Post by eddantes on Oct 23, 2005 7:25:08 GMT -5
From the FishWrap:
First off, I think this game demonstrates that Coastal is worse than we think they are, instead of LU being better than we hope they are. And when it comes time to select a playoff team, CCU is going to be left out. And I think the Coastal fans know that.
Like I said before, bad teams find ways to lose games. I feel bad for the players, because they're playing as best as they can and there's nothing that they can do differently. I mean, the play calling in OT was just pitiful. Coastal Carolina was practically begging for LU to win... just get 10 yards on the first possession to attempt a makeable 32 yard field goal, and you win... but no, we decide to stick with the QB draw.
We get down to the 1 yard line with the potential to win the game... And we try the same QB draw again. One false start later, an INT... and whatever we worked for is lost in the end. An "L" in the books, or E Pluribus Unum for Ken Karcher.
| Neither Coastal Carolina nor Liberty wanted this one. Really. The teams combined for six possessions in overtime Saturday night, yet managed just six points. Coastal missed two field goals and dropped a sure touchdown pass. Liberty missed a field goal and fumbled in the middle of the field. It was like they were trying to give away the win. And that's exactly what happened when Liberty's Brock Farrel threw an interception on third down in the third overtime. Coastal Carolina's Quinton Teal came down with the ball in the end zone, and the 14th-ranked Chanticleers had stolen a 27-21 victory at Williams Stadium. At least that's the way Liberty feels about it. Just like the Flames felt about their 24-21 loss to Chattanooga here two Saturdays ago. So many opportunities, yet so many of them were missed. Afterward, even the normally bustling athletic training room, located next to the LU locker room, was dead silent. "It's somber, obviously," Liberty coach Ken Karcher said. "But they knew we should have won that football game. So did Coastal. But we didn't. That's why they're 7-1 and they keep coming back and beating people and having things go their way." Liberty has now lost all 10 games it has played against ranked teams under Karcher, and none was more painful than this one. Liberty (1-7, 0-2 Big South) led 14-6 with 8:15 left the fourth quarter after Farrel hit Lauren Williams for a 68-yard touchdown. Coastal (7-1, 2-0) struck back with Tyler Thigpen hitting Santini Washington with a 58-yard pass one play after the kickoff. Aundres Perkins scored four plays later, and Thigpen hit Chris Noble with a two-point conversion pass to tie the game at 14. The teams traded touchdowns, with Coastal leading briefly after Thigpen's 58-yard TD strike to Jerome Simpson. Farrel dove in from two yards out with 32 seconds left, and the game went to overtime. Simpson dropped a sure TD pass on the first play of OT, and Liberty held Coastal, forcing Josh Hoke to try a 45-yard field goal. Dramatically, the wind that had swirled around the stadium calmed, and Hoke got the kick off. It slammed into the right upright, and all Liberty needed was a field goal to win. But the wind that had quieted for Hoke whipped up for Ben Beasley after the ball was snapped, and his 42-yard attempt into the teeth of the wind fell several yards short. Wynton Jackson fumbled after making a catch in the second OT, and Coastal recovered, meaning all the Chanticleers needed was a field goal. But Hoke pushed his 37-yard attempt wide left, and again, the Flames had life. "I couldn't believe he missed twice," Coastal Carolina coach David Bennett said. "But as Liberty's coach told me after the game, 'there's only but one perfect man that's ever walked this Earth.'" Perkins scored the only TD in OT, plowing in from five yards out. With Coastal forced to go for two, LU's E.L. Estes broke up the pass in the end zone, and the Chanticleers led 27-21. Liberty moved the ball to the Coastal 1 on its possession thanks to a 16-yard Farrel to Brandon Turner pass and an 8-yard Zach Terrell run. After Farrel was stuffed on second-and-goal, the Flames still had two shots to punch it in. Then, as has been theme all year, a Flame made a costly mistake in the clutch. Tight end Corey Rasberry, who replaced Williams to give the Flames more size on the line, was called for a false start, pushing LU back to the Coastal 6. Farrel faced heavy pressure on the next play, and he tried to throw the ball out of the end zone. The pressure forced the ball to go high and short, and Teal jumped to make the pick. "I think that's one of those times where I should just take the sack," Farrel said. "You know, try again on fourth down." The loss cost Liberty any chance at winning the Big South championship and ensure that the Flames will be playing out the string the last three weeks on the road. They weren't looking that far ahead, though, late Saturday night. They were just trying to absorb the pain of another opportunity lost at home. "Of course, everybody is heartbroken and disappointed," Estes said. "We simply just gave another one away." |
First off, I think this game demonstrates that Coastal is worse than we think they are, instead of LU being better than we hope they are. And when it comes time to select a playoff team, CCU is going to be left out. And I think the Coastal fans know that.
Like I said before, bad teams find ways to lose games. I feel bad for the players, because they're playing as best as they can and there's nothing that they can do differently. I mean, the play calling in OT was just pitiful. Coastal Carolina was practically begging for LU to win... just get 10 yards on the first possession to attempt a makeable 32 yard field goal, and you win... but no, we decide to stick with the QB draw.
We get down to the 1 yard line with the potential to win the game... And we try the same QB draw again. One false start later, an INT... and whatever we worked for is lost in the end. An "L" in the books, or E Pluribus Unum for Ken Karcher.
