Liberty football notebook: Flames' new-look defense improves in second half, and more

It was a tale of two halves for the Liberty defense in Saturday's 20-13 loss at James Madison in the Battle of the Blue Ridge. The Dukes possessed the ball just three times in the first half as the Flames tried to control the flow of the game, yet JMU scored points on all three drives for a 17-6 halftime lead. After the halftime break, Liberty defensive coordinator Shawn Quinn's unit locked in some adjustments and allowed the Dukes to cross midfield just one time on their first five possessions of the final 30 minutes. The Flames earned three straight three-and-outs spanning the third and fourth quarters, and forced a fourth straight punt midway through the fourth quarter following another four-play drive by JMU. READ MORE: Deshawn Purdie turns in 'solid' Liberty debut despite loss at JMU, says Chadwell Liberty safety D-Icey Hopkins (0) causes the ball to come loose as Liberty faces JMU at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (Matthew Perschall/The News & Advance) The Dukes iced away the game on a 38-yard drive that began in Liberty territory and chewed up the final 2:16 for a second straight win by JMU in this series since the schools rekindled their rivalry at the Football Bowl Subdivision level last year. Leaving Harrisonburg, among Liberty's positive takeaways was the improvement by the new-look defense over the course of the afternoon. "We made a couple of adjustments based off what they were doing. We had lots to build on based off the first half, just lining up, everybody doing their jobs and just focusing on details," said Flames cornerback Elijah Hopkins. "We came out emotional, trying to make plays, but at the end of the day, everybody just has to do their job and just do the details. So we just cleaned up that." Hopkins, who has battled consistent injuries during his Liberty career, was a standout player on Saturday. He led the Flames with seven tackles and posted the highest Pro Football Focus defensive grade (76.4) on the team. His 49 snaps played between defense and special teams marked a new career high for the fifth-year senior from Ocala, Florida. "It felt amazing. I just give it all to God, give God the glory. I've been hurt a lot, so this year I've just been praying he allows allows me to play for him," said Hopkins. The defense was the unit that kept the door open for a comeback in the second half against JMU on Saturday, but their first half came together slow. Hopkins Liberty missed a few key tackles, including a pair that resulted in a 51-yard run into the red zone during the second quarter by JMU's Seth Cromwell. The run set up a short touchdown for the Dukes just plays later. Pro Football Focus tacked Liberty for 11 missed tackles in the game, including two each by Hopkins and the cornerback who started opposite of him, junior Quavo Marshall. In total, Liberty surrendered 291 yards to the Dukes (173 rushing) and went the whole game without creating a sack or turnover. There were positives for the Flames to gather from the second-half showing on defense, but a slow first half ultimately made the difference. "I think the main thing was is that we felt like we had a good plan, we were just missing some tackles and giving them some bigger opportunities," said Chadwell. How exactly did Liberty finish with the fewest rushing yards (91) in any game in the Chadwell era on Saturday? It was all the Dukes spent their preparation focusing on. "Me being the mike, I just try to be the voice of the defense and keep the guys motivated," JMU linebacker Nakian Jackson said. "We've seen other posts about their running backs, how they want to run the ball, and they want that to be their heart and pride, so [defensive coordinator Robert] Bala came, he simply said, 'Take away their soul,' and that was the run." The Flames struggled leaning into their identity, particularly on first down, where they rushed for just 2.3 yards per carry. They were hardly better on the ground for the entire game, rushing for 2.4 YPC. READ MORE: James Madison denies Liberty's second-half rally for win in Harrisonburg Liberty running back Jaylon Coleman (0) escapes a James Madison defender during Saturday's Battle of the Blue Ridge at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg. Coleman was a receiving and rushing option for the Flames out of the backfield on Saturday. "When you're trying to get something started and you end up in 2nd and 9 or 2nd and 8, that's not the type of runs we need," said Chadwell. Six players rushed at least once on Saturday, including three quarterbacks. Kam Davis (16 carries, 51 yards), Peyton Jones (9-25) and Jaylon Coleman (3-18) were the only running backs in the Flames' highly-touted room to get carries against the Dukes. Liberty will look to establish a rhythm in the one area it assumed it could play from a position of strength at this offseason when it faces Gardner-Webb of the Football Championship Series on Saturday. The Flames have averaged 236.5 rushing yards in two wins against FCS teams under Chadwell. "We just got to a better job up front. We've got to do a better job of hitting some holes, there were some that we did miss [against JMU]. And again, a lot of new guys playing in that running back position. So it'll be something we can get better from," said Chadwell. — Coleman, who added three catches for 37 yards alongside his 18 rushing yards, was Liberty's highest-graded offensive player (78.6) against the Dukes, per PFF. The 5-foot-9, 155-pound sophomore who came in as Liberty's highest-rated high school signee in program history is looking to have a breakout season at A-back. — The Flames originally planned for Tyler Black to be the field goal kicker this season, but he struggled in the last week of camp and McKendree transfer Chase Reeves won the job over the final days. Reeves drilled both field goal attempts he took of 30 and 42 yards. He did however send his first kickoff attempt of the season sailing out of bounds. Reeves was also in the running to win the punter job but Sam Crossan emerged from that battle to start on Saturday. — Amid concerns about depth on the offensive line, Liberty played its five starters for all 69 snaps against JMU. Left tackle DJ Geth, left guard Joep Engbers, center Aaron Fenimore, right guard Alex Birchmeier and right tackle Christian Williams all got starts. The line was penalized for five false starts (Birchmeier three times) and one holding call on Geth that erased a touchdown. Chadwell disagreed with the play that drew the flag postgame. Bryson Gordon, (434) 385-5529 bgordon@newsadvance.com Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sports reporter