team. I’m sure there have been some worse ones although it’s hard to beat the RBs getting 15 carries for 13 yards.

The Liberty DLs backed up their smack talk. They completely stuffed the RPO. It was embarrassing to watch. They forced Hartman to make plays on his own and he struggled. It looked like Hartman strained to get the ball out. No idea if he’s hurt but he through some poor balls. Anything less from the WRs and this is a horrible loss...

Liberty played well enough to win. We made just enough plays to barely win. Liberty clearly had the better-balanced offense tonight and won in the trenches on both sides.

Hugh Freeze is a hell of a coach...

Salter was the highest rated guy on the field tonight. He was 4* Tennessee transfer
Last edited by Cider Jim on September 18th, 2022, 3:52 pm, edited 4 times in total.
By Dalegarz1
Posts
#645198
I thought the decision to go for 2 was the right one. The play call would probably been successful if they were in man coverage, as HF pointed out, since the defenders would have been cleared out by our receivers running crossing routes. My only suggestion would be to run that play off of motion to see in they were in man or zone and, if the latter, audible out of it.
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#645200
LibertyD wrote: September 18th, 2022, 1:55 am Nothing nuts about it. All this going for the win in that situation was analytically incorrect. We tried it with Syracuse last year. Didn’t work with Willis. Freeze trick plays don’t work. Period. Stop being happy with less. That play was a terrible call. Our buys had momentum. If your going to go for it, call a better play! I don’t care about CUSA conference stuff. Put our boys in the best position to win every game!
Analytics :roll: You also just contradicted yourself. If your team has momentum (LU did) then you why kill it by going for a tie? The momentum puts you over the top to get the 2 pt conversation. The momentum jacks up the defensive effort. Playing for the tie, playing not to lose, saps your teams momentum. They will play tighter in OT and sends a message you don’t believe in them.
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By JK37
Registration Days Posts
#645201
I’ve watched the replay now a dozen times. #17-Khaleb Coleman was open. If CJ is your passer, he sure gave up on the pass waaaay too soon.

So one can argue whether or not going for two was right; I happen to think it was the right decision.

One can argue with play selection. But it turns out, a player was open.

One can argue that execution by the player was poor. Turns out, they’d be right.

Coaches made plenty of mistakes last night. But to blame the coaches - or just the head coach - for what transpired in the last 10 seconds is illogical. He might choose to take some blame, keeping it off his players.

And I’m really at a loss for how anyone can say that as a fan base, to feel this way, is “settling for mediocrity.”
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By paradox
Registration Days Posts
#645202
Zone or not, it was a sound play. Multiple options from the first hand off. Coleman was open but CJY appeared to be too locked on KS. Also, seemed like CJY wanted to dive for the pylon, but KS mistakenly led his defender there. Bottom line, it wasn't executed, but Hugh took full responsibility because he gambled. No complaints because we need Hugh to keep gambling.
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#645203
JK37 wrote: September 18th, 2022, 8:38 am I’ve watched the replay now a dozen times. #17-Khaleb Coleman was open. If CJ is your passer, he sure gave up on the pass waaaay too soon.

So one can argue whether or not going for two was right; I happen to think it was the right decision.

One can argue with play selection. But it turns out, a player was open.

One can argue that execution by the player was poor. Turns out, they’d be right.

Coaches made plenty of mistakes last night. But to blame the coaches - or just the head coach - for what transpired in the last 10 seconds is illogical. He might choose to take some blame, keeping it off his players.

And I’m really at a loss for how anyone can say that as a fan base, to feel this way, is “settling for mediocrity.”
I’ll answer the last one, although I’m not 100% in agreement. Where is LU’s signature P5 win? Where is the win that puts them on the map? NGameDay did a whole segment on the SunBelt aka FunBelt and the big upsets teams have pulled there. Teams that a few years ago were LU’s peers. This could have been it. It wasn’t. And judging by future schedules those opportunities are going to be few and far between coming up. So yes LU is greatly improved. Yes LU going for it was the right decision. But at the end of the day it was still an L
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By JK37
Registration Days Posts
#645205
Purple Haize wrote: September 18th, 2022, 8:36 am
LibertyD wrote: September 18th, 2022, 1:55 am Nothing nuts about it. All this going for the win in that situation was analytically incorrect. We tried it with Syracuse last year. Didn’t work with Willis. Freeze trick plays don’t work. Period. Stop being happy with less. That play was a terrible call. Our buys had momentum. If your going to go for it, call a better play! I don’t care about CUSA conference stuff. Put our boys in the best position to win every game!
Analytics :roll: You also just contradicted yourself. If your team has momentum (LU did) then you why kill it by going for a tie? The momentum puts you over the top to get the 2 pt conversation. The momentum jacks up the defensive effort. Playing for the tie, playing not to lose, saps your teams momentum. They will play tighter in OT and sends a message you don’t believe in them.
These are reasons why I - and apparently Freeze, as well - was thing of going for two long before the ball fell in Douglas’ hands in the black painted area of the field. Regarding trust, if anything, Freeze did not trust our O or D in OT. Maybe a little of both?

I’m almost always the one who coached to extend the game. But in this case, on the road, 16-point dog, Wake’s offense humming again in the fourth quarter, our offense getting momentum down the field, our defense not able to strip them on the previous two drives, Wake’s defense adjusting to our runs up the middle, Salter only creating when scrambling (I suspect because of adjustments and shortening of playbook at half), our FG kicker struggling - and with a chance to avoid all that and WIN now. Yeah, give me the two-point conversion.
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By Cider Jim
Registration Days Posts
#645206
Purple Haize wrote: September 17th, 2022, 9:09 pm I loved going for the win
You and Ballcoach finally AGREE on something! :shock: He must have coached you up! :lol:
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#645208
Cider Jim wrote: September 18th, 2022, 8:48 am
Purple Haize wrote: September 17th, 2022, 9:09 pm I loved going for the win
You and Ballcoach finally AGREE on something! :shock: He must have coached you up! :lol:
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut. And we know his eyesight isn’t that great
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#645209
JK37 wrote: September 18th, 2022, 8:45 am
Purple Haize wrote: September 18th, 2022, 8:36 am
LibertyD wrote: September 18th, 2022, 1:55 am Nothing nuts about it. All this going for the win in that situation was analytically incorrect. We tried it with Syracuse last year. Didn’t work with Willis. Freeze trick plays don’t work. Period. Stop being happy with less. That play was a terrible call. Our buys had momentum. If your going to go for it, call a better play! I don’t care about CUSA conference stuff. Put our boys in the best position to win every game!
Analytics :roll: You also just contradicted yourself. If your team has momentum (LU did) then you why kill it by going for a tie? The momentum puts you over the top to get the 2 pt conversation. The momentum jacks up the defensive effort. Playing for the tie, playing not to lose, saps your teams momentum. They will play tighter in OT and sends a message you don’t believe in them.
These are reasons why I - and apparently Freeze, as well - was thing of going for two long before the ball fell in Douglas’ hands in the black painted area of the field. Regarding trust, if anything, Freeze did not trust our O or D in OT. Maybe a little of both?

I’m almost always the one who coached to extend the game. But in this case, on the road, 16-point dog, Wake’s offense humming again in the fourth quarter, our offense getting momentum down the field, our defense not able to strip them on the previous two drives, Wake’s defense adjusting to our runs up the middle, Salter only creating when scrambling (I suspect because of adjustments and shortening of playbook at half), our FG kicker struggling - and with a chance to avoid all that and WIN now. Yeah, give me the two-point conversion.

Plus you’re telling your Defense “just 1 stop”. That will give them any added juice they need in this situation. There are situations where you say “whew, let’s get this thing into OT” but this wasn’t one of them
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By Tnobes
Posts
#645210
#17 was open, too bad CJ didn't see him, it was a fine play and when they watch film of it, they will see they had it. Unfortunately they didn't get the 2 pt conversion but the team played well
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By LibertyD
Posts
#645212
It was a great team effort despite the loss. I just hate those East-West trick plays in the Redzone. They don’t for us. They just don’t. Didn’t work at NC State. Didn’t work at SU. And now WF. You just need more field for that stuff… Go for the win, but with a much better, well practiced play. We are apparently a “Go for 2 team.” Gotta get better prepared for this. dang I wanted that win for our boys! With that being said, if we continue to improve our pace, we could run the table. I’m feeling really good about our boys… Sorry if I sound bitter about that HF specialty play that never works. Lol!
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By rtb72
Posts
#645213
jamesda3asu wrote: September 18th, 2022, 1:02 am
JK37 wrote: September 17th, 2022, 8:33 pm I like the decision, and I don’t mind the call. (Maybe living in Philly is getting to me!). But the execution was poor. CJ barely looked Pass, tucked it way too early. So maybe prep was the issue. Definitely execution.

All those Wake fans talking smack about WF. You just got exposed. Clemson will destroy you.
Trying to remain objective but Wake looked the worst they have in years on Offense.
Not saying they didn't have an off game.....but could some of those struggles been...just maybe because...LU has a pretty good defense?
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By rtb72
Posts
#645214
jamesda3asu wrote: September 18th, 2022, 1:04 am
rtb72 wrote: September 17th, 2022, 10:38 pm Great game! LU's band, fans and student section should be really proud...because WF in those aspects was a bit...meh. Especially for homecoming. I digress; the team and staff did a great job! Nothing to be ashamed of and I am convinced our boys can compete at a high level. D was amazing. Looking forward to the rest of the season!

Wake fans were pretty nice. There were a few with "nose in the air" attitudes; they weren't ugly, but I caught a few eye rolls when I was cheering from the concourse waiting on grub.
To be fair Wake is the second smallest D1 University. 40k living alumni My class at Liberty was over 1/4th that
Still....it was homecoming and WF is a top 20 team. Even outside of their alumni base, students and associated folks, it was not what I expected. As best I could tell, their students were not nearly as loud and proud as ours...and maybe even less students attended than our last game. From living in Clemmons for a bit....WF has a good following throughout the Triad and most especially in the greater Winston area, even among non-alumni. I was just expecting a lot more folks than that, but granted....the number of fans on the hill may have compensated for the empty seats in the stands.
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By Cider Jim
Registration Days Posts
#645217
Unlike Purple/Ballcoach and others, I didn't want us to go for 2, but if you watch the replay, CJ had a receiver wide open directly in front of him, and had he seen him and made a decent throw, we would have won the game!

I know that our safety Scruggs was hurt, but he played QB in high school and probably would have made that throw 10 out of 10 times.
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#645221
Cider Jim wrote: September 18th, 2022, 3:25 pm Unlike Purple/Ballcoach and others, I didn't want us to go for 2, but if you watch the replay, CJ had a receiver wide open directly in front of him, and had he seen him and made a decent throw, we would have won the game!

I know that our safety Scruggs was hurt, but he played QB in high school and probably would have made that throw 10 out of 10 times.
That’s because you are risk averse in life n
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By Ill flame
Posts
#645222
We probably had more undergrad students at the uab game than wake has in its whole school. I never realized it was such a small school until this thread. It just goes to show how good of a coach clawson is that he has kept wake from turning into the acc vanderbilt. I imagine it's tough to get recruits excited about a place like that.

These are the types of schools I think will get left behind in realignment eventually for schools like ucf and Houston that have a massive amount of alumni. The only thing saving them is academic rankings which matters but only goes so far.
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By Racenut
Registration Days Posts
#645223
Well gentleman, we officially have an upper level division 1 FBS program. There were no "gimmicks", there was no "sneaking up" on anybody and Wake Forest is certainly not on a "down year". Our young men stood toe to toe with an established coach in his ninth year in the program who just won the Gator Bowl 9 months ago. You can't say enough about our coach, his recruiting, his preparation and so important Saturday, his half time adjustments. You can't say enough about the young men who filled in for injured starters and nearly pulled off the win. I can only see one game left on the schedule where we will be the prohibitive underdog. Although I believe that Javon Scruggs probably would have knocked down a couple of those long passes in the 4th quarter, it was awesome seeing everyone literally flying to the ball on defense. We have grown men along the front seven, and an offense that's only going to get better with time.Kudos to the coaches, players and administration for having the vision to make Liberty the fastest growing athletic program in the country. Pray that our young men will continue to give glory to God and continue to uphold their witness in this competitive arena. Can't wait for the rest of the year!
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By jinxy
Registration Days Posts
#645227
Tough. Im A ok going for 2 and said as much with my group when we got the ball if we score. I think there are 2 main probs with that play

1- it puts the ball in Yarbroughs hand and relies on him to make the right read and throw a pass and not freak out if its not there. Stubbs was a good guy at this play but we dont have that guy on the roster right now.
2- it takes the ball out of your best playmakers hands. I still like running the rpo with the option or salter to take it if theres a hole. Its what hes comfortable with right now as well

I also hate reverses and fades so im biased against the play to begin with

Hard to believe our D is this physical just 4 years removed from Wimbos swiss cheese D that allowed umass and idaho state to rack up 100 pts between them. And we lost our DC and have gotten better. Amazing.
Last edited by jinxy on September 19th, 2022, 10:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By alabama24
Registration Days Posts
#645239
aredd33 wrote: September 17th, 2022, 8:24 pm As I said in the other thread I liked going for it but didn’t like the play call.
I'm a little late to the thread, by my 2¢

If the coach thinks the other team is better and/or will have a great advantage in OT, then go for it. Otherwise, nope. I'm not the coach so I won't second guess.
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