Post by Sly Fox on Nov 13, 2005 8:15:08 GMT -5
Here is Chris' take on the collapse in Charleston:
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Flames find even more ways to lose
By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
November 13, 2005
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - And there it was in a nice tidy nutshell at Buccaneer Field Saturday.
Wynton Jackson dropped a pass over the middle in the final minute that would have at least gotten Liberty University’s football team into field-goal range. Jared Brogden, a senior, was called for pass interference three times and was burned on another deep pass play. C.J. Moore, a senior, failed to cover his man on a fake punt as Charleston Southern got back into the game.
Bad teams find ways to lose, and Liberty had plenty of players to point a finger at after Saturday’s disheartening 31-30 loss to the Buccaneers.
The Flames led 30-18 in the fourth quarter and had the Bucs beat.
Yet they lost. Again.
“I’d say that sums about six years here,” LU coach Ken Karcher said. The Flames tied a school record with their ninth straight loss.
The positive spin: The Flames finished 0-4 in Big South games this season and will finish last, but they lost those games by a combined 15 points. They very easily could have won all four.
The reality: They finished 0-4 in conference and fell to 1-9 overall because not enough players made plays in the clutch.
“I don’t even have words for it. We’re snakebitten as a team,” said LU quarterback Brock Smith, whose 315-yard passing performance was the best by a Flames quarterback since Biff Parson threw for 321 in a loss to South Florida in 2001. “We just can’t finish. It’s a shame.”
Liberty was in control after Rod Fluellen’s one-yard touchdown run with 12:09 left gave LU a 30-18 lead, its biggest of the season.
After that, the Flames played like a team that doesn’t know how to play with a lead. And Charleston Southern (6-4, 2-1 Big South) played like a team that still had hope for a conference championship.
Resilient. Efficient. Smart.
Liberty was none of the above.
Forced into a 3rd-and-5 on its own 40 on the next drive, CSU quarterback Collin Drafts threw an incompletion, but Brogden was flagged for pass interference.
The Flames forced the Bucs into a fourth-down situation after Manny Rojas broke up a pass play. With the Bucs at the Liberty 40 with about 10 minutes left, CSU coach Jay Mills initially called for a pooch punt.
But he changed his mind, calling for a play called “magic” at the last minute. Backup quarterback Sidney Bryant rushed on the field to join the punt team. He took the snap, rolled right and found uncovered receiver Maurice Price, Moore’s man, for a 15-yard gain and a first down. Three plays later, Robert Adams ran for a touchdown from seven yards out, and CSU was within 30-25.
“He came off the field and said, ‘I just didn’t cover him,’” Karcher said. “There’s a senior, and he openly admitted it. I don’t know what to say. If you cover your guy, they don’t get the first down.”
On the ensuing kickoff, senior Chris Green fielded the kick, but his knee touched the ground at the 1, putting LU in a tough spot.
The Flames’ freshmen dug them out of it.
Fluellen, who was in for injured running back Zach Terrell, ran for three yards on first down. Smith completed a five-yard pass to Brandon Turner and Fluellen ran for five more yards to get LU out of the shadow of its goalposts.
The drive sputtered when Smith missed high on a pass to Dominic Bolden, giving CSU the ball at the Bucs’ 45 down five points with 6:39 left.
Drafts, who threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns, led CSU on a 13-play, 55-yard drive, giving the Bucs the 31-30 lead with 1:10 left when he hit Price for a 10-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal. He converted on a 3rd-and-12 by scrambling for a 19-yard gain and kept attacking Brogden, who was covering Price, CSU’s top receiver.
On the first fourth-and-goal, Brogden draped himself all over Price and was flagged for pass interference with 2:53 left. That allowed the Bucs to grind out more clock, but scoring wasn’t a guarantee. On fourth-and-goal from the 10, Brogden again held Price, but the receiver caught the ball anyway.
“Bottom line, we don’t make plays when we need to,” Karcher said. “There’s no way that game should have been close. We just kept giving them opportunities, and when you don’t do what you’re supposed to do between the white lines, you can’t win.”
LU’s last gasp drive fell apart when Smith’s long pass to Jackson, who caught two TD passes, was dropped. He outran the coverage but dropped a perfectly thrown ball that would have put the Flames inside the CSU 30.
“We shouldn’t have been in that situation to begin with,” Smith said. “We shouldn’t have been in a two-minute drill.”
But they were. And the story remains the same.
Charleston Southern 31, LU 30
Liberty 9 7 7 7 - 30
CharlestonSouthern 15 0 3 13 - 31
First Quarter
ChS-Drafts 4 run (Ellis kick), 10:43. Drive: 9 plays, 53 yards, 4:17. Key play: Drafts runs for eight yards on 3rd-and-7 from the LU 18 to give CSU first-and-goal.
Lib-T.Turner safety, 6:30.
ChS-Price 73 pass from Drafts (Price pass from Drafts), 2:51. Drive: 4 plays, 88 yards, 1:03. Key play: Drafts hits Logan for an 11-yard gain on 3rd-and-7 the play before the touchdown.
Lib-W.Jackson 64 pass from B.Smith (Kolegue kick), :25. Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards, 2:26. Key play: None.
Second Quarter
Lib-B.Turner 12 pass from B.Smith (Kolegue kick), :37. Drive: 14 plays, 80 yards, 6:01. Key play: Carmon called for pass interference on 3rd-and-15 from the CSU 31, giving LU first down at the CSU 16.
Third Quarter
Lib-W.Jackson 34 pass from B.Smith (Kolegue kick), 10:30. Drive: 9 plays, 65 yards, 4:30. Key play: Smith’s 16-yard pass to Turner gives LU 1st-and-10 at the CSU 42.
ChS-FG Ellis 20, :39. Drive: 10 plays, 55 yards, 4:04. Key play: Calvary breaks up pass intended for Price in end zone, forcing field goal try.
Fourth Quarter
Lib-Fluellen 1 run (Kolegue kick), 12:09. Drive: 8 plays, 79 yards, 3:30. Key play: Smith’s 13-yard shovel pass to Fluellen on 3rd-and-5 while being sacked by two defenders gives LU first down at the CSU 36.
ChS-Adams 7 run (Ellis kick), 9:57. Drive: 9 plays, 65 yards, 2:12. Key play: Bryant hits Price for 15-yard gain on fake punt to move CSU to the LU 25.
ChS-Price 10 pass from Drafts (run failed), 1:10. Drive: 13 plays, 55 yards, 5:29. Key play: Brogden called for pass interference on 4th-and-goal, giving CSU four more downs.
A-2,312.
Lib ChS
Firstdowns 25 23
Rushes-yards 43-95 36-96
Passing 315 259
Comp-Att-Int 20-31-0 22-33-0
ReturnYards 11 6
Punts-Avg. 4-33.0 3-18.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 10-80 6-60
TimeofPossession 31:02 28:58
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Liberty, Terrell 27-82, Fluellen 10-19, B.Smith 5-1, Bolden 1-(minus 7). Charleston Southern, Drafts 17-35, Copeland 15-34, Adams 3-25, Harper 1-2.
PASSING-Liberty, B.Smith 20-31-0-315. Charleston Southern, Drafts 21-32-0-244, Bryant 1-1-0-15.
RECEIVING-Liberty, Bolden 6-66, B.Turner 6-66, Luck 5-71, W.Jackson 2-98, Fluellen 1-14. Charleston Southern, Price 13-171, Murry 3-35, Logan 2-14, Rucks 1-17, Meers 1-12, Copeland 1-10, Adams 1-0.
By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
November 13, 2005
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - And there it was in a nice tidy nutshell at Buccaneer Field Saturday.
Wynton Jackson dropped a pass over the middle in the final minute that would have at least gotten Liberty University’s football team into field-goal range. Jared Brogden, a senior, was called for pass interference three times and was burned on another deep pass play. C.J. Moore, a senior, failed to cover his man on a fake punt as Charleston Southern got back into the game.
Bad teams find ways to lose, and Liberty had plenty of players to point a finger at after Saturday’s disheartening 31-30 loss to the Buccaneers.
The Flames led 30-18 in the fourth quarter and had the Bucs beat.
Yet they lost. Again.
“I’d say that sums about six years here,” LU coach Ken Karcher said. The Flames tied a school record with their ninth straight loss.
The positive spin: The Flames finished 0-4 in Big South games this season and will finish last, but they lost those games by a combined 15 points. They very easily could have won all four.
The reality: They finished 0-4 in conference and fell to 1-9 overall because not enough players made plays in the clutch.
“I don’t even have words for it. We’re snakebitten as a team,” said LU quarterback Brock Smith, whose 315-yard passing performance was the best by a Flames quarterback since Biff Parson threw for 321 in a loss to South Florida in 2001. “We just can’t finish. It’s a shame.”
Liberty was in control after Rod Fluellen’s one-yard touchdown run with 12:09 left gave LU a 30-18 lead, its biggest of the season.
After that, the Flames played like a team that doesn’t know how to play with a lead. And Charleston Southern (6-4, 2-1 Big South) played like a team that still had hope for a conference championship.
Resilient. Efficient. Smart.
Liberty was none of the above.
Forced into a 3rd-and-5 on its own 40 on the next drive, CSU quarterback Collin Drafts threw an incompletion, but Brogden was flagged for pass interference.
The Flames forced the Bucs into a fourth-down situation after Manny Rojas broke up a pass play. With the Bucs at the Liberty 40 with about 10 minutes left, CSU coach Jay Mills initially called for a pooch punt.
But he changed his mind, calling for a play called “magic” at the last minute. Backup quarterback Sidney Bryant rushed on the field to join the punt team. He took the snap, rolled right and found uncovered receiver Maurice Price, Moore’s man, for a 15-yard gain and a first down. Three plays later, Robert Adams ran for a touchdown from seven yards out, and CSU was within 30-25.
“He came off the field and said, ‘I just didn’t cover him,’” Karcher said. “There’s a senior, and he openly admitted it. I don’t know what to say. If you cover your guy, they don’t get the first down.”
On the ensuing kickoff, senior Chris Green fielded the kick, but his knee touched the ground at the 1, putting LU in a tough spot.
The Flames’ freshmen dug them out of it.
Fluellen, who was in for injured running back Zach Terrell, ran for three yards on first down. Smith completed a five-yard pass to Brandon Turner and Fluellen ran for five more yards to get LU out of the shadow of its goalposts.
The drive sputtered when Smith missed high on a pass to Dominic Bolden, giving CSU the ball at the Bucs’ 45 down five points with 6:39 left.
Drafts, who threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns, led CSU on a 13-play, 55-yard drive, giving the Bucs the 31-30 lead with 1:10 left when he hit Price for a 10-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal. He converted on a 3rd-and-12 by scrambling for a 19-yard gain and kept attacking Brogden, who was covering Price, CSU’s top receiver.
On the first fourth-and-goal, Brogden draped himself all over Price and was flagged for pass interference with 2:53 left. That allowed the Bucs to grind out more clock, but scoring wasn’t a guarantee. On fourth-and-goal from the 10, Brogden again held Price, but the receiver caught the ball anyway.
“Bottom line, we don’t make plays when we need to,” Karcher said. “There’s no way that game should have been close. We just kept giving them opportunities, and when you don’t do what you’re supposed to do between the white lines, you can’t win.”
LU’s last gasp drive fell apart when Smith’s long pass to Jackson, who caught two TD passes, was dropped. He outran the coverage but dropped a perfectly thrown ball that would have put the Flames inside the CSU 30.
“We shouldn’t have been in that situation to begin with,” Smith said. “We shouldn’t have been in a two-minute drill.”
But they were. And the story remains the same.
Charleston Southern 31, LU 30
Liberty 9 7 7 7 - 30
CharlestonSouthern 15 0 3 13 - 31
First Quarter
ChS-Drafts 4 run (Ellis kick), 10:43. Drive: 9 plays, 53 yards, 4:17. Key play: Drafts runs for eight yards on 3rd-and-7 from the LU 18 to give CSU first-and-goal.
Lib-T.Turner safety, 6:30.
ChS-Price 73 pass from Drafts (Price pass from Drafts), 2:51. Drive: 4 plays, 88 yards, 1:03. Key play: Drafts hits Logan for an 11-yard gain on 3rd-and-7 the play before the touchdown.
Lib-W.Jackson 64 pass from B.Smith (Kolegue kick), :25. Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards, 2:26. Key play: None.
Second Quarter
Lib-B.Turner 12 pass from B.Smith (Kolegue kick), :37. Drive: 14 plays, 80 yards, 6:01. Key play: Carmon called for pass interference on 3rd-and-15 from the CSU 31, giving LU first down at the CSU 16.
Third Quarter
Lib-W.Jackson 34 pass from B.Smith (Kolegue kick), 10:30. Drive: 9 plays, 65 yards, 4:30. Key play: Smith’s 16-yard pass to Turner gives LU 1st-and-10 at the CSU 42.
ChS-FG Ellis 20, :39. Drive: 10 plays, 55 yards, 4:04. Key play: Calvary breaks up pass intended for Price in end zone, forcing field goal try.
Fourth Quarter
Lib-Fluellen 1 run (Kolegue kick), 12:09. Drive: 8 plays, 79 yards, 3:30. Key play: Smith’s 13-yard shovel pass to Fluellen on 3rd-and-5 while being sacked by two defenders gives LU first down at the CSU 36.
ChS-Adams 7 run (Ellis kick), 9:57. Drive: 9 plays, 65 yards, 2:12. Key play: Bryant hits Price for 15-yard gain on fake punt to move CSU to the LU 25.
ChS-Price 10 pass from Drafts (run failed), 1:10. Drive: 13 plays, 55 yards, 5:29. Key play: Brogden called for pass interference on 4th-and-goal, giving CSU four more downs.
A-2,312.
Lib ChS
Firstdowns 25 23
Rushes-yards 43-95 36-96
Passing 315 259
Comp-Att-Int 20-31-0 22-33-0
ReturnYards 11 6
Punts-Avg. 4-33.0 3-18.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 10-80 6-60
TimeofPossession 31:02 28:58
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Liberty, Terrell 27-82, Fluellen 10-19, B.Smith 5-1, Bolden 1-(minus 7). Charleston Southern, Drafts 17-35, Copeland 15-34, Adams 3-25, Harper 1-2.
PASSING-Liberty, B.Smith 20-31-0-315. Charleston Southern, Drafts 21-32-0-244, Bryant 1-1-0-15.
RECEIVING-Liberty, Bolden 6-66, B.Turner 6-66, Luck 5-71, W.Jackson 2-98, Fluellen 1-14. Charleston Southern, Price 13-171, Murry 3-35, Logan 2-14, Rucks 1-17, Meers 1-12, Copeland 1-10, Adams 1-0.
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