Coastal Carolina Revisited: News and Notes
11/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Liberty's senior class capped off their careers with a thrilling 24-21 victory over Big South rival and the No. 4 ranked Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, Thursday night, in a nationally televised game on ESPNEWS.
Included with today's news and notes is Head Coach Turner Gill's postgame interview with the Liberty Flames Sports Network. In the coming days, LibertyFlames.com will also feature postgame interviews with seniors Darrin Peterson, Chima Uzowihe and Josh Woodrum.
Throughout the season, LibertyFlames.com ran a similar feature online each day following a Liberty football game, spotlighting the notable accomplishments and numbers from the previous day's gridiron battle.
Series with Coastal Carolina:
• Following the win, Liberty now leads the series against their Big South rival, 7-6
• Thursday night's win marked the first time the home team has won in the series since 2012
• Liberty has won back-to-back games in the series for the first time since winning three straight from 2007 to 2009
• Liberty has won five of the series' seven matchups at Williams Stadium
• The result continued a recent trend in the series, as the last three games between the two rivals have been decided by three or fewer points
Ranked Opponents Update:
• Following the win, Liberty is now 18-51 all-time against ranked opponents
• Liberty has won six of its last nine matchups against nationally ranked teams
• The win was Liberty's second over a top 10 ranked team in 2015 and the Flames' fourth in four seasons under Head Coach Turner Gill (also defeated No. 6/8 Stony Brook in 2012; No. 2/1 Coastal Carolina in 2014 and No. 8/7 Montana earlier this season)
• Liberty is now 7-8 all-time against ranked teams under Head Coach Turner Gill (4-4 at home and 3-4 on the road)
Senior Class Update:
• With the win, Liberty's 2015 senior class finished their careers with a 29-19 record, which is tied with the 2012 and 2013 senior classes for the fifth most wins by a senior class in program history
• This year's senior class helped Liberty win three Big South titles (2012, 2013 and 2014) and recorded the Flames' first-ever NCAA FCS Playoffs appearance and victory in 2014
• This year's senior class includes D.J. Abnar, Jonathan Burgess, Gerald Holt, Miles Hunter, Austin Kaigler, Dakota Kelly, John Lunsford, Ryan McCarter, Jimmy O'Grady, Darrin Peterson, Desmond Rice, Malaki Roy, Zachary Schreiber, Max Sommer, Nolan Spicer, Chima Uzowihe and Josh Woodrum.
Attendance Update:
• Following the win, Liberty is now ranked No. 4 in the country in total attendance (94,950) and average home attendance (18,990) and No. 10 in filling stadium capacity (98.91)
• Liberty finished the season setting a new program record for average home attendance (18,990), surpassing the previous average home attendance record of 17,016 set in 2014
Team Talking Points:
• With the win, Liberty moved to 5-0 in homes games in 2015 and 19-5 in home contests during Head Coach Turner Gill's four-year coaching career at Liberty
• The win capped off Liberty's first undefeated season at home since 2010 (Liberty was 4-0 at home in 2010)
• Liberty moves to 13-2 all-time during the month of November in four seasons under Head Coach Turner Gill
• The win against the Chanticleers allowed Liberty to post a winning record for the 10th-straight season
• The Flames finished the game with 412 total offensive yards, Liberty's fifth game this season with 400 or more total offensive yards
• Liberty finished the game with 75 total offensive plays, its third highest total of the season
• The Flames finished the game averaging 5.5 yards per play, their seventh game in 2015 averaging more than 5.0 yards per play
• Liberty finished the game with 19 first downs, its highest first down total since the team's win against Kennesaw State
• Following the game, Liberty is tied for No. 28 in the country in first down offense (218 first downs)
• For the sixth time in 2015, Liberty finished a game with 10 or more first downs via passing plays (11)
• Following the win, Liberty ranks No. 15 in the country in first downs via passing plays (124 of 218/56.9 percent)
• Liberty finished the game rushing 45 times for 150 yards, its fourth-highest rushing total of the season
• The Flames had 45 carries against the Chanticleers, the team's second-highest total of the year (fourth time with 40 or more carries in a game)
• Liberty finished the game with 262 passing yards, its sixth game in 2015 with 250 or more passing yards
• Following the game, Liberty ranks No. 27 in the country in passing offense (259.9 yards per game)
• For the second game in a row and the seventh time this season, Liberty finished a game without throwing an interception
• The Flames finished the game converting on 8-of-19 third-down plays, their fourth-highest third-down conversion total of the season
• Liberty also converted on 2-of-2 fourth-down plays and now ranks No. 34 in the country in fourth-down conversion rate (55.0 percent/11-of-20)
• Liberty dominated the play clock, finishing the game with a 21:44 time of possession edge over Coastal Carolina (40:52 to 19:08)
• The sizeable time of possession advantage marked the second time this year Liberty has finished a game with a 20-plus minute time of possession edge over an opponent (27:06 minute edge over Georgia State)
• Following the win, Liberty has won the time of possession battle in eight of 11 games and now ranks No. 21 in the country in average time of possession (32:32)
• After finishing last week's game against Charleston Southern with 10 penalties for 86 yards, the Flames cut their penalty total in half against Coastal Carolina with five penalties for 45 yards
• For the third game in a row and the fifth time this season, Liberty won the turnover battle (zero turnovers lost to one turnover gained)
• Liberty finished the game without a turnover for the fourth time this year and now ranks No. 10 in the country in fewest turnovers lost (11)
• Coastal Carolina finished the game with 428 total offensive yards, marking the sixth time Liberty has allowed 400 plus total offensive yards in 2015
• Coastal Carolina made the most of its limited play total (51), posting the second highest average yards per play total this year by a Liberty opponent (8.4)
• Liberty limited Coastal Carolina to 19 rushing attempts for 103 yards (second lowest total rushing attempts – fourth lowest rushing yards)
• For the second week in a row and fourth time this season, an opponent finished a game with 300-plus passing yards as Coastal Carolina threw for 325 yards
• Coastal Carolina finished the game converting on 1-of-9 third-down plays, marking a new Liberty opponent season low for 2015
• For the sixth time this year and second game in a row, Liberty finished a game with multiple sacks (2)
Notable Player Points:
• RB Desmond Rice finished his Liberty career by rushing for 76 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries
• RB Desmond Rice capped off the game's first drive with an eight-yard touchdown run, his 27th career rushing touchdown
• With his 27 career rushing touchdowns, RB Desmond Rice finished two touchdown shy of cracking Liberty's career top five listing (Mike Brown finished his career with 29 rushing touchdowns)
• RB Todd Macon finished the game with 14 carries for 46 yards, giving him a new career high for total rushing yards in a season (303) and rushing attempts (73)
• QB Josh Woodrum finished his final career game under center completing 19-of-30 pass attempts for 262 yards and two touchdowns
• QB Josh Woodrum posted his 14th career 250-plus yard passing game, tying him for second on Liberty's career 250-yard passing game list (tied with Mike Brown)
• QB Josh Woodrum finishes his career as the program's all-time career record holder in passing yards (10,266), completions (833) and attempts (1,304)
• QB Josh Woodrum finishes his career with 61 touchdown passes, which ranks second on Liberty's all-time list (Robby Justino – 64)
• QB Josh Woodrum also finished his career third on Liberty's completion percentage list (63.9 percent) and fourth in passing efficiency (140.85)
• QB Josh Woodrum set a new program record and ranks second in Big South history with 10,266 total offensive yards
• WR Darrin Peterson led the Flames with four receptions for 70 yards against Coastal Carolina
• WR Darrin Peterson finished his career as the program and Big South leader with 3,170 career receiving yards
• WR Darrin Peterson finished his career as Liberty's all-time leader in career receptions (215) and receiving touchdowns (27)
• WR Darrin Peterson finished his career ranked second in Big South history in career receptions (215) and fourth in receiving touchdowns (27)
• TE Canon Smith finished the game with three receptions for a career-high 63 receiving yards
• WR B.J. Farrow caught the game-winning touchdown pass with 1:27 left in the game, marking the redshirt sophomore's second career touchdown reception
• TE Will Johnson had one catch in the game, a two-yard touchdown reception, which marked his first career receiving touchdown
• P Trey Turner finished the game with seven punts for 289 yards, averaging 41.3 yards per punt
• P Trey Turner has averaged 40 or more yards per punt each of the last three games and five times overall this season
• Four of P Trey Turner's seven punts against Coastal Carolina pinned the Chanticleers inside the 20-yard line
• K John Lunsford opened the fourth quarter with a 28-yard field goal, his 49th career field goal
• K John Lunsford finishes his career ranked first in program history in extra points made (150) and second in field goals made (49)
• With his six points against Coastal Carolina, K John Lunsford finishes his career ranked second in program history with 294 career points scored
• K John Lunsford finished his career ranked fourth in Big South history in scoring (294) and extra points made (150)
• CB Tyrin Holloway and S Avery James finished atop Liberty's tackle list with five stops each
• CB Tyrin Holloway tied a season high with five tackles, matching his efforts against Montana and Gardner-Webb
• LB Nick Newman finished the game with four stops, allowing him to be Liberty's tackle leader for the 2015 season with 74 stops
• DL Chima Uzowihe finished his final game at Liberty with four tackles, including two tackles for a loss
• With his two tackles for a loss against Coastal Carolina, DL Chima Uzowihe finishes his career ranked second in school history and third in Big South history with 44.0 career tackles for a loss
• DL Chima Uzowihe did not record a sack in his final career game at Liberty, finishing his career ranked first in program and Big South history with 25.0 career sacks
• In his first career start, DL Juwan Wells finished the game with three tackles, including 2.0 sacks for a loss of eight yards
• With his two sacks against Coastal Carolina, DL Juwan Wells finishes the year ranked second on the team with 5.0 sacks
• CB Chris Turner intercepted his fourth pass of the year, marking the most interceptions in a season by a Liberty freshman since Randall State had the same total in 1999
• Following the final game of the season, CB Chris Turner ranks No. 35 in the country in interceptions (0.4 per game)
• LB Jimmy O'Grady finished the game with two assisted stops, giving the senior 123 career tackles
