MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY HAWKS FOOTBALL facebook.com/MUFootball @MUHAWKSFB YouTube.com/MonmouthHawks FOOTBALL CONTACT: Greg Viscomi (732) 571-4447 • 400 Cedar Avenue • West Long Branch, NJ 07764-1898 OCT. 17 • MONMOUTH AT LIBERTY • GAME 7 #22 LIBERTY FLAMES (3-3, 0-1 BIG SOUTH) AT MONMOUTH HAWKS (2-4, 0-1 BIG SOUTH) AT Date: Oct. 17, 2015 Kickoff: 1:04 PM Field: Kessler Field at Monmouth Stadium(3,000), West Long Branch, NJ Series: 1-0 Charleston Southern Last Meeting: Liberty 34, Monmouth 24 (11/1/14) Coaching Matchup: Kevin Callahan (128-106) vs. Turner Gill (26-17) TODAY’S GAME: Monmouth returns home for a pair of games beginning with today’s matchup against nationally-ranked Liberty. Each team will be look- ing to break into the conference win column as Monmouth fell to Charleston Southern and Liberty dropped a game to Gardner-Webb last weekend. The Hawks could not contain the Buccaneers rushing attack while its own offense was hampered by a driving rain throughout the first three quarters of the contest. Liberty, which has faced the toughest non-conference schedule among the Big South teams, also had a hard time against the run with the Runnin’ Bulldogs rushing attack accounting for 265 yards and four TDs. Today’s game is featured on ESPN3, with Matt Harmon and Eddy Occhipinti on the call. The Hawks are looking to win its third game of the season and for its second consecutive win at Monmouth Stadium. Monmouth is led defensively by preseason All-Big South selection Mike Basile, who leads the conference in tackles. The Blue & White’s defense has been an opportunistic one, coming up with 13 turnovers which is tops in the league and 10th in all of FCS. Redshirt freshman quarterback Cody Williams leads the Hawk offense, throwing for 1,041 yards and rushing for 198 more through the first six games of his career. His favorite target has been junior Darren Ambush, who leads the team in receptions and reception yardage. Monmouth offensive line features three seniors that lead the way for running back Lavon Chaney, set career highs in yardage and carries in Monmouth’s win over Bryant. Liberty, which came into last weekend’s game ranked 15th in the country, had its streak of five consecutive road conference games won snapped against GWU last weekend. The Flames, which boasts the league’s best passing attack, were held to a season-low 367 total yards. Senior quarterback Josh Woodrum, a two-time all-conference selection, leads the Big South in passing yards, completions and total offense. The Flames feature a stable of running backs, led by seniors Desmond Rice and DJ Abner. The duo have combined for 650+ yards and six touchdowns. Explosive receiver Darrin Peterson leads a deep WR corps, one which has seen four different players record 100+ yard receiving days in 2015. Defensive end and All-Big South selection Chima Ozowhe leads a talented Liberty defense. The Flames’ pass rush is tops in the Big South, led by Ozowhe who is sixth in the FCS with 6.5 through six games. GLANCE AT THE SERIES HISTORY 2015 MU SCHEDULE Liberty makes its first trip to Monmouth Stadium today. The Flames won the last two meetings between the two squads, both of which came at Williams Stadium. Date Opponent Result/Time 09.05 HOLY CROSS L, 27-19 TODAY’S MEDIA INFORMATION 09.12 at Central Michigan L, 31-10 TELEVISION: ESPN3 09.19 at Wagner W, 31-16 Play by Play: Matt Harmon ‘96 09.26 at #16 Fordham L, 54-31 10.03 BRYANT W, 31-24 Color: Eddy Occhipinti ‘06 10.10 at Charleston So.* L, 37-7 STREAMING VIDEO: ESPN3.com & BigSouthSports.com 10.17 LIBERTY* 1:00 p.m. 10.24 COASTAL CAROLINA* 1:00 p.m. LIVE STATISTICS: http://www.MonmouthHawks.com 10.31 at Kennesaw State* 1:00 p.m. 11.14 PRESBYTERIAN* 12:00 p.m. 11.21 at Gardner-Webb* 1:30 p.m. TODAY’S Today’s key stat will be the passing game. Liberty comes into today’s game ranked 2-4 Overall 1-1 Home 1-3 Away first in the Big South in passing. Attempting to slow that passing attack down will *Denotes Big South Conference Game be Monmouth’s defensive backfield; which features one senior, two sophomores STAT and a true freshman projected to start. GAME 7 - LIBERTY AT MONMOUTH 2015 MONMOUTH FOOTBALL GAME NOTES INSIDE THE MONMOUTH-LIBERTY SERIES TALE OF THE TAPE Today marks the third time that Monmouth and Liberty will match up, with the second time as conference opponents. Last season Monmouth answered 2015 TEAM STATISTICS four Liberty scores over the course of the first 49 minutes of the game, knot- ting it up 24-24 with 3:30 to play in the third quarter but could not match 10 Liberty points in the final 10:19 as they fell to the Flames, 34-24. In week 2 MONMOUTH LIBERTY of 2013, the Flames took out the Hawks 45-15. Liberty used a 22 point 2nd 19.2 First Downs Avg. 20.6 quarter to open up a 31-6 halftime advantage en route to the win. Flames 136.5 Rushing Offense Avg 133.3 QB Josh Woodrum threw for 237 yards and 2 scores, both of them going to 192.2 Passing Offense Avg. 266.0 wideout Darrin Peterson, who had 124 yards receiving. 328.7 Total Offense Avg 399.3 151.0 Rushing Defense Avg. 128.2 235.3 Passing Defense Avg. 258.0 GAME BY GAME SERIES HISTORY 386.3 Total Defense Avg. 386.2 MONMOUTH vs LIBERTY 32.0 Net Punting Avg. 31.3 4.3 Punt Return Avg. 13.1 20.7 Kickoff Return Avg. 19.5 Date Winner,Score Location 52.8 Penalty Yard Avg. 55.5 9/7/13 Liberty, 45-15 Lynchburg, Va. 21.5 Scoring Avg. 25.7 11/8/14 Liberty, 34-24 Lynchburg, Va. 31.5 Opp. Scoring Avg 29.3 MONMOUTH AGAINST THE BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE 2015 MONMOUTH LEADERS In February of 2013 Monmouth University officially accepted a invitation to Rushing Att Yds Avg Td Lg join the Big South Conference as an associate member in the sport of foot- Chaney 100 432 4.2 4 31 ball. The Hawks are looking for their second conference victory after defeat- Williams 66 198 3.0 2 71 ing Gardner-Webb in last year’s season finale on Kessler Field. The Hawks Welch 29 141 4.8 2 28 are 0-1 this season in confernce play. Last season Monmouth went 1-4 in their first season as a Big South mem- Passing Cmp Att Yds Td Int ber. MU lost in the fourth quarter to both Liberty and Presbyterian. Prior to Williams 108 180 1041 5 7 joining the league, MU was 0-3 all-time against members of the Big South Onett 4 4 48 1 0 with losses to Coastal Carolina in 2008 and 2009 and Liberty in 2013. Receiving Rec Yds Avg Td Lg Ambush 28 362 12.9 2 81 CHANEY PRIMED TO MOVE INTO 10TH ALL-TIME AT MONMOUTH After last weekend’s game, running back Lavon Chaney has 1,265 career White Jr. 22 238 10.8 3 50 rushing yards, putting him back just 13 yards of Jim Varick for 10th all-time Gray 15 130 8.7 1 30 at Monmouth. Chaney is also just one rushing touchdown away from tying Varick for ninth all-time. He currently has 12 but has been kept out of the Defensive Tac Solo TFL Sck Int endzone the last two weeks. Basile 66 38 5.0 1.0 0 Minnich 39 20 5.0 0.0 1 Johnson 28 23 3.0 0.0 2 BASILE LEADS THE HAWKS IN TACKLES Sophomore safety Mike Basile led all tacklers with 13 stops, including seven solo stops. The Brick, NJ native also had a forced fumble and two 2015 LIBERTY LEADERS of his tackles were for a loss. It marked the fifth game this season that he Rushing Att Yds Avg Td Lg registered double digit tackles, highlighted by his 17 against Wagner. Central Rice 95 386 4.1 5 29 Michigan ranks as the only game in which the sophomore didn’t break double Abner 46 268 5.8 1 67 digits- finishing with six tackles against Monmouth’s first FBS opponent. Macon 28 85 2.9 4 8 BASILE GAME BY GAME TACKLES Passing Cmp Att Yds Td Int GAME Solo Asst Total Holy Cross 9 1 10 Woodrum 138 219 1554 6 2 at Central Michigan 4 2 6 Masha 1 2 10 0 0 at Wagner 9 8 17 at Fordham 7 3 10 Receiving Rec Yds Avg Td Lg Bryant 2 8 10 Peterson 33 388 11.8 3 43 Charleston Southern 7 6 13 Parker 31 326 10.5 1 60 Totals 38 28 66 Farrow 20 271 13.6 0 34 Defensive Tac Solo TFL Sck Int Avery 43 26 2.5 1.0 0 Newman 32 20 3.5 1.0 0 DID YOU KNOW? Today’s game features the top two receivers in the Big South in Mon- Jackson 29 20 5.5 0.0 0 mouth’s Darren Ambush and Liberty’s Darrin Peterson. Peterson ranks first in reception yardage (388) with Ambush right behind him at 362. Peterson has scored three times, Ambush twice in 2015. 2 MonmouthHawks.com 2015 MONMOUTH FOOTBALL GAME NOTES LIBERTY THE LAST TIME OUT... FLAMES LIBERTY 34 MONMOUTH 24 HEAD COACH TURNER GILL Nov.