Flames’ Bevins gives Penguins the boot

By Chris Lang
Sports writer
Published: September 27, 2008

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Liberty football coach Danny Rocco had little to say to freshman kicker Matt Bevins in the waning moments of Saturday night’s game at Youngstown State. At Warwick High School in Newport News, Bevins had never been in position to attempt a game-winning field goal. And Liberty’s short field-goal operation hadn’t really been smooth in the first three games of the season.

So Rocco’s words were short and encouraging.

“Just stroke it, kid,” Rocco said. “I don’t even think he heard me.”

Stroke it, he did. Bevins’ 24-yard field goal as time expired lifted the 25th-ranked Flames to a 31-28 victory Saturday night at Stambaugh Stadium, setting off a wild celebration on the field and upstairs, where the Liberty assistant coaches who were sequestered in the press box hollered and pounded the windows to express their joy.

The kick lifted the Flames (4-0) to the sort of statement road victory the program had been craving. Liberty now holds the nation’s longest FCS win streak at nine games, and its won four straight on the road. The Flames beat a YSU team that had knocked off then-No. 2 North Dakota State here a week ago and hadn’t lost a non-conference home game since 2004.

It was the sort of victory that might change the national perception that Liberty had built its program in the last three seasons by beating up on weak competition.

“I hope so,” said Liberty linebacker Nick Hursky, who had 13 tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack. “You never know what people are going to say. Maybe they’ll say, ‘Oh, Liberty. Every blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.’ You never know. Coach Rocco always says we have to earn our respect. Well, hopefully, we’ve earned our respect.”

Youngstown State (2-3) jumped to an early 14-0 lead, catching the Flames off guard with a dynamite short passing game. Penguins quarterback Brandon Summers completed his first 13 passes and finished 32 of 39 for 334 yards and three touchdowns.

But unlike past games, when the Flames wilted after a slow start, Liberty found a way to stem YSU’s momentum. After Summers put YSU up 14-0 with an 18-yard touchdown run on a draw play, Liberty capped a 10-play, 71-yard drive with a 3-yard Zach Terrell touchdown run. The Flames scored 28 straight points after digging the early hole, thanks mostly to their grinding run game.

“We came into the game with three very specific things that I talked about all week — confidence, poise and unity,” Rocco said. “I’ve been pretty intense for the past two weeks getting ready for this game. I had my mind made up that we were going to stay poised on the sideline with the coaches and show confidence in the kids.

“I really believed we were going to get back into it.”

Rashad Jennings ran for a career-high 220 yards on 29 carries, including a 55-yard run in the second quarter that set up a touchdown. Two weeks after struggling to get the interior run game going at Western Carolina, the Flames found success running up the middle.

“We went to the film room Monday night, and we noticed we had problems lining up,” Jennings said. “One inch here. One inch there. We want to fight for every inch, and we were giving up a lot of inches. And myself, I ran with attitude today. I’ve got to play like that the rest of the season.”

Though the Flames led 28-14 and forced a turnover on downs with 12:03 to play, Liberty nearly let the victory slip away.

Brock Smith completed a third-down pass to Jonathan Crawford on the next drive, but after Crawford got the first down, YSU’s De’Angelo Wilson delivered a crushing hit, jarring the ball loose. Brandian Ross recovered, and the Penguins had new life. Summers capped an 8-play, 50-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Donald Jones on 4th-and-goal, and YSU pulled within 28-21 with 6:19 left.

Liberty again was driving to put the game away when another turnover gave the Penguins a chance to tie. On 3rd-and-4 from the YSU 34 with 2:38 left, Smith rolled right and tried to hit Jennings with a short pass, but Smith’s throw was off, and linebacker Mike Barlak intercepted the pass.

YSU quickly marched down the field and tied the game when Summers found Ferlando Williams wide open for an 11-yard touchdown with 1:29 left.

Smith shook off the interception and led his team on a 10-play, 53-yard drive in the final 1:29 to set up Bevins’ field goal. On 3rd-and-10 from the YSU 42, Smith faced heavy pressure from YSU’s Josh Myers but managed to spot Mike Brown open on the left sideline. The freshman made the catch and picked up 15 yards, keeping the drive alive.

Along with his role as an LU receiver, Brown is the Flames’ No. 3 quarterback.

“I know what’s running through the quarterback’s mind,” Brown said. “I know what he’s thinking and I know where he wants people to be. I just try to be there.”

All the while, Bevins warmed up on the sideline and prepared himself mentally for the chance to kick his first game winner.

“The fans were just giving me crap the whole time,” Bevins said. “But I just tried to block it out. I knew the offense was going to get us down there, and that (Dan) Pope was going to get the snap, and (Chris) Rocco was going to get the hold. I knew we were going to make the kick. I had total confidence.”

After the kick sailed through, Bevins’ teammates swarmed him. Special teams coach Chad Wilt picked the freshman up and gave him a bear hug. Rocco called the victory “an earmark for our program,” and Bevins had a huge role in the win.

“Give Liberty credit,” YSU coach Jon Heacock said. “They blocked us, tackled us, out-kicked us, out-covered us and just did all the things you need to do to win a football game.”