Liberty will platoon QBs in opener at Wake Forest

Liberty football coach Turner Gill hasnt yet decided which of his two quarterbacks will start Saturdays season opener at Wake Forest. But he announced Tuesday just how Josh Woodrum and Brian Hudson will be used in Winston-Salem.

Both Woodrum and Hudson will get two series at minimum on Saturday with the hope that one of them will emerge as the better option once faced with playing against strong competition.

"They have both shown that theyve earned the chance to play," Gill said. "Thats probably the best way to sum it up. Both guys have really done well. Ive seen our players respond to both guys in a good way."

Woodrum, a redshirt freshman from Cave Spring in Roanoke, hasnt seen game action since Nov. 27, 2010, when his Knights team fell to Richlands in the Region IV championship game. Hudsons college game experience is minimal. He played during the second half of Libertys romp over Division II Kentucky Wesleyan last October and later in the month, staked to a 38-0 lead, played the second half of the Flames win at Charleston Southern.

The competition level will be a several notches higher on Saturday night for both players.

"Obviously a game is different from practice," Hudson said. "Weve been getting no contact. So that adds another dimension to it, to see how we can run, break tackles and make plays. Its definitely a different story from practice to a game. Some guys respond differently in practice and some guys respond differently in games, for better or for worse."

Early in training camp, Gill sounded frustrated at times that neither quarterback was able to win the job outright. But Tuesday, he reversed course a bit, noting that both players had performed exceptionally well in the final two weeks of practice and that both deserved the opportunity to show what they can do in a game setting before making a final decision on a starting quarterback going forward.

"Im excited by it," Gill said. "Ive got two pretty good quarterbacks. The alternative is having no good quarterbacks. I dont see it as a negative. I see it as a positive all the way around."

Allen suspended

Gill suspended junior running back Aldreakis Allen for the opener for a violation of team rules. Allen has led the Flames in rushing in each of the two seasons that hes played (2009, 2011). Allen missed the 2010 season while serving a school-related suspension.

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Liberty will platoon QBs in opener at Wake Forest