After a loss at home to South Alabama, App State looks to rebound in a home battle against the Liberty Flames, one of the toughest games on the Mountaineers’ schedule.
The South Alabama game went as poorly as possible. The Mountaineers were already in a 28-point hole before they could get anything going on the offensive side of the ball and gave up a total of 474 offensive yards.
Head coach Shawn Clark had a lot to say about how his team played.
“We didn’t perform to the standard of App State football,” Clark said. “We’ve reviewed the film and assessed what we did well. We have to get fixed, and I believe we have a very good football team.”
App State has played Liberty 10 times in their history, with Liberty winning the most recent matchup in 2014. The Mountaineers have won seven of the 10 games they have played against the Flames.
In their last three games, App State trailed by a combined 65-0 through the first quarter. Being in a hole after the first quarter in every game is something that Clark would love to fix.
“We have to start fast. That was one of our goals this week and it didn’t happen,” Clark said.
Another thing that Clark is looking to fix is the tackling and getting stops when needed, saying that the issues were “glaring.”
“We have to get stops on third down,” Clark said. “How do you do that? You tackle, and we have to improve our tackling. This week we had 38 missed tackles on Thursday, and the previous three games we had 26 missed tackles.”
Liberty is going into this game with a 4-0 record. The Flames are first in the Conference USA in total yards at 458.8 yards per game, mostly through their strong rushing attack. Running backs Quinton Cooley and Billy Lucas share time in the backfield and have combined for 635 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. In comparison, App State’s entire team has run for only 523 yards and five touchdowns.
“Their offense is tough to defend with all the option stuff they do,” Clark said about the Liberty attack. “They’re a really good team in all three phases so we have to play our very best to have a chance to win this Saturday.”
Despite two blowout losses this season, Clark said that there is nothing wrong with the team’s spirit.
“The morale is fine, it’s what you make,” Clark said. “We know we have to improve and there’s no question about it and you can’t sugarcoat it. We have to be able to tackle better. We have to be able to run the football on offense.”
The game will kick off from Kidd Brewer Stadium on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and will be live on ESPN+.