Nowhere to run, or pass
Flames dominate Runnin’ Bulldogs, set Big South record in shutout victory
HUNGRY — Flames wide receiver Darrin Peterson eyes the endzone on a first-quarter run on his only rush of the game, but ends up stepping out-of-bounds at the 11-yard line. Photo credit: Courtney Russo
Just one game before its matchup with Gardner-Webb, Liberty gave up 637 yards and 48 points to Appalachian State. The Flames looked like a different team in their Oct. 25 matchup with the Runnin’ Bulldogs, blanking them 34-0 in what was each team’s Big South opener.
The Bulldogs (4-4, 0-1 Big South) mustered just 56 yards of offense, including minus-17 rushing yards on the wrong side of what was one of the most dominant defensive performances in Big South history. The Flames (5-3, 1-0 Big South) set the Big South record for rushing yards allowed and tied the conference mark for total yards allowed.
“In 2014, to shut out teams and really shut them down to under 100 yards, that’s really, really difficult to do,” Flames Head Coach Turner Gill said. “It’s a tremendous compliment (to) our defensive staff and our players to come out here and play a dominating game.”
A major reason for the Flames defensive renaissance was the return of starting senior linebacker Nick Sigmon from injury. The four-year starter made three tackles in his first game since sustaining a shoulder injury against Indiana State. In two games without Sigmon, the Flames gave up a combined 94 points and 1,138 total yards.
“It’s just good to get back out there,” Sigmon said. “Four weeks off is a pretty good amount of time, but as soon as I got out there for the first play, I felt like I had been playing the whole time.”
The Flames defensive line made life much easier for the rest of the unit from the opening kickoff, pushing the Gardner-Webb offensive line off the line of scrimmage play after play. Toby Onyechi sacked Bulldogs quarterback Lucas Beatty on the third play of the game to open the floodgates. Chima Uzowihe pitched in with two sacks, and Dominique Davis added one of his own as well.
“I love my defense,” wide receiver Jaquan Glover said. “I try to keep them as live as I can. When I see (how well they performed), that shows that they care and they want to take us to the next level.”
Offensively, Flames quarterback Josh Woodrum set the tone early, finding the endzone from four yards out on a quarterback keeper to cap a 65-yard drive just six minutes into the game. The Bulldogs proved not to be able to stop the Flames on the ground all afternoon, surrendering 292 rushing yards. D.J. Abnar led the Flames with 141 yards on 27 carries, scoring two touchdowns, but the Flames had four other rushers with at least 25 yards. Abnar became the first Flames player since Rashad Jennings in 2008 to run for 100 yards in three straight games.
Backup quarterback Stephon Masha was utilized as a major weapon, running, catching and throwing the ball. He rushed four times for 49 yards, caught two passes and completed one pass en route to being named the Big South Offensive Player of the Week. Adding to the more surprising names on the score sheet was redshirt-senior Jaquan Glover, who had not had a catch all year. Starting in place of Dante Shells, Glover caught Woodrum’s only touchdown pass of the day, a six-yarder early in the third quarter that made it 34-0.
Success on the ground led to big plays through the air as well, with Woodrum finding Shells for a pair of deep passes — one of them going for 45 yards, and the other 61. While neither of the plays resulted in touchdowns, both drives ended in points. Shells, who struggled with drops early in the season, has emerged as a dangerous big play threat lately, hitting the 100-yard mark in back-to-back games. Over the past two games, Shells has 188 more receiving yards than the Flames leading receiver Darrin Peterson.
“(Shells) has really worked hard,” Gill said. “I know Josh Woodrum has had him out there on Mondays on their own, catching balls. It is good to see it come to fruition on game day, and it’s just going to make our offense more explosive if he can continue to do that.”
Liberty’s win marks its seventh victory in its past eight conference openers. And the Flames have been particularly hard to beat at Williams Stadium — 20,217 fans packed into the stadium against Gardner-Webb, the second-highest number in program history — in Big South play, boasting a 21-1 record in their past 22 conference home games. Since Gill took over in 2012, the Flames have gone 13-4 within the confines of Williams Stadium, while going 6-8 away from home.
The Flames will have a chance to improve on that away record when they travel to Clinton, South Carolina, to take on Presbyterian Nov. 1. For the first time since 2007, the Blue Hose will go into their matchup with the Flames with a winning record. The Flames have not lost to the Blue Hose since 2008.
“It’s conference play,” Woodrum said. “Everything is cranked up another notch, and we understand that we have to win this game. If we don’t win this one, everything that we’re going to be playing for (will be) over.”
Tichenor is the sports editor.