The UMass-Liberty Game will be streamed on ESPN+.
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| San Diego Tribune image |
I watched last week's Liberty-Middle Tennessee State game on the treadmill yesterday.
The man who makes Liberty go is (like last year) Kaidon Salter. He rushed for almost 100 yards in the first half of the game. To control Salter you have to "spy" him with a defensive player fast and quick enough to close on him. Against Middle Tennessee State, no one the Blue Raiders had could do this. Running the option, Salter would fake the pitch, then tuck the ball and run. He's down from last year though. In 2023 he had 32 passing TD's and 12 rushing. This year he has 13 passing and 3 rushing, a major reason the Flames have lost two games. He put the ball on the ground twice running the option early.
The other reason Liberty dominated was RB Quinton Cooley. He's averaging 6 yards/carry in 2024. Against Middle Tennessee State he ran straight up the "A" gap, usually for 8 to 12 yards a pop. When the Blue Raiders packed the box to try to stop the Flames rushing attack, Salter threw (generally short) passes to wide open Liberty receivers.
To win the game against Liberty UMass will have to contain (stopping him is probably impossible) Salter and not let Cooley rumble through the Minutemen's defensive front.
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Hustle Belt recaps the Northern Illinois-Western Michigan game. That was the Broncos first conference loss.
Bowling Green, Ohio, Miami and Western Michigan are all tied at 4-1 at the top of the MAC standings.
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