Post by jimflamesfan on Sept 25, 2005 12:32:37 GMT -5
Well, I hope Sly is okay, he normally does this, but here is Chris' article from the News and Advance about LU's latest loss. I feel embarrassed that LU has welcomed Chris by forcing him to watch these type of slaughters:
LU goose eggs piling up
By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
September 25, 2005
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WILLIAMSBURG - By the middle of the second quarter Saturday, the only subplot left to resolve itself was the matter of Liberty University’s football team and the Zable Stadium scoreboard.
Would the Flames erase the zero from above the word “guest”? The answer: a resounding no.
The competitive part of the game was over early, just like it had been in the last two weeks. The overmatched Flames were never a factor against 16th-ranked William & Mary, as the Tribe raced to a 28-0 lead by halftime and won 56-0.
The Flames broke the school record for offensive futility midway through the first quarter, and the scoreless streak continued to the final whistle against a Tribe defense that allowed 48 points last week to Rhode Island and 36 to Marshall on Sept. 1.
Liberty’s scoreless streak has now stretched 192 minutes and 39 seconds, shattering the old mark of 139:50 set in 1977.
Those numbers alone don’t tell how brutal this one was:
• William & Mary had 35 first downs; Liberty had seven.
• The Tribe outgained the Flames 635 yards to 135.
• The Flames had nearly has many yards on kickoff returns (127) as they did in total offense (145).
• This was Liberty’s worst loss to a Division I-AA team since a 63-0 loss at Western Carolina in 2001, and it was William & Mary’s most lopsided victory in 59 years.
• And to wit, it could have been worse. The Tribe missed a field goal and fumbled the ball once inside the Liberty 5.
“I’m not sure I know how to describe that game,” Liberty coach Ken Karcher said. “We didn’t stop anybody on defense. They didn’t punt one time. And we didn’t score a point. So I’d say it was obviously not a good football game.”
Karcher continued to shuffle quarterbacks, and for the second week in a row, senior Brock Farrel - seemingly the odd-man out in a three-man rotation - was the only one who could move the ball down the field with regularity.
He accounted for 126 of LU’s 145 yards, but Karcher hinted afterward that he was ready to go with youngsters Zach Terrell and Brock Smith the rest of the way, to let the freshmen “take some lumps.”
Farrel completed a 46-yard pass to Lauren Williams on a post pattern to move LU to the W&M 21 midway through the second quarter. But W&M linebacker Ryan Nickell intercepted him two plays later, ending LU’s best scoring threat.
“It was a bad decision,” Farrel said. “And the guy made a great play.”
The Flames are now in rare territory in terms of offensive ineffectiveness.
Going three straight games without scoring is uncommon in Division I football, but Buffalo, one of Division I’s worst teams, completed the hat trick by ending the 2004 season with a whitewashing at Connecticut, then opening 2005 with shutout losses to UConn and Syracuse.
The Bulls finally scored in a 17-3 loss to Rutgers last week.
“To a point, it’s stunning,” Williams said of the offensive woes. “But then, you look back at the film and see all the mistakes, all the missed opportunities. That’s the reason why. We’ve just got to go in and learn and correct this stuff.”
Liberty gets back on somewhat even footing next week at home against Big South foe VMI, which took a 41-7 whipping from William & Mary at home in Week 2.
Considering how bad LU’s offense has been in the last three weeks, playing VMI doesn’t guarantee anything. The Keydets hung tough with I-AA’s 10th-ranked team Saturday before falling 28-26 to Lehigh at home.
Liberty’s offensive ineptitude was just one factor in the blowout loss.
William & Mary (2-2) showed its ability to grind out scoring drives, scoring touchdowns on drives of 10 plays or more four times.
The Tribe also displayed some quick-strike ability, going 55 yards in three plays and 52 seconds for another score. Elijah Brooks scored four touchdowns, three on 1-yard runs and another on a 14-yard swing pass from quarterback Mike Potts.
“I don’t want to take anything away from William & Mary, because they beat us soundly,” Karcher said. “But they weren’t (56-0) better than us.”
www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=LNA%2FMGArticle%2FLNA_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031785268255&path=!sports
LU goose eggs piling up
By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
September 25, 2005
Advertisement
Click here.
WILLIAMSBURG - By the middle of the second quarter Saturday, the only subplot left to resolve itself was the matter of Liberty University’s football team and the Zable Stadium scoreboard.
Would the Flames erase the zero from above the word “guest”? The answer: a resounding no.
The competitive part of the game was over early, just like it had been in the last two weeks. The overmatched Flames were never a factor against 16th-ranked William & Mary, as the Tribe raced to a 28-0 lead by halftime and won 56-0.
The Flames broke the school record for offensive futility midway through the first quarter, and the scoreless streak continued to the final whistle against a Tribe defense that allowed 48 points last week to Rhode Island and 36 to Marshall on Sept. 1.
Liberty’s scoreless streak has now stretched 192 minutes and 39 seconds, shattering the old mark of 139:50 set in 1977.
Those numbers alone don’t tell how brutal this one was:
• William & Mary had 35 first downs; Liberty had seven.
• The Tribe outgained the Flames 635 yards to 135.
• The Flames had nearly has many yards on kickoff returns (127) as they did in total offense (145).
• This was Liberty’s worst loss to a Division I-AA team since a 63-0 loss at Western Carolina in 2001, and it was William & Mary’s most lopsided victory in 59 years.
• And to wit, it could have been worse. The Tribe missed a field goal and fumbled the ball once inside the Liberty 5.
“I’m not sure I know how to describe that game,” Liberty coach Ken Karcher said. “We didn’t stop anybody on defense. They didn’t punt one time. And we didn’t score a point. So I’d say it was obviously not a good football game.”
Karcher continued to shuffle quarterbacks, and for the second week in a row, senior Brock Farrel - seemingly the odd-man out in a three-man rotation - was the only one who could move the ball down the field with regularity.
He accounted for 126 of LU’s 145 yards, but Karcher hinted afterward that he was ready to go with youngsters Zach Terrell and Brock Smith the rest of the way, to let the freshmen “take some lumps.”
Farrel completed a 46-yard pass to Lauren Williams on a post pattern to move LU to the W&M 21 midway through the second quarter. But W&M linebacker Ryan Nickell intercepted him two plays later, ending LU’s best scoring threat.
“It was a bad decision,” Farrel said. “And the guy made a great play.”
The Flames are now in rare territory in terms of offensive ineffectiveness.
Going three straight games without scoring is uncommon in Division I football, but Buffalo, one of Division I’s worst teams, completed the hat trick by ending the 2004 season with a whitewashing at Connecticut, then opening 2005 with shutout losses to UConn and Syracuse.
The Bulls finally scored in a 17-3 loss to Rutgers last week.
“To a point, it’s stunning,” Williams said of the offensive woes. “But then, you look back at the film and see all the mistakes, all the missed opportunities. That’s the reason why. We’ve just got to go in and learn and correct this stuff.”
Liberty gets back on somewhat even footing next week at home against Big South foe VMI, which took a 41-7 whipping from William & Mary at home in Week 2.
Considering how bad LU’s offense has been in the last three weeks, playing VMI doesn’t guarantee anything. The Keydets hung tough with I-AA’s 10th-ranked team Saturday before falling 28-26 to Lehigh at home.
Liberty’s offensive ineptitude was just one factor in the blowout loss.
William & Mary (2-2) showed its ability to grind out scoring drives, scoring touchdowns on drives of 10 plays or more four times.
The Tribe also displayed some quick-strike ability, going 55 yards in three plays and 52 seconds for another score. Elijah Brooks scored four touchdowns, three on 1-yard runs and another on a 14-yard swing pass from quarterback Mike Potts.
“I don’t want to take anything away from William & Mary, because they beat us soundly,” Karcher said. “But they weren’t (56-0) better than us.”
www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=LNA%2FMGArticle%2FLNA_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031785268255&path=!sports
