Norfolk State Post-Mortem

[PAmedic]

Wanted be consistent here and review the good and bad of the last game:

Flames fizzle in finale

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
November 20, 2005

NORFOLK - Saturday’s season finale could have gone one of two ways for the Liberty University’s football team.

The Flames could have rallied behind fired coach Ken Karcher for one last defiant stand, one last inspired effort to send the current coaching staff and LU’s maligned senior class out on a winning note.

Or the Flames could just make the same mistakes that have been the trademark of their historically bad season. Which they did.

Liberty’s 34-17 loss to MEAC bottom-feeder Norfolk State on Saturday was the latest bit of carnage in a season littered with embarrassing defeats.

Karcher finished his six-year tenure at LU with a 21-46 mark and 10 straight losses, the longest losing streak in school history. Only a second-half rally in the opener against Division II Concord spared Liberty the indignity of an 0-11 season.

Even so, the Flames finished the season with the worst record in program history at 1-10. LU’s only other one-win season came in 1983 when the then-Division II Flames finished 1-9.

“We hoped that we could come in and get a win for the seniors and the coaches,” emotional linebacker Manny Rojas said. “It just didn’t happen that way. God works in mysterious ways. It happened that way for a reason.”

In the beginning, the Flames looked like they were ready to play inspired football and win one for their deposed coach.

Freshman quarterback Brock Smith completed a 46-yard pass to Brandon Turner on a flea-flicker on the game’s first play, and three plays later, found Dominic Bolden for a 21-yard touchdown.

The Flames forced the Spartans (4-7) into a punt on their first drive, and Liberty appeared to have momentum on its side.

Instead, LU’s reliable mistakes crept back into the picture.

Norfolk State punted, but LU’s Chris Green touched the ball without fielding it. The ball caromed inside the Liberty 5 and Phillip Brown Jr. recovered. Norfolk State scored when Daryl Jones ran it in from a yard out. After Rojas blocked the extra point, NSU was within 7-6.

But the tide had clearly turned. Norfolk State scored the next two touchdowns to take a 20-7 lead, leaving the Flames to wonder what might have been had they not made the special teams blunder.

“There’s no doubt,” Karcher said. “That was a huge play.”

Liberty outgained the Spartans 323-257, but the Flames lost three fumbles and Smith threw three interceptions.

Norfolk State blitzed Smith mercilessly, forcing him into rushed throws that often sailed out of the reach of his receivers.

“It felt like I got hit by a truck,” Smith said after his 9-for-28, 217-yard day.

The Spartans disrupted LU’s run game as well, hitting ball carriers before they could get to the line of scrimmage. Aside from Zach Terrell’s 44-yard run in the second quarter, Liberty’s run game was bottled up for most of the afternoon.

No play typified Liberty’s season more than a third-quarter fumble that essentially sealed the game.

After forcing a fumble on Emery Sammons’ punt return to get the ball at the Norfolk State 22, Liberty gave it right back on the next play. Freshman Ryan Greiser bobbled a handoff and put it on the turf. Norfolk State’s Maguell Davis recovered, and instead of driving for a score to cut the NSU lead to 20-17, Liberty was back on defense. The Flames didn’t threaten again until Norfolk State had scored to take a 27-10 edge.

“We have not been able to capitalize on the other team’s mistakes,” Smith said. “When we get the opportunity, we should do it all the time. That’s just what good football players do. … That just pretty much sums up the whole season.”

True to his word, Karcher didn’t show much outward emotion, even as his players filed off the field at thingy Price Stadium and headed to the locker room for the last time.

The game was a microcosm of the entire miserable season, a confounding series of “shoulda wouldas.”

But they didn’t. The distracting week had taken its toll, and Liberty will have to wait until next September to try to put a stop to the skid.

“I think their focus wasn’t what it needed to be,” Karcher said. “That’s on me.”

And with, that, Karcher departed to speak with his players.

One last time.

Norfolk State 34, Liberty 17

Liberty 7 3 0 7-17

NorfolkSt. 14 6 0 14-34

First Quarter

Lib-Bolden 21 pass from B.Smith (Kolegue kick), 12:50. Drive: 4 plays, 73 yards, 2:01. Key play: Smith’s 46-yard pass to Turner on a flea flicker puts LU at the NSU 27.

Norf-D.Jones 1 run (kick failed), 8:39. Drive: 3 plays, 2 yards, 1:20. Key play: LU’s Green muffs punt and NSU recovers at the LU 3.

Norf-Baker 42 pass from Brooks (Allen pass from Brooks), 4:51. Drive: 6 plays, 53 yards, 2:42. Key play: NSU convert on 4th-and-1 and scores two plays later.

Second Quarter

Norf-Lawson 5 fumble return (kick failed), 10:35.

Lib-FG Beasley 27, 6:53. Drive: 8 plays, 68 yards, 3:36. Key play: Terrell’s 44-yard burst up the middle puts LU at the NSU 27.

Fourth Quarter

Norf-Anthony 13 run (Gomez kick), 14:04. Drive: 9 plays, 43 yards, 3:24. Key play: LU flagged for roughing the kicker on NSU’s punt on 4th-and-24, extending the drive.

Lib-Greiser 2 run (Kolegue kick), 5:25. Drive: 6 plays, 83 yards, 1:18. Key play: Smith’s 37-yard pass to Wynton Jackson on 3rd-and-10 moves LU into NSU territory.

Norf-T.Johnson 14 run (Gomez kick), :45. Drive: 8 plays, 47 yards, 4:39. Key play: None.

A-4,062.

                          Lib        Norf

Firstdowns           11         17

Rushes-yards       26-106     54-143

Passing             217         114

Comp-Att-Int     9-28-3       10-21-0

ReturnYards         16          36

Punts-Avg.         5-41.6     7-36.7

Fumbles-Lost       5-3         3-2

Penalties-Yards    2-20        2-10

TimeofPossession   21:31       38:29

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Liberty, Terrell 10-53, Hamilton 4-35, Greiser 7-28, B.Smith 3-6, Bolden 1-(minus 4), Team 1-(minus 12). Norfolk St., T.Johnson 18-72, Anthony 13-70, D.Jones 9-19, T.Smith 1-1, Baker 1-(minus 2), Team 1-(minus 2), Brooks 9-(minus 6), Cook 2-(minus 9).

PASSING-Liberty, B.Smith 9-28-3-217. Norfolk St., Brooks 10-21-0-114.

RECEIVING-Liberty, Bolden 3-104, B.Turner 3-55, W.Jackson 2-44, Luck 1-14. Norfolk St., Callaham 5-40, Baker 2-45, D.Jones 2-20, Delgardo 1-9.

[PAmedic]

our coverage:

Flames Fall To Spartans, 34-17, In Season Finale

November 19, 2005 · Norfolk, Va.

The Flames quickly moved the ball downfield on the opening drive for a touchdown, but weren’t able to keep their offense going over the rest of the game as Liberty dropped a 34-17 decision to Norfolk State in its season finale, Saturday afternoon, at thingy Price Stadium.

The outcome marked the 10-straight loss for the Flames, setting a new school record for consecutive losses and ends the Flames’ season at 1-10 to account for the most losses in a season in the 32-year history of the football program.

Liberty wasted little time as the Flames scored on the fourth play of the game as Brock Smith completed a 21-yard pass to Dominic Bolden as the rookie wideout caught the pass just on the backline of the endzone to give Liberty a 7-0 lead with 12:50 mark.

The key play of the drive was on the first of the game as Smith handed the ball off to Marcus Hamilton, but the running back pitched it back to the quarterback who completed a ??-yard flea-flicker pass to Brandon Turner to get the Flames into Spartan territory.

The Flames stopped the Spartans on the ensuing drive and forced Norfolk State (4-7) to punt the ball away, but the punt clicked a Liberty player and the Spartans recovered the ball on the Liberty two-yard line. And three plays later, Daryl Jones was able to find a hole in the line for a two-yard touchdown run at the 8:39 mark, but Norfolk State was not able to tie the game as Manny Rojas was able to block the PAT attempt to keep the score at 7-6.

Later in the opening period, the Spartans were able to take the lead as Brandon Brooks threaded the needle to found Derrick Brooks in double coverage for a 42-yard touchdown pass to complete a six-play, 53-yard drive, while Brooks found Jonathan Allen for a two-point conversion reception to give Norfolk State a 14-7 lead with 4:51 left in the first quarter.

A Norfolk State punt pinned the Flames deep in their own territory on Liberty’s first drive of the second quarter and the Flames attempted another trick play on an end-around play between Bolden and Smith but the ball was mishandled and fumbled, while NSU’s Samuel Lawson picked up the miscue and returned the fumble five yards for a touchdown. Antonio Gomez’s PAT attempt sailed wide to the right, leaving the score at 20-7 at the 10:35 mark.

The Flames were able trim into the Spartan’s lead with a 27-yard field goal by Ben Beasley with 6:35 left before halftime, completing an eight-play, 68-yard drive to cut the lead to the 20-10 intermission score.

Neither team scored during the third quarter as the period saw three turnovers by fumbles and one by an interception with the interception setting up the game’s next score as a deep pass by Smith downfield was picked off by Dustin Johnson with 2:28 left to play in the third. Nine plays later, Monte’ Anthony found a hole in the line and scored from 13 yards out with a rushing touchdown 56 seconds into final period, pushing the Spartans’ lead to 27-10.

The Flames trimmed the lead back to 27-17 with 5:25 left to play as Ryan Greiser recorded his first career touchdown with a two-yard run, but eight plays later, the Spartans sealed the victory with a 14-yard touchdown run by Terrell Johnson with 45 seconds left on the clock.

Despite missing most of the second half with an injury, Zach Terrell was able to finish the game with a team-best 53 yards rushing on 10 carries, enabling the converted quarterback to become the school’s all-time leading freshman rusher by finishing his rookie year with 668 yards. The previous record was held by Dre Barnes who rushed for 654 yards as a freshman during the 2001 season.

Smith, who was hampered all day by a pressuring Spartan’s defense, finished the contest just 9-of-28 with 217 yards passing and a score. Bolden became the third player this season and the 41st player in school history to post a 100-yard receiving game with three catches for 104 yards, including his first career touchdown to start of the game.

Senior punter Noah Crouch finished his career on a high note by averaging 41.6 yards on five punts (208 total yards), marking the seventh time this year that the punter has averaged 40 or more yards in a game and the 18th time in his career to finish fifth all-time in school history in punting average (38.1) and 7,299 total punting yards.

Defensively, Nick Hursky led the Flames with a season-high 19 tackles, marking his fourth double-figure tackle game of the year, while Jason Horn and Steve Ackley followed with 10 stops each.

The loss brings to a close the 2005 season and the Ken Karcher era at Liberty as it was announced by the University on Friday that the six-year head coach would be released from his position as head coach at the end of the season.