Willis and Company Smoke the Blazers
After a rough outing last week against Syracuse, the Flames started slow before dominating the UAB Blazers in the second half to win 36-12 in UAB’s inaugural game Oct. 2 at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama.
This game marked the first time Liberty entered a game as the underdog this season, but the Flames refused to be intimidated. Led by an impressive performance by quarterback Malik Willis through the air and on the ground, Liberty demonstrated why this team is still a competitor despite the loss to Syracuse.
UAB began the game with haste and gained 45 yards on the opening drive before Liberty’s defense forced UAB to settle for a 37-yard field goal.
Liberty failed to match the score on its opening drive and after a quick drive returned the ball to the Blazers, who were eager to increase their slim lead.
UAB’s second drive included a bit of drama. After a personal foul penalty negated a 60-yard touchdown catch by Johnson-Sanders, UAB stumbled in the red zone. A failed conversion on fourth down required the Blazers to hand the ball to the Flames on the Liberty 18-yard line.
The second drive for the Flames had more success than the first, but after marching all the way to the 3-yard line, the team failed to find the end zone and settled for a short 21-yard field goal.
A quick three-and-out for the Blazers took up only 40 seconds of play clock, and UAB elected to punt the ball to the Flames.
Liberty’s next drive ended in heartbreak as the team gave up one of its few turnovers this season. A controversial fumble by running back Joshua Mack on the UAB 1-yard line prevented the Flames from scoring the first touchdown in Protective Stadium.
All remained quiet for both sides for the rest of the first half, and the game hit intermission tied 3-3.
The third quarter proved to be much more exciting, and Liberty’s offense marched down the field, capping the drive with a Willis rushing touchdown that gave the Flames a seven-point lead.
UAB’s offense could not produce any spark to begin the third and punted. Willis willingly accepted the opportunity and scored on a 39-yard touchdown pass to CJ Daniels, moving the score to 17-3.
The following three drives resulted in three punts and little else.
Liberty took the ball again and shined. Willis completed a 70-yard pass to DeMario Douglas before finishing the drive with his second rushing touchdown on the day. This increased Liberty’s lead to 21 points. This score remained the same until the fourth quarter.
In the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, Mack found redemption for his fumble and scored on an 8-yard rush. A mishandled snap on the point after kept the score at 30-3.
After the game, Head Coach Hugh Freeze spoke about the important role that Mack played in the team’s rushing attack.
“I thought J-Mack in particular got the dirty yards that we needed,” Freeze said. “The tough hard-nosed 4-yard runs that put you in second-and-6 make all the difference in the world for a play caller.”
Freeze also noted that he spoke with Mack following the touchdown run.
“I just told [Mack] that I was proud of him and he said, ‘Thank you for giving me chances.’” Freeze said. “He and I have got a unique relationship, and I thought he was running it really hard. I thought he was in the first time and really happy for him to have a successful game. He needed that. We needed that.”
UAB’s offense continued to struggle after this offensive beating by the Flames. A poor pass by Hopkins afforded Liberty’s defense with its only turnover of the game when Liberty linebacker Storey Jackson snagged an interception.
Freeze sent backup quarterback Jonathan Bennett onto the field to demonstrate his skills. Bennett did not disappoint fans and threw an insane 33-yard touchdown pass to Treon Sibley. Liberty’s special teams struggled on the PAT, and UAB blocked the kick and returned it for a two-point score.
Following the game, Willis spoke about how excited he was to see Bennett succeed on the field.
“My boy JB works hard every day, and he’s a great teammate. I’m glad he got the opportunity, and he definitely showed up,” Willis said. “I’m glad Treon got that touchdown as well because he’s been working so hard, and he’s just improved so much. You don’t really get a chance to see that being a fan or someone just watching the game, so I’m really impressed and proud of them both.”
UAB’s offense finally found its stride with 4:53 left in regulation and scored its only touchdown of the game from a 59-yard run by Jermaine Brown Jr. This effort proved to be too little and too late, and the Flames won 36-12.
After the game, Willis spoke about how the team overcame the scoring drought in the first half. For Willis, the key to success is to focus on the next play.
“You just got to keep going out there and trying to execute plays,” Willis said. “You can’t worry about the result at the end of the day because you just … play the next play, like coach always says. We’re blessed enough to go out there and have some success, but we just weren’t punching it in, and at the end of the day, you just got to work on the next drive and go out there and play some more.”
Liberty’s defense held the Blazers to a miniscule 325 total yards, with 160 yards coming in the first quarter. Jackson spoke about how the team managed to right the ship after early defensive struggles.
“I knew we were here to play,” Jackson said. “I told the boys we’ve got to come out fast and come out bringing a fight. And I think we had a little bit of adversity at the beginning … but once we made the stops, that just gave us confidence and we kept going from there, building off the energy.”
The Flames will return to Williams Stadium in Liberty’s homecoming game against Middle Tennessee, Oct. 9 with the team looking to pick up its fifth win of the season.
Shields is the asst. sports editor. Find him on Twitter at @cpshields2000.