Post by Sly Fox on Oct 16, 2005 6:21:51 GMT -5
For a school that was the laughingstock of the A-10 in its first season a year ago, the Tigers have come a LONG way.
Let's not dwell on this dog of a game too long if at all possible.
LU football: One step up, two steps back
By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 16, 2005
Fumble, bumble, stumble: The Flames were back in form Saturday night at Williams Stadium. After making much progress in its last two home games, Liberty University’s football team took a major step back in a 38-17 loss to Towson, mostly because it couldn’t keep the football off the carpet when the game was still in question.
Towson turned two fumbles deep in LU territory into touchdowns and the Tigers took a early 21-3 lead. Liberty never got closer than 11 points after that.
Afterward, the Flames were left wondering how they could come out flat at home after losing the last two weeks by a combined six points. Even after their sixth straight loss, it was a question they couldn’t answer.
“I have no idea,” LU quarterback Brock Farrel said. “I thought we’d be fine. I thought we’d come out and smash it down their throat again like we did against Chattanooga. They came out ready to play, and we didn’t.”
Farrel and running back Zach Terrell were the fumblers in question. Farrel coughed the ball up on his own 9 on the first drive of the second quarter
when Towson’s George Mitchell hit him from behind. Joe Ryan recovered it, and two plays later, TU quarterback Sean Schaefer hit Demetrius Harrison with an 11-yard touchdown pass for a 14-3 Towson lead.
“I should have had two hands on the ball, and I didn’t,” Farrel said.
On the next drive, Terrell was lined up in the shotgun at quarterback when he tried to hand off to Marcus Hamilton. The ball hit Hamilton in the hip and dropped to the turf, and Towson’s Carlos Allen recovered at the LU 26.
Four plays later, Kerry Miles ran in from eight yards out for his second touchdown and a 21-3 TU lead.
“I don’t really try to pay attention to momentum,” Farrel said. “But I know we definitely put ourselves at a disadvantage.”
Towson gained 465 yards of offense and converted several big plays. The Tigers (5-2) converted seven of 14 third downs and three of four fourth downs. They only punted once and held the ball for nearly 39 minutes.
Schaefer, who didn’t participate in TU’s walkthrough Saturday morning because of a triceps contusion, completed 21 of 32 passes for 230 yards and a score.
He ran in from 11 yards out to cap Towson’s 12-play, 80-yard drive to start the third quarter.
What’s worse, he slipped out of the arms of Liberty defenders on numerous occasions. Plays that should have been sacks turned into big gainers for the Tigers. LU linebacker Manny Rojas didn’t blame the breakdowns on Schaefer’s slipperiness.
“We didn’t wrap up, we didn’t keep contain on him, and he kept running around,” said Rojas, who had 13 tackles. “We just didn’t get it done tonight. … We watched film all week, and he didn’t seem that elusive or that quick. We just didn’t make the plays on him.”
In what seems to be a recurring theme in Liberty’s lopsided losses, the defense didn’t make plays when necessary Saturday night. Instead, Towson dictated the flow of the game from the opening kickoff. Even when LU did make a big stop, a penalty negated it.
On Schaefer’s 11-yard touchdown run, which put TU up 31-10 and essentially sealed the game, the Flames held Towson to a two-yard completion on 3rd-and-16 from the LU 29. But Tyler Turner hit Schaefer after he threw and was flagged for roughing the passer. Given new life, Schaefer scored two plays later.
Because Towson’s ball-control offense was so effective, Liberty never got into a flow on offense. Terrell, who ran for 241 yards last week against Chattanooga, rushed for 91 yards, but 23 of those came in the fourth quarter when the game was well in Towson’s control.
“He’s good,” Farrel said. “But he can’t break four tackles every time.”
The six-game losing streak is Liberty’s longest since joining Division I-AA, and it’s LU’s longest skid overall since 1986, when Morgan Hout’s Flames lost seven straight and finished 1-9.
Only 3,033 fans attended Saturday’s game, and by the end, only several hundred remained.
For players like Terrell and Rojas, who are used to winning, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. Rojas said he lost five games during his high school career. Terrell’s Manassas Park team was 14-0 and won a state title last season.
Right now, they’re searching for any kind of spark to help lift the Flames out of this rut.
“I’m not used to this,” Terrell said. “But we’re going to get over this. I guess this is a little bump in the road we’re hitting right now.”
Towson 38, Liberty 17
Towson 7 17 7 7-38
Liberty 3 7 0 7-17
First Quarter
LU-FG Beasley 27, 12:46. Drive: 6 plays, 41 yards, 2:14. Key play: Towson offsides after Beasley missed 32-yard FG attempt, giving LU another chance.
TU-Miles 1 run (Halbruner kick), 9:32. Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards, 3:14. Key play: Williams 45 run to LU 17.
Second Quarter
TU-Harrison 11 pass from Schaefer (Halbruner kick), 12:25. Drive: 2 plays, 9 yards, 0:53. Key play: Towson recovers Farrel fumble at LU 9.
TU-Miles 8 run (Halbruner kick), 9:11. Drive: 4 plays, 26 yards, 1:50. Key play: Towson recovers Terrell fumble at LU 26.
LU-Jackson 46 pass from Farrel (Kolegue kick), 5:47. Drive: 8 plays, 88 yards, 3:16. Key play: None.
TU-FG Halbruner 39, 00:13. Drive: 15 plays, 58 yards, 5:28. Key play: R. Brown 18 pass from Schaefer to LU 19.
Third Quarter
TU-Schaefer 11 run (Halbruner kick), 8:12. Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 6:48. Key play: On 3rd-and-16 at the LU 29, LU’s Turner is called for roughing the passer for automatic first down.
Fourth Quarter
TU-Williams 1 run (Halbruner kick), 14:56. Drive: 13 plays, 84 yards, 4:02. Key play: An unnecessary roughness penalty against Calvary gives Towson a first down at the LU 9.
LU-Hamilton 7 run (Kolegue kick), 12:37. Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 2:19. Key play: Farrel finds Turner for 12 yards on 4th-and-12 to keep the drive alive at the LU 20.
A-3033.
TU LU
Firstdowns 27 22
Rushes-yards 45-227 32-97
Passing 238 185
Comp-Att-Int 23-35-1 13-25-0
ReturnYards 00 00
Punts-Avg. 1-36 3-39
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-2
Penalties-Yards 9-71 3-40
TimeofPossession 38:50 21:10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Towson, Williams 18-72, King 10-61, Miles 9-43, Brown 3-14, Lee 2-14, Goldback 2-12, Schaefer 1-11. Liberty, Terrell 19-91, Hamilton 3-12, Team 1-0, Farrel 9-(minus 6).
PASSING-Towson, Schaefer 21-32-230, Goldbeck 2-3-8. Liberty, Farrel 13-25-185.
RECEIVING-Towson, Brown 5-82, Lee 5-59, Arnold 4-29, Brown 2-31, Harrison 2-18, Williams 2-3, Collins 1-6, Perry 1-6, King 1-4. Liberty, Terrell 5-63, Turner 5-49, Williams 2-27, Jackson 1-46.
By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 16, 2005
Fumble, bumble, stumble: The Flames were back in form Saturday night at Williams Stadium. After making much progress in its last two home games, Liberty University’s football team took a major step back in a 38-17 loss to Towson, mostly because it couldn’t keep the football off the carpet when the game was still in question.
Towson turned two fumbles deep in LU territory into touchdowns and the Tigers took a early 21-3 lead. Liberty never got closer than 11 points after that.
Afterward, the Flames were left wondering how they could come out flat at home after losing the last two weeks by a combined six points. Even after their sixth straight loss, it was a question they couldn’t answer.
“I have no idea,” LU quarterback Brock Farrel said. “I thought we’d be fine. I thought we’d come out and smash it down their throat again like we did against Chattanooga. They came out ready to play, and we didn’t.”
Farrel and running back Zach Terrell were the fumblers in question. Farrel coughed the ball up on his own 9 on the first drive of the second quarter
when Towson’s George Mitchell hit him from behind. Joe Ryan recovered it, and two plays later, TU quarterback Sean Schaefer hit Demetrius Harrison with an 11-yard touchdown pass for a 14-3 Towson lead.
“I should have had two hands on the ball, and I didn’t,” Farrel said.
On the next drive, Terrell was lined up in the shotgun at quarterback when he tried to hand off to Marcus Hamilton. The ball hit Hamilton in the hip and dropped to the turf, and Towson’s Carlos Allen recovered at the LU 26.
Four plays later, Kerry Miles ran in from eight yards out for his second touchdown and a 21-3 TU lead.
“I don’t really try to pay attention to momentum,” Farrel said. “But I know we definitely put ourselves at a disadvantage.”
Towson gained 465 yards of offense and converted several big plays. The Tigers (5-2) converted seven of 14 third downs and three of four fourth downs. They only punted once and held the ball for nearly 39 minutes.
Schaefer, who didn’t participate in TU’s walkthrough Saturday morning because of a triceps contusion, completed 21 of 32 passes for 230 yards and a score.
He ran in from 11 yards out to cap Towson’s 12-play, 80-yard drive to start the third quarter.
What’s worse, he slipped out of the arms of Liberty defenders on numerous occasions. Plays that should have been sacks turned into big gainers for the Tigers. LU linebacker Manny Rojas didn’t blame the breakdowns on Schaefer’s slipperiness.
“We didn’t wrap up, we didn’t keep contain on him, and he kept running around,” said Rojas, who had 13 tackles. “We just didn’t get it done tonight. … We watched film all week, and he didn’t seem that elusive or that quick. We just didn’t make the plays on him.”
In what seems to be a recurring theme in Liberty’s lopsided losses, the defense didn’t make plays when necessary Saturday night. Instead, Towson dictated the flow of the game from the opening kickoff. Even when LU did make a big stop, a penalty negated it.
On Schaefer’s 11-yard touchdown run, which put TU up 31-10 and essentially sealed the game, the Flames held Towson to a two-yard completion on 3rd-and-16 from the LU 29. But Tyler Turner hit Schaefer after he threw and was flagged for roughing the passer. Given new life, Schaefer scored two plays later.
Because Towson’s ball-control offense was so effective, Liberty never got into a flow on offense. Terrell, who ran for 241 yards last week against Chattanooga, rushed for 91 yards, but 23 of those came in the fourth quarter when the game was well in Towson’s control.
“He’s good,” Farrel said. “But he can’t break four tackles every time.”
The six-game losing streak is Liberty’s longest since joining Division I-AA, and it’s LU’s longest skid overall since 1986, when Morgan Hout’s Flames lost seven straight and finished 1-9.
Only 3,033 fans attended Saturday’s game, and by the end, only several hundred remained.
For players like Terrell and Rojas, who are used to winning, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. Rojas said he lost five games during his high school career. Terrell’s Manassas Park team was 14-0 and won a state title last season.
Right now, they’re searching for any kind of spark to help lift the Flames out of this rut.
“I’m not used to this,” Terrell said. “But we’re going to get over this. I guess this is a little bump in the road we’re hitting right now.”
Towson 38, Liberty 17
Towson 7 17 7 7-38
Liberty 3 7 0 7-17
First Quarter
LU-FG Beasley 27, 12:46. Drive: 6 plays, 41 yards, 2:14. Key play: Towson offsides after Beasley missed 32-yard FG attempt, giving LU another chance.
TU-Miles 1 run (Halbruner kick), 9:32. Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards, 3:14. Key play: Williams 45 run to LU 17.
Second Quarter
TU-Harrison 11 pass from Schaefer (Halbruner kick), 12:25. Drive: 2 plays, 9 yards, 0:53. Key play: Towson recovers Farrel fumble at LU 9.
TU-Miles 8 run (Halbruner kick), 9:11. Drive: 4 plays, 26 yards, 1:50. Key play: Towson recovers Terrell fumble at LU 26.
LU-Jackson 46 pass from Farrel (Kolegue kick), 5:47. Drive: 8 plays, 88 yards, 3:16. Key play: None.
TU-FG Halbruner 39, 00:13. Drive: 15 plays, 58 yards, 5:28. Key play: R. Brown 18 pass from Schaefer to LU 19.
Third Quarter
TU-Schaefer 11 run (Halbruner kick), 8:12. Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 6:48. Key play: On 3rd-and-16 at the LU 29, LU’s Turner is called for roughing the passer for automatic first down.
Fourth Quarter
TU-Williams 1 run (Halbruner kick), 14:56. Drive: 13 plays, 84 yards, 4:02. Key play: An unnecessary roughness penalty against Calvary gives Towson a first down at the LU 9.
LU-Hamilton 7 run (Kolegue kick), 12:37. Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 2:19. Key play: Farrel finds Turner for 12 yards on 4th-and-12 to keep the drive alive at the LU 20.
A-3033.
TU LU
Firstdowns 27 22
Rushes-yards 45-227 32-97
Passing 238 185
Comp-Att-Int 23-35-1 13-25-0
ReturnYards 00 00
Punts-Avg. 1-36 3-39
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-2
Penalties-Yards 9-71 3-40
TimeofPossession 38:50 21:10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Towson, Williams 18-72, King 10-61, Miles 9-43, Brown 3-14, Lee 2-14, Goldback 2-12, Schaefer 1-11. Liberty, Terrell 19-91, Hamilton 3-12, Team 1-0, Farrel 9-(minus 6).
PASSING-Towson, Schaefer 21-32-230, Goldbeck 2-3-8. Liberty, Farrel 13-25-185.
RECEIVING-Towson, Brown 5-82, Lee 5-59, Arnold 4-29, Brown 2-31, Harrison 2-18, Williams 2-3, Collins 1-6, Perry 1-6, King 1-4. Liberty, Terrell 5-63, Turner 5-49, Williams 2-27, Jackson 1-46.
Let's not dwell on this dog of a game too long if at all possible.
yea right