Flames football defeats Buffalo 35-17 for the first Freeze era win

Halfway through the second quarter of Liberty University’s matchup against Buffalo, the Flames clung to a 14-7 lead, needing one more offensive spark to pull away from the Bulls and win their first game of the season.

With the offense on the field and the ball on the 33-yard line, Stephen Calvert looked to his right and lobbed a pass down the sideline to Antonio Gandy-Golden, who elevated above his defender and secured the pass. With one man left to beat, Gandy-Golden hurdled the Buffalo cornerback and danced into the endzone, stretching the Flames lead to double digits and propelling Liberty (1-2) to its first victory under Head Coach Hugh Freeze.

Freeze’s offensive prowess was on full display in the Flames 35-17 victory over the Bulls (1-2). Coaching from a raised platform with a chair in his first game on the Liberty sideline, Freeze simplified the playbook for Calvert, and the team responded well to having their head coach on the sidelines. 

The offense generated 401 yards of offense, 325 of those coming from passing. Gandy-Golden caught 174 yards and two highlight-reel touchdowns. After the win, Gandy-Golden and some of his teammates gave the game ball to their coach. 

“This one means a lot to me,” Freeze said, holding up the game ball. “I don’t think that I deserve a game ball from my players, because they were the ones who made the plays. But this university, this opportunity, the chance to be back doing what you love means the world. I’ve had a lot of first ones of these, but this one will mean a lot.”

After taking some time this week to talk through the game plan with Freeze, Calvert seemed comfortable with the playbook and his progressions. His 77 percent completion percentage is his highest of the season so far, throwing four touchdown passes. 

“I met with Coach Freeze Friday night at his house to go through the plan,” Calvert said. “It helped me a lot. We figured out the game plan and went through the plays and he taught me how to read them better.”

For the first time this season, the Flames defense played with the lead for much of the game, rebounding from a disappointing performance against Louisiana last week. After giving up 593 yards in offense to Louisiana with 407 yards in rushing, the Flames held Buffalo to almost half of those totals, with the Bulls creating 373 yards of offense and 206 from the rushing attack. Kevin Marks carried the ball 18 times for 108 yards for the Bulls.

Linebacker Brandon Tillmon led the Flames in tackles with 11, and defensive lineman Jessie Lemonier had nine tackles, including three sacks. Lemonier emphasized the improvement the defense saw in this performance compared to the previous week. 

“In practice we really locked into the little things,” Lemonier said. “We had to fix a lot of things. We knew that after giving up 400 yards they would want to expose us, and 200 yards isn’t good, but it’s a step forward.”

Despite the offensive explosion, Freeze does not believe his team has peaked yet. The Flames hope to use the offensive and defensive improvement as momentum for the next two games of their home stand. He knows that the offense has even more they are able to give. 

“I don’t like the way we finished,” Freeze said. “I got too conservative, I told our coaches at half that was what I wanted to do, and that’s not my nature. I’m having to fight against my nature, because I think we could have scored a lot of points, but the risk of that is that we turn it over. I probably managed it a bit too close, but I really wanted to get that first win.”

The Flames will continue their three-game home stand Saturday, Sept. 21, when they welcome Hampton University (2-1) to Williams Stadium at 6 p.m.