Flames News

VMI Revisited: News and Notes

Flames Audio:

Liberty moved to 5-0 in Big South play for the third time in the last four years, following a hard-fought 37-31 victory over in-state foe VMI, Saturday afternoon, inside of Williams Stadium.

Included with today's news and notes is the Flames Sports Network's radio postgame interview with head football coach Danny Rocco, plus a radio recap and highlights.

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.

News and Notes from the VMI game:
VMI Series Highlights:
• Liberty is now 8-3 all-time against VMI, having won the last six meetings.
• The Flames are now 8-1 against VMI since the Keydets joined the Big South Conference in 2003.
Big South Highlights:
• With its victory over VMI, Liberty moves to 5-0 for the third time in program history (2008, 2009 and 2011).
• Liberty's all-time Big South record under head coach Danny Rocco is now 26-4 (86.7 percent).
• With a win over VMI, Liberty has now won 15-straight Big South games inside of Williams Stadium.
• Liberty is one of seven FCS teams left in the country to remain undefeated in conference play (out of 124 FCS programs): Harvard (5-0/Ivy), Lehigh (4-0/Patriot), Liberty (5-0/Big South), Montana State (7-0/Big Sky), North Dakota State (6-0/Missouri Valley), Sam Houston State (6-0/Southland) and Stony Brook (4-0/Big South).
• Dating back to last season (which includes Liberty's season finale victory over Stony Brook), the Flames have won six Big South games in a row.
• Liberty's six-game Big South winning streak is tied for the fourth longest active conference winning streak among FCS programs.
General Highlights:
• This year's senior class finishes up its four-year careers with a perfect 12-0 record at home against Big South opponents.
• During those 12-straight home Big South victories, Liberty outscored opponents by an average of 28.42 points per game (44.75 PF/16.33 PA).
• Following the VMI game, Liberty has now won six games in a row, which is tied for the second-longest winning streak during head coach Danny Rocco's tenure.
• Liberty's six-game win streak is currently tied for the seventh longest active FCS winning streak in the country.
• With an attendance figure of 17,266 for Liberty's game against VMI, the Flames set a new single season home attendance record of 98,515 (surpassing the previous record of 92,026 set in 2008).
• Liberty currently ranks No. 7 in the country in total attendance (98,515) and No. 14 in average home attendance (16,419).
• For the sixth time this season, Liberty finished a game with 30 or more points scored, which has the Flames ranked No. 9 in the country in scoring offense (36.40 points per game).
• For the 14th time in his career, Mike Brown finished a game with 300 or more total offensive yards, as he finished with 319 yards against VMI (33 rushing/286 passing).
• Mike Brown's 286 passing yards against VMI was his third-highest passing total of the 2011 season.
• Mike Brown finished Saturday's game with his seventh rushing total of the season and the 27th of his career, tying him with Kim Raynor for fifth place on Liberty's all-time career rushing touchdowns list.
• Following the VMI game, Mike Brown now ranks No. 6 on the Big South's all-time career passing yards list with 5,711 yards (surpassed Gardner-Webb's Devin Campbell career total of 5,614 career passing yards during the game).
• Chris Summers led Liberty's receivers against VMI, finishing the contest with eight receptions for 84 yards and his seventh touchdown reception of the season.
• With his eight catches against VMI, Chris Summers became Liberty's all-time career receptions leader with 178 career receptions (surpassing Pat Nelson's previous record of 176 career receptions).
• Chris Summers (2,472 career yards) will enter Liberty's regular-season finale against Stony Brook needing 74 yards to match Kelvin Edwards' program-record 2,546 career receiving yards.
• Pat Kelly led Liberty in total receiving yards against VMI, posting his third career 100-yard game with 105 yards against the Keydets.
• Kevin Fogg returns his third kick off for a touchdown this season against VMI, giving the Flames the lead for good with a 90-yard return midway through the third quarter.
• Kevin Fogg is the only player Division I players in the country (either FCS or FBS) with three kickoff returns for a touchdown in 2011.
• Kevin Fogg currently leads all FCS players in the country with a 34.94 kickoff returns yards average (629 yards/18 returns).
• Kevin Fogg's 629 kickoff returns yards currently ranks No. 5 on Liberty's single-season total kickoff return yards list.
• Kevin Fogg will enter Liberty's regular-season finale against Stony Brook needing 63 kickoff return yards to tie Liberty's single-season record held by Adrian Hall (692 yards/2002).
• With his 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against VMI, Kevin Fogg becomes the second player in Big South history to return three kickoffs for a touchdown in a season (joining Charleston Southern's Gerald Stevenson/2010).
• On defense, Kevin Fogg finished the VMI game with six tackles (three solo, three assisted), his second forced fumble of the season and first fumble recovery of the year.
• Chris Mayo had his second-best tackling effort of the season, leading the Flames with eight stops against VMI (five solo, three assisted).
• Chris Mayo finished the VMI game with five solo tackles, tying a season high (also had five solo stops against Gardner-Webb).
• Chris Mayo's eight-stop effort against VMI is tied for the third-most tackles in a game during the sophomore's career at Liberty.
• Chris Mayo has now led the Flames in tackling in three games this season, tying for game-high honors with six stops against Lehigh and leading the team with nine stops against Gardner-Webb.
• Brent Vinson finished the VMI game with four stops, allowing him to become the third active Liberty play with 100 career tackles (102).