Late-night bloggin’, wrapping up Saturday’s Liberty victory at Lafayette.

First, the star of the game:

PHOTO CREDIT: Les Schofer/Liberty University

I’ll admit, I’ve been hard on Chris Summers. But it’s tough love. Really. Because I’ve seen in Summers what the Liberty coaching staff and LU fans have for the last year or so—immense talent and freakish size. So naturally, I’ve expected some pretty big things out of the kid. But the tally heading into Saturday’s game? Five career receptions. He matched that number before halftime Saturday. He finished with 14 receptions for 138 yards and, along with Mike Brown, carried Liberty to victory.

Here’s what I was most impressed with:

* Summers’ hands. He caught everything thrown his way.

* Summers’ sticktoitiveness. Yeah, it’s a made-up word, but bear with me here. One play stood out from the West Virginia game Sept. 5. Quarterback Tommy Beecher scrambled to the right, evaded a sack and launched the ball perfectly to a spot where Summers should have been. But Summers gave up on the play. He stopped running his route when he thought Beecher was going to be sacked. And instead of a game-changing touchdown, Liberty had an incompletion. Credit goes to Summers, who learned from that mistake. Against Lafayette, he waited and waited on several occasions as Brown worked out of trouble, found a way to get open and kept a drive alive. Quite the maturation, there.

* Summers’ poise. He came through three times on third down in the second half as Liberty desperately clung to a lead. Not bad.

Now the rest of the post-game thoughts:

1. The special teams saved Liberty.

1a. The special teams nearly cost Liberty the game.

1c. Both of these statements are true.

1d. Let’s examine this. Liberty punter Mike Larsson was phenomenal Saturday. In the second quarter, Liberty was stopped at the Lafayette 40 on third down. Larsson punted, and Wes Cheek and Brent Vinson sprinted down the field. Cheek got his hands on the kick and downed it at the 1. Lafayette wasted two plays trying just to get to the 3 or 4 before quickly punting again. Liberty got the ball at the Lafayette, a net loss of only two yards of field position. Then the Flames drove and scored on Brown’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Summers.

1e. But the extra point was blocked.

1f. Third quarter, Liberty is stopped on third down at the Lafayette 45. Larsson punts again, and Lafayette’s Greg Stripe is forced to take a fair catch at the LC 5. Lafayette moved the ball, but Cheek stopped the drive with an interception.

1g. Of course, Liberty drives but is forced to settle for a Matt Bevins field-goal attempt. It’s blocked.

1h. So, yes, an up-and-down night for the special teams.

2. On that drive that started at the Lafayette 5, LC quarterback Rob Curley completed a 37-yard pass to Mark Layton, a play that probably should have gone for six had the ball had a little less air under it. Layton was wide, wide, wide, wide open. (Four wides for emphasis.) So what happened? Cheek said Lafayette ran some motion in the backfield and Liberty tried to change the defense at the line of scrimmage. Not everyone heard, though, and half the team was running one coverage, the other half was running another. The result, a wide-open receiver.

3. Some nice in-game adjustments by Liberty offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter Saturday. It was clear again, early, that the inside run game was not going to happen. Lafayette did a great job of neutralizing B.J. Hayes and Aldreakis Allen. So Liberty’s run game was reduced to Mike Brown draws. Or was it? Liberty replaced the run game with the quick passing game, getting receivers open for short gains on the outside. A six-yard pass works just as well as a six-yard run. It would have been easy for Streeter and Rocco to keep trying to establish the run. Instead, they adjusted. Smart move.

3a. I’m still not sold on Hayes as an inside runner. Liberty will struggle against James Madison next week if the Flames can’t run the ball with some sort of success.

4. Some FCS thoughts from today:

4a. I went 27-0 in my FCS picks this week. (Check Thursday’s blog). I’ve never been perfect before, so I’ll enjoy this one.

4b. I don’t care what Charleston Southern coach Jay Mills is selling. I ain’t buyin’. There’s no way taking another 59-0 beating at the hands of an FBS opponent can be helpful for his players, or a good experience. That’s demoralizing. Ask anyone who played for that 2005 Liberty team. The only benefit from playing Florida and South Florida is in the paycheck. That’s it. Not exposure. The exposure CSU got was negative, not positive.

4c. In no way did I think Richmond would skunk Hofstra the way they did. 47-0? Wow.

4d. Poor Texas College. It lost 92-0 to Stephen F. Austin last week and lost 75-6 to a previously winless Texas Southern team this week.

4e. Huge win for Albany, rallying to beat Maine 20-16. I wasn’t sold on Maine, seeing as the Black Bears struggled to beat Division II St. Cloud State and CAA bottom-feeder Northeastern. Looks like the CAA North will be a two-team race between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, per usual.

4f. Liberty still won’t be ranked in the Sports Network Top 25 come Monday. Not enough Top 25 teams lost this week.

OK, we’ll be back Monday with a look at James Madison.