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Liberty University
5-3 , 1-0
Gardner-Webb
4-4 , 0-1
Flames Shut Out Runnin' Bulldogs Again to Open up Big South Play
10/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Liberty scored on its opening drive and kept Gardner-Webb from finding positive total yardage until the third quarter en route to a 34-0 shutout victory, Saturday evening, at Williams Stadium.
The 34-0 result gave the Flames their second shutout in a row against Gardner-Webb, following Liberty's 24-0 win in Boiling Springs, N.C., on Oct. 26, 2013. It was Liberty's second shutout of the season and third under head coach Turner Gill. The last time the Flames had two shutouts in the same season was in 2008.
The win upped Liberty's record to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in Big South play. Liberty is now 9-4 all-time in Big South openers and has won 21 of its last 22 Big South games at Williams Stadium (dating back to 2006).
The loss evens Gardner-Webb's record at 4-4 overall and drops the Runnin' Bulldogs to 0-1 in league play.
The Family Weekend game was played in front of 20,217 fans, the second largest in stadium history. Liberty had a stadium-record crowd of 20,838 on Oct. 4 for its Homecoming game against Richmond earlier this year.
The Flames dominated both sides of the final statistics sheet. Liberty averaged 6.7 yards per offensive play, finishing the contest with 499 yards on 74 plays.
Liberty limited Gardner-Webb to 56 total offensive yards on 55 plays, including an opponent record -17 rushing yards. The previous school record was when Liberty held Kutztown to -10 rushing yards in 1991.
Quarterback Josh Woodrum finished the game completing 15-of-23 passing attempts for 204 yards and a touchdown pass. The junior also carried the ball five times and scored his seventh rushing touchdown of the season.
After throwing for 430 yards in a double overtime win at VMI last week, Gardner-Webb quarterback Lucas Beatty was held to 12-of-23 passing for 73 yards.
D.J. Abnar carried the ball 27 times for 137 yards and two rushing touchdowns. The junior became the first Flame since current N.Y. Giants running back and Liberty grad Rashad Jennings to post three 100-yard rushing games in a row.
Liberty's leading receiver was Jaquan Glover. The senior finished the game with four receptions for 41 yards, including his first career touchdown reception in the third quarter for the game's final score.
Dante Shells continued to get his yardage in large quantities, finishing the game with two receptions for 106 yards, his second-straight 100-yard game. On the year, the senior now has eight receptions for 35 or more yards.
After a career-high 251 receiving yards last week at VMI, Gardner-Webb wide receiver Kenny Cook was limited to one reception for 16 yards.
Liberty's defense finished the game with five sacks, 12 tackles for a loss, a fumble recovery and the team's eighth interception of the year.
The Flames' defensive standout of the game was Chima Uzowihe, who finished the game by tying a career high with 2.5 sacks. His sack total allowed the junior to move into fifth place on Liberty's career sacks list (15.0).
Gardner-Webb's defense was paced by Ivan Toomer, who finished the game with nine tackles, followed by eight stops by Aaron Cook.
The final notable number from the game came from kicker John Lunsford, who surpassed the school's consecutive extra points' record. The previous mark was 82 by Mark DeMoss (1980-83) and Lunsford now has been successful on 85 extra points in a row.
Woodrum helped the Flames get on the scoreboard first, calling his own number on a third-and-three play from the Liberty four-yard line to give the Flames a 7-0 lead with 9:00 left to play in the first quarter.
Following the second of three straight three-and-out series for Gardner-Webb, Liberty was able to widen its lead to 10-0 on a 35-yard field goal by Lunsford at the 5:54 mark of the first. The Bulldogs finished the game with nine total three-and-out series on 14 drives.
The score remained the same until early in the second quarter (11:12) when Abnar got to the outside and scored from 19 yards out.
The Flames were able to tack on three more points before heading to the locker room at halftime when Lunsford knocked down a 39-yard field goal as time expired on the clock.
At the half, Liberty had recorded 246 total offensive yards on 37 plays, while limiting Gardner-Webb to -11 yards on 23 plays.
The third quarter saw the visitors find the positive side of the stat sheet in terms of total yards, but did not see the Runnin' Bulldogs find the scoreboard.
Liberty was able to score twice to put the game out of reach. The first was benefited from a 61-yard reception from Woodrum to Shells on Liberty's opening drive of the third quarter. Back-to-back five-yard runs by Abnar, with the second getting him into the end zone, allowed Liberty to take a 27-0 lead with 12:48 left to play in the quarter.
On the second play of the next drive, Liberty created the game's first turnover, forcing Beatty to fumble the ball away which was recovered by defensive lineman Dominique Davis.
Three plays later, Woodrum found Glover open on a slant route, giving the senior his first career touchdown reception (six yards) at the 10:52 mark of the third for the game's final score.
The most of the remainder of the game was played by both team's reserve players, allowing Liberty to secure the shutout victory.
The Flames will travel to Clinton, S.C., next weekend for their first Big South road game of the year when the face Presbyterian on Saturday. Kickoff from Bailey Memorial Stadium will be at 2 p.m. and the contest will be televised by the Liberty Flames Sports Network.
The Runnin' Bulldogs return home for their first of two home conference games in 2014, hosting No. 4/3 Coastal Carolina. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. and game will be covered by the American Sports Network.
Presbyterian moved to 2-1 in Big South play and 5-3 overall with an 18-12 victory over Monmouth at home earlier today. Meanwhile, the Chanticleers moved to 8-0 on the year with a 43-22 home win over in-state rival Charleston Southern.
Team Stats
GWU 0, LIBERTY 7
LIBERTY - WOODRUM, J. 4 yd run (LUNSFORD, J. kick), 9 plays, 65 yards, TOP 4:29
GWU 0, LIBERTY 10
LIBERTY - LUNSFORD, J. 35 yd field goal 5 plays, 27 yards, TOP 1:32
GWU 0, LIBERTY 17
LIBERTY - ABNAR, D.J. 19 yd run (LUNSFORD, J. kick), 5 plays, 45 yards, TOP 2:14
GWU 0, LIBERTY 20
LIBERTY - LUNSFORD, J. 39 yd field goal 10 plays, 63 yards, TOP 2:22
GWU 0, LIBERTY 27
LIBERTY - ABNAR, D.J. 5 yd run (LUNSFORD, J. kick), 5 plays, 85 yards, TOP 2:12
GWU 0, LIBERTY 34
LIBERTY - GLOVER, J. 6 yd pass from WOODRUM, J. (LUNSFORD, J. kick) 3 plays, 18 yards, TOP 1:17
