By Harry Minium
LYNCHBURG – Let's start by stating the obvious. Old Dominion University's football team did not play well Saturday night at Liberty.
Defensively, the Monarchs didn't tackle nor cover receivers well. Offensively, they didn't pass nor catch well. They had too many penalties, including one for roughing the kicker that stalled a first-half comeback.
But let's also keep things in perspective. Liberty University is among the very best teams in college football. ESPN ranked the Flames the nation's 26th best on Sunday.
Liberty has nearly every player back from the team that was 10-1 last season, beat Virginia Tech and Syracuse, upended Coastal Carolina in a bowl game and whose only loss was a one-point defeat at North Carolina State.