Missed Chances Cost Flames Against Lafayette

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No. 14/15 Liberty overcame a first-half offensive barrage by Lafayette to give itself chances late in the game. However, the visiting Leopards withstood several second-half charges to take a 35-21 victory over Liberty, Saturday afternoon, at Williams Stadium.

The loss ends the nation's longest FCS winning streak at 11 games, dropping the Flames to 6-1 on the season. Liberty, which was looking for its first-ever 7-0 start in program history, also saw its 11-game home winning streak snapped in front of 15,483 fans, the second-largest crowd in stadium history.

The win pushes Lafayette's record to 5-1 on the season and is the Leopards' second-straight road victory during their current five-game road swing.

Lafayette scored first in the contest, taking advantage of a Liberty error the first time the Flames touched the football. The Flames stopped the Leopards on their opening drive, but Liberty's Dominic Bolden misplayed a bounding ball on the ground during the punt, with Lafayette quickly jumping on the loose pigskin.

Seven plays later, Lafayette's DeAndre' Morrow took a handoff from quarterback Rob Curley and scored on a sweeping play to the far side of the field. The six-yard run gave the visitors a 7-0 lead with 8:10 left in the opening quarter.

However, it didn't take long for Bolden to redeem himself for his errant play early in the first, as the senior turned a short-yardage screen pass into a lengthy touchdown reception. Smith found the wideout open, and he used several key blocks downfield to record a 60-yard touchdown reception, knotting the game at 7-7 just 49 seconds later.

Lafayette forced the Flames to punt the ball away on Liberty's next possession, which Shaun Adair returned 63 yards to the Liberty 13-yard line. The return was a season long for Lafayette and was the longest the Flames have allowed since Charleston Southern returned a punt for a score against Liberty on Nov. 11, 2006.

Morrow was given the ball on the first play of the drive and he made a carbon copy of his scoring run from earlier in the game. However, this time the junior found the end zone from 13 yards out, giving the visitors a 14-7 lead with 2:02 left in the opening quarter.

The Flames tried to get on the scoreboard early in the second quarter, but Matt Bevins' 47-yard field goal attempt into the wind came up just shy of the crossbar with 12:38 left in the first half.

The Leopards pieced together their first double-digit play drive of the opening half, with Joe Russo capping off a 10-play, 71-yard drive, when the fullback scored from four yards out. The four-yard burst pushed Lafayette's lead to 21-7 at the 8:41 mark.

Five plays later, a previously quieted Rashad Jennings made his presence known quickly. Surveying the defense, Smith called an audible at the line of scrimmage, changing the play up, which he handed off to Jennings. The senior broke through the line of scrimmage and outran Lafayette's defenders, cutting the Leopards' lead to seven points, 21-14, on a 58-yard touchdown run.

After Lafayette forced the second Liberty three-and-out series of the ball game, the Leopards mounted their longest scoring drive of the game. With the first-half clock winding down, Curley found Tim Watson in the far corner of the end zone on a 19-yard flag route for a touchdown, giving Lafayette a 28-14 edge at the intermission.

The Leopards finished the opening period with 249 total offensive yards, as compared to the Flames' 202 yards. However, Lafayette almost doubled up Liberty in terms of plays, 46 to 24. The Leopards continually moved the ball during the first 30 minutes, picking up 15 first downs, as the squad converted on 8-of-11 third-down plays.

Jennings picked up 15 yards on the Flames' first rushing attempt of the second half. However, four plays later the drive stalled, forcing Liberty to punt. Bevins was brought on to punt, but Lafayette's Andy Romans got behind the line of scrimmage. The senior linebacker blocked the kick, picked it up and returned it 15 yards to push the visitors' lead to 21 points, 35-14.

The Flames offense tried to regroup on the ensuing drive, stringing together its longest drive of the afternoon at 12 plays. Liberty managed to get down to the Leopards' two-yard line, but the Flames couldn't punch the ball in, leaving the squad to settle for a field goal try.

Bevins connected on the 26-yard field goal attempt, but the Flames were whistled for illegal formation, forcing Liberty to move five yards back and retry the kick. And this time, the freshman was not as successful, missing his second field goal attempt of the game wide left.

The score remained the same until the first play of the fourth quarter, when Smith found Jonathan Crawford open on a 19-yard post route. The senior's third receiving touchdown of the year pulled the Flames back within 14 points, 35-21, with 14:56 left to play in the contest.

Liberty's defense continued to hold the Leopards in check, forcing Lafayette to punt the ball away with 11:02 left in regulation.

Smith quickly moved the Flames down the field, completing 4-of-6 pass attempts, followed by a 32-yard jaunt by Jennings up the middle to get into the Leopards' red zone at the five-yard line.

However, Lafayette's blockers came up strong, keeping the Flames out of the end zone by inches. Jennings, a Walter Payton Award candidate, picked up four of the five yards needed to score, but was halted on a fourth-and-one just shy of the goal line with 6:58 left in the ball game.

Liberty pressed the Leopards during the remaining seven minutes, but Lafayette sealed the victory with its continued solid play. Lafayette finished things off with a fake punt, where Romans was snapped the ball directly and picked up a first down, enabling the Leopards to wind out the game clock.

The Flames dominated the second half, outgaining Lafayette, 273 yards to 89. However, both squads were only able to add one touchdown apiece to the scoreboard during the final 30 minutes of the contest. Liberty finished the game with 475 total offensive yards to Lafayette's 338.

Liberty, who came into the game ranked No. 7 in the nation by averaging 251 rushing yards per game, was held to a season-low 131 yards on 28 carries. Jennings recorded his 18th career 100-yard game to set a new Big South record, rushing for 148 yards.

The senior's 58-yard touchdown run, the fourth longest of his career at Liberty, gave him 232 career points since joining the Flames, making him the program's leading career scorer among non-kicking players.

Eight different ball carriers for Lafayette helped the Leopards finish the game with 162 team rushing yards, paced by Tyrell Coon's 47 yards on 10 carries.

Smith threw for a career-high 344 yards, as the senior completed 24-of-37 pass attempts. The two scoring passes during the game moved Smith into third place on Liberty's all-time career touchdown passing list with 42.

Bolden was Smith's favorite target during the contest, pulling in a career-high 150 receiving yards on eight receptions. Crawford followed by catching seven passes for 106 yards, giving Liberty its first pair of 100-yard receivers in a single game since Adrian Hall (133 yards) and Daniel Thomas (110 yards) did so against Charleston Southern on Nov. 10, 2001.

Nick Hursky and Chris Rocco paced Liberty's defensive attack with 12 and 10 stops, respectively. Hursky's dozen tackles marked the 12th time the senior has recorded a double-figure tackle total, while it was the first of Rocco's three-year stay at Liberty.

The Flames will conclude their current three-game homestand next weekend when they return to Big South Conference play against Charleston Southern, as part of the University's annual Homecoming weekend.

The 16th-consecutive match-up between the two programs will start at 3:30 p.m., inside Williams Stadium, where Liberty will be looking to pick up its league-record ninth-straight conference win.

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Missed Chances Cost Flames Against Lafayette

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Brock Smith