Flames Football is back
We are several weeks into the fall semester, and workloads are already piling up. But aside from classes, fall means that college football season is finally here!
The Liberty University Football team opened their season with a win against the University of Maine, but the victory did not come without a few hiccups. Today, we are going to break down the performance demonstrated by the Flames in game one.
There’s a new gunslinger in town
Leading into football season, there was a prodding question on everyone’s mind — who would be Liberty’s QB1? After reviewing recruits brought in via the transfer portal and considering that Ryan Burger only had one start for the Flames under his belt, I came to the only plausible conclusion: Ethan Vasko would be starting for the Flames this season.
That conclusion proved to be correct. To explain my reasoning, refer to what I said in my first column last spring: “Vasko brings what Burger and Houck lack, and that is substantial starter experience in the FBS. That is why my money is on him to earn the coveted role of QB1.”
Vasko completed 19 out of 33 pass attempts in his debut for the Flames, the majority of these being shorter passes as he tended to overshoot his receivers on longer throws. While I do hope to see him connect on some passes with more yardage in the coming weeks, I will just chalk this performance up to first game jitters.
Keep it consistent, kicker
Sitting in a press conference prior to game one, I heard an adjective used to describe Liberty’s kicking this season that I have rarely heard in conjunction with Flames Football in recent years. That word is “consistent.”
Now let’s talk about redshirt senior Jay Billingsley. The Gardner-Webb University transfer arrived on the Mountain with 131 out of 132 extra point attempts made in his career. In his debut for the Flames, Billingsley was 4 for 4 in extra point attempts, despite missing an initial 37-yard field goal attempt.
With his career field goal percentage at 63.3%, compared to Colin Karhu’s 71.4% last season, I do have concerns that there will not be much change in the kicking department to what we have seen in previous years.
All in all, I have faith in the special teams department and will trust their words that we should see some consistency from our kickers this season.
Fired up in the Flames Quarter
Following the performance in game one versus Maine, it remains clear that the Flames are a fourth quarter team. While this is great when it comes to the atmosphere of home games, this is simply not going to allow the Flames to win Conference USA or have any chance at progressing beyond that.
If Liberty can figure out how to play the way they do in the fourth quarter at home for the entirety of every game, they have a shot at excelling this season. But if not — they may not win another game.
White is the sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow her on X.