Gardner-Webb Revisited: News and Notes
10/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
No. 15/15 Liberty fell behind early and was never able to catch up, falling, 34-20, to Gardner-Webb in Spangler Stadium on Saturday night in Boiling Springs, N.C.
Included with today's news and notes are video interviews with Head Coach Turner Gill, senior quarterback Josh Woodrum and sophomore safety Avery James.
Throughout the season, LibertyFlames.com will run a similar feature online each Sunday, spotlighting the notable accomplishments and numbers from the previous day's gridiron battle.
Series with Gardner-Webb:
• Following the loss, Liberty now leads the series, 12-9-1
• Gardner-Webb snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Flames with the win, a run which dated back to the 2006 season
• The Flames had shut out the Runnin' Bulldogs in the previous two games
• Liberty is now 9-5 all-time against Gardner-Webb since Big South play began in 2002
• The loss was Liberty's first setback in four games when opening Big South play on the road (3-1)
Recap with Sr. QB Josh Woodrum:
Recap with So. Safety Avery James:
Team Talking Points:
• The loss drops Liberty to 1-3 on the road in 2015 and moves the Flames to 10-12 on the road in four seasons under Head Coach Turner Gill
• The Flames' loss snapped Liberty's five-game road winning streak in Big South games, a run that dated back to the 2012 season
• The Flames finished the Gardner-Webb game with a season-low 367 total offensive yards on 66 plays (second lowest play total of the year)
• The Flames finished the game with 19 first downs, including 15 first downs by passing plays
• Liberty currently ranks No. 20 in the country in first down offense (124 first downs) and is tied for No. 13 in the country in first downs by passing plays (70/56.5 percent of team's first downs)
• For the fourth time in five games, Liberty was held below the 100-yard rushing mark, finishing the game with 20 carries for 60 yards
• Liberty is averaging 189.0 rushing yards per game in its three wins in 2015 (eight rushing touchdowns), and 77.7 yards per game in its three losses (two rushing touchdowns)
• The Flames were held without a rushing touchdown against Gardner-Webb, snapping a string of seven-straight games with a rushing touchdown
• Liberty finished the game with a season-high 307 passing yards and had 40-plus passing attempts for the second game this year (48 at Southern Illinois; 46 at Gardner-Webb)
• Following the game, Liberty leads the Big South and ranks No. 26 in the country in passing offense (266.0 yards per game)
• After finishing with 19 third-down conversion in the last two games (10-of-20 vs. Southern Illinois; 9-of-17 vs. Georgia State), Liberty finished the Gardner-Webb converting on 4-of-14 third-down plays
• The Flames failed to convert on their lone fourth-down play against Gardner-Webb and are ranked No. 35 in the country in fourth-down conversions (58.3 percent/7-of-12)
• Liberty won the time of possession battle for the sixth game in 2015, finishing the contest with a 2:26 TOP edge over Gardner-Webb (31:13 to 28:47)
• Following the game, Liberty currently ranks No. 3 in the country in average time of possession (35:02)
• The Flames finished the game with a season-best one penalty for 10 yards (holding penalty), but the penalty negated a first down and two plays later John Lunsford missed a 40-yard field goal attempt late in third quarter
• After Liberty had shut out Gardner-Webb the last two meetings, the Runnin' Bulldogs took their opening drive of the game and scored less than five minutes into the contest to end the scoreless streak
• Liberty's defense limited Gardner-Webb during the second half of play to 76 yards on 26 plays and one touchdown (five-yard scoring drive after a muffed punt return)
• The Flames allowed Gardner-Webb to rush for an opponent season-high 268 yards on 43 carries (6.2 yards per carry)
• Gardner-Webb's 268 rushing yards were the most the Flames have allowed since Charleston Southern finished with 359 rushing yards in a victory over the Flames on Oct. 15, 2014 (both teams scored four rushing touchdowns in their victories over Liberty)
• The Flames have allowed 231.6 rushing yards per game in their three losses and 10 of their 14 rushing touchdowns allowed
• In its three wins in 2015, the Flames have held opponents to a combined 74 team rushing yards (24.7 per game/four touchdowns)
• Gardner-Webb was held to an opponent season-low 105 passing yards, the lowest Liberty opponent total since the Runnin' Bulldogs finished with 73 passing yards in a shutout loss to the Flames in 2014
• The Flames finished the game with one sack, adding to their Big South leading total (18) and they now rank No. 16 in the country in sacks per game (3.00)
• The Flames tied a season high by creating two turnovers (one interception and one fumble recovery), but also tied a season high by giving the ball away twice (one interception and one fumble lost)
• Liberty limited Gardner-Webb to converting on 3-of-12 third-down plays, tying an opponent season low (Montana also finished the game with three third-down conversions/3-of-16)
Notable Player Points:
• RB Desmond Rice finished the game with 10 of Liberty's 20 rushing attempts and gained 52 of Liberty's 60 team rushing yards
• QB Josh Woodrum finished the game completing 30-of-45 passing attempts for 307 yards, marking his eighth career 300-yard passing game
• QB Josh Woodrum's eight career 300-yard passing games ties him for second in program history with Phil Basso (Robby Justino holds the school record with 12)
• QB Josh Woodrum 30 passing completions was the second-highest total of his career (34 vs. Montana in 2012) and he had 40-plus passing attempts for the seventh time in his career
• With his passing yardage against Gardner-Webb, QB Josh Woodrum became the second player in program and Big South history with 9,000 career passing yards (9,048)
• QB Josh Woodrum finished the Gardner-Webb game exactly 500 passing yards behind Robby Justino's program record 9,548 career passing yards
• QB Josh Woodrum accounted for 83.1 percent of Liberty's total offensive yards against Gardner-Webb (finishing the game with 305 total offensive yards)
• WR Darrin Peterson finished the game with nine receptions for 107 yards and a touchdowns, marking his 13th career 100-yard receiving game
• WR Darrin Peterson becomes the fourth different Flame to finish a game in 2015 with 100-plus receiving yards (Zac Parker with 101 yards vs. Montana; Dante' Shells with 111 yards vs. Montana; B.J. Farrow with 101 yards vs. Southern Illinois)
• WR Darrin Peterson' 13th career 100-yard game extended the senior's program record for most career 100-yard receiving contests
• WR Darrin Peterson moved into second place on Liberty's career receptions list (180) and is now eight career receptions behind Chris Summers' program record (188)
• WR Darrin Peterson moved into second place on Liberty's career receiving yards list (2,652) and is now 60 career receiving yards behind Chris Summers' program record (2,712)
• WR Darrin Peterson moved into second place on Liberty's career receiving touchdowns list (23) and is now three career receiving touchdowns behind Chris Summers' program record (26)
• WR Zac Parker finished the game with five receptions for 23 yards, giving him five-plus receptions in five of Liberty's six games in 2015
• TE Canon Smith finished the game with a career-high five receptions for 54 yards
• TE Canon Smith entered the game with four career receptions for 18 career receiving yards in 27 career games played
• P Trey Turner finished the game averaging 36.0 yards per punt (five punts, 180 yards), his lowest career punting average against a Big South opponent
• With his two field goals, K John Lunsford now ranks second in program history with 44 career field goals made (58 is the record held by Matt Bevins)
• With his two extra points, K John Lunsford is now tied for second in program history with 135 career extra points (tied with Matt Bevins; 142 is the record held by Phillip Harrelson)
• K John Lunsford attempted a career high five field goals against Gardner-Webb
• K John Lunsford has attempted four or more field goals in three of six games in 2015 (had attempted four field goals twice during a game during his previous three years at Liberty)
• K John Lunsford missed three field goals against Gardner-Webb, marking the fourth time he has missed three field goals in a game (twice in 2015; one in 2013)
• RS Zac Parker returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown against Gardner-Webb, marking Liberty's first punt return for a touchdown since 2012
• S Avery James led the Flames with 10 tackles (seven solo, three assisted), his second career 10-tackle effort (had 15 tackles at Southern Illinois)
• DE Erwin Dessources finished the contest with seven tackles (two solo, five assisted), setting a new career high (previous career high was five tackles against James Madison in 2014)
• DE Erwin Dessources forced his third fumble of the game and now ranks No. 6 in the country in forced fumbles per game (0.5 per game) and tied for No. 3 with three forced fumbles
• DE Erwin Dessources also finished the Gardner-Webb game with a fumble recovery, the third recovery of his career
• CB Tyrin Holloway finished the game with five tackles (four solo, one assisted), matching his season high set earlier this year against Montana
• DE Chima Uzowihe finished the game with five tackles (two solo, three assisted), his second-highest total of the season (previously had six stops against West Virginia)
• DE Chima Uzowihe shared one of Liberty's three tackles for a loss against Gardner-Webb and is now tied for fifth place on Liberty's career tackles for a loss list (tied with Rodney Degrate with 34.0)
• CB Chris Turner finished the game with his third interception, marking the most interceptions in a season by a Liberty freshman since Randall State in 1998
