Presbyterian College vs. Liberty
Saturday, November 1 - 2 p.m.
Bailey Memorial Stadium - Clinton, S.C.
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PC Game Notes | Liberty Game Notes
CLINTON, S.C. - The Presbyterian College football team will send off its 15 seniors on Saturday with the 2014 home finale against Liberty on Saturday at 2 p.m. PC picked up its fifth win of the season on Saturday in a 18-12 effort over Monmouth and improved its FCS record) and record at Bailey Memorial Stadium) to 4-1 on the year. The Blue Hose will face another test this weekend in Liberty, who earned its first Big South Conference victory with a 34-0 home blanking of Gardner-Webb in its League opener.
The Flames enter Clinton three weeks removed from handing FBS foe Appalachian State a 55-48 overtime loss and will likely not forget when a ranked Flames squad fell at Bailey Memorial Stadium in 2008. PC hopes to repeat that feat and snap a five-game losing streak to Liberty with a win on Saturday, which would stand as the most home wins in a season since the Blue Hose went 5-1 at Bailey Memorial Stadium (10-2 overall) in 2005.
Presbyterian football rallied for an 18-12 win over Monmouth on Saturday afternoon in the first-ever meeting between the two sides. Quarterback Heys McMath engineered a game-winning drive that started with 4:19 left in the game and ended with McMath taking a draw up the middle for a 15-yard touchdown with 53 seconds to go. McMath then found Antigha for a successful two-point conversion and DaRon Dickey intercepted a late pass to help PC seal the win.
Liberty rolled past Gardner-Webb in its Big South Conference opener on Saturday, 34-0. The Flames held the Runnin' Bulldogs to negative minus-17 net rushing yards, a record for a Big South conference game. The Flames also limited GWU to 56 yards of total offense, tying the Big South single-game record. The Flames have received votes in the FCS Coaches and The Sports Network Polls while occupying No. 18 in the FCS Gameday poll. Quarterback Josh Woodrum has tossed 15 touchdowns and running back D.J. Abnar averages nearly 100 yards per game at 94.9.
PC held steady with five votes in this week's FCS Coaches Poll. The Blue Hose also picked up 20 votes in the Sports Network FCS poll and are “On the Verge” of cracking the top 25 in the FCS Gameday poll.
Junior linebacker DaRon Dickey was named the College Sports Madness Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Monmouth on Saturday. Dickey made four tackles and grabbed a fourth-quarter interception for the second straight week.
Saturday's win gave PC its fifth of the season, now the most for the Blue Hose in a Division I season. PC last won five games with a 6-5 campaign in 2007 and needs one more Big South win to catch the 2011 season high-water mark when the Blue Hose went 3-3 in the League. The Blue Hose also picked up their fourth home win to go 4-1 at Bailey Memorial Stadium this season and will look for a Division I-era best fifth on Saturday. All of PC's four wins in 2011 came at home, the last time the Blue Hose have accomplished that feat.
After an 81-yard Monmouth touchdown on the first play from scrimmage, PC's defense locked down the Hawks and helped the Blue Hose grab the win. PC held Monmouth to 51 rushing yards, a new Division I-era record for the program, and 155 passing yards after the initial score. PC held the ball for 37:56 and limited the nation's 12th-ranked scoring offense to 27 points below its scoring average and did not turn the ball over.
PC enters the week with the nation's ninth-ranked red zone defense after limiting Monmouth to one field goal in two red zone trips. Defensive tackle Mitchell Anderson forced and recovered a fumble at the PC 15 yard line late in the third quarter PC has held opponents to a 65.4 percent conversion rate inside the 20-yard line (17/26) this season.
Sophomore quarterback Heys McMath went 24-for-35 through the air for 233 yards on Saturday. The 24 completions set a new career high for McMath, as did his 50 rushing yards on 12 carries. McMath's 15-yard rushing touchdown with 53 seconds left gave PC the win, capping a series where McMath threw three times and rushed three times to move PC 68 yards on eight plays. The sophomore also did not commit a turnover on the day, his fourth game of the year without a giveaway.
Saturday marked the ninth time in school history the Blue Hose scored exactly 18 points to win. PC now boasts a 6-3 record when scoring exactly 18 points, last hitting the number in a 29-18 loss at Charleston Southern in 2008 after falling 57-18 against Appalachian State in 1967. Never before since starting football in 1913 had PC won with an 18-12 final score. PC also scored exactly 19 points in its win over Western Carolina with three touchdowns and one extra point, the 23rd occasion and the 16th win.
PC ranks in the top 25 among FCS schools in red zone defense (9), time of possession (16) and passing yards allowed (24), with the 26th fewest penalties per game.
Senior wide receiver Tobi Antigha set a new career high with nine receptions on Saturday, giving him 102 receptions for his career to put him in fifth place in PC's Division I history and two behind current teammate Jeremiah McKie. He surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for his career against Western Carolina, becoming the fifth player in the PC Division I era to reach the millennium plateau. Antigha ranks fourth in the Big South Conference with 4.5 receptions per game.
Sophomore defensive lineman Khari Rosier picked his third sack of the season on Saturday against Monmouth to give him a Big South Conference-leading 8.5 on the year. Rosier got behind the line once against Charleston Southern, once against Western Carolina, three times against Bluefield on September 6 and recovered a fumble against Furman.
Khari Rosier and Isaiah Lynn each sacked Monmouth quarterback Brandon Hill on Saturday. PC has posted at least one sack in all but one game this season (Coastal Carolina) and ranks second the Big South with 16. Redshirt sophomore defensive end Ugonna Akoh picked up a career-high two sacks against Charleston Southern, including one on third down during the Buccaneers' final drive. Akoh leads the team with four sacks for 26 yards –fifth in the Big South–and checks in with 6.5 tackles for a loss, second to Khari Rosier's 8.5.
Linebacker Donelle Williams led the team with eight tackles for the second straight week. Williams, the 2011 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year, paces PC with 59 tackles on the year and now stands 11 tackles shy of the PC Division I career record, held by Justin Bethel's (2008-11) 279. Williams, the 2011 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year, leads the team with 59 tackles on the year.
The Blue Hose are on pace for the best rushing season in its Division I era, posting an average of 186.5 yards per game. PC posted 175.6 rushing yards per game in 11 games in 2011, the current record. Demarcus Rouse rushed for 76 yards on 17 carries on Saturday against Charleston Southern.
After this Saturday's game, PC travels to Ole Miss for a Saturday, November 8 game at noon Eastern on the SEC Network.
