Flames conquer Colonials
Rocco’s defense forced 3 turnovers in RMU rematch
he student section at Saturday’s evening football game against Robert Morris University flew a banner welcoming the Colonials to “the Bonfire.” No s’mores, no guitars, no kum-bai-ya.
Shifty — Ryan Furguson (83) fought hard through camp to win the fifth receiver slot on the depth chart. Saturday, he split two defenders to snag his first career touchdown. Photo credit: Ruth Bibby
Instead, the Flames torched the Colonials in a resounding 38-7 rout.
“It was very important that, coming off the game at NC State, that we made a statement for an impressive season,” said cornerback Kevin Fogg, whose two interceptions and a kick return for a touchdown vividly represented the way that Liberty controlled the game.
“It feels amazing,” Fogg said.
The Robert Morris win was a revenge win. The Flames fell to the Colonials 23-30 last year in a disappointing performance. For head coach Danny Rocco, that loss was all he needed to fuel his team going into Saturday’s game.
“We had some element this game of payback of last years game. I certainly talked about it this week,” Rocco said. “Our guys responded, and we came out of here with a really significant victory.”
Liberty’s defensive unit was ready to rise to the occasion. The Flames held Robert Morris’s running game in check the whole night, allowing just 2.9 yards per carry, and instead of committing turnovers that led to the their defeat last week, the Flames forced three.
Liberty’s offense also operated well during the game. After exchanging possessions to start off, momentum finally arrived for the Flames midway through the first quarter in the form of a 30-yard punt return by return man B.J. Hayes to the Colonial’s 12-yard line.
Minutes later, quarterback Mike Brown scampered into the end zone off of a quarterback keeper from five yards out.
Later in the quarter, the Flames kept the pressure on the Colonials’ defensive backs, with Brown frequently trying for deep completions, which led to solid connections with receiver Pat Kelly.
During the Flames’ six-play, 85-yard third drive of the game, Kelly contributed three catches for 75 yards, which culminated in a 39-yard touchdown catch down the right sideline.
“We thought we had some mismatches, so we tried to take advantage of them on the ends,” Brown said.
The second quarter featured stellar plays from the defense that repeatedly stuffed the run game and forced an interception by Fogg just before halftime. Unfortunately, the Flames committed their lone turnover of the game, a fumble, in the red zone just before halftime, which left the score at 14-0.
Liberty added two more scores to the board in the third quarter. Brown scored on a seven-yard scamper down the middle of the Robert Morris defense six minutes into the half on a drive started by yet another Fogg interception and threaded the needle on a 37-yard touchdown pass between two defenders to receiver Ryan Ferguson with 1:50 left in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Robert Morris finally managed to reach the red zone, with just over 13 minutes left, and capitalized with a nine-yard touchdown pass on a nifty, play-action fake.
The Flames punched back immediately. “Seconds later,” immediately.
Fogg proceeded to return the ensuing kickoff back 88 yards for a touchdown, which pillaged any momentum the Colonials may have had and sent the crowd into a frenzy with 10 minutes left in the game.
The final drives of the game featured more shutdown defense by Liberty, and solid offensive play, by quarterback Tyler Brennan led a 69-yard drive that ended with a 23-yard Matt Bevins field goal, which ended the scoring at 38-7.
Now, Liberty focuses its attention on next week’s game versus James Madison, a program that has been a thorn in Liberty’s side the past two years.
“That’s going to be a game I’ve been waiting to play,” Fogg said. “It’ll be really good to play them at home, and hopefully get a (win).”