Liberty Flames 2018 Football Preview

Liberty Flames 2018 Football Preview

Opening Statement: I have to be honest, much like a school like Texas State, I highly question the motive and the reasoning for moving Liberty to the FBS level, when real and sustainable success had not really been attained at the FCS level, on a competition level. Liberty has long been a middling program in the FCS, and was never a program that you could look at as a title contender nationally. They played in the Big South, which is largely viewed as a G5 type conference even by FCS standards, and was a league that struggled to keep members (still is). I know that Liberty sites such as Sea of Red want to spout that scheduling has gone through the roof, and that they firmly believe that they can make this work, no conference has offered a home, and none seem interested, and a school like Liberty is going to struggle to make a go with no conference home. There have been no overtures from the Sun Belt or CUSA, largely the two worst conferences in FBS football, to join, and that is bad news long term. Ask Idaho, U Mass, and New Mexico State, and even BYU is quietly looking (sometimes) for a new home.

Breakdown Offense: The QB job is held by Stephen Buckshot Calvert, who passed for 3363 yards and 29 TDs last fall. He is a junior, and has a firm lock on the job as a starter. Mason Cunningham and Landon Brown are tha backups, but they have little shot at dethroning Calvert as the starter, short of injury.

The bad news on offense is that the run game was the worst in the Big South last season. The Flames averaged just 139.3 yards rushing per game, and averaged 4 yards per carry. Carrington Mosley, the leading rusher from last season, has moved on, leaving the job to an inexperienced group of backs. RS freshman Frank Boyd is projected to win the job, but Frankie Hickson, who is a better KR man than RB, and Kentory Matthews are the only real threats to the job. Troy Henderson, a freshman, and JC transfer Peytton Pickett will be in camp in the fall to add some depth and competition. This is a red flag spot that bares some watching.

The receivers are solid. Antonio Gandy-Golden, BJ Farrow, and Damian King return as starters. Gandy-Golden is the star of the group, as he averaged 106.6 yards receiving per game last fall. Kevin Shaa and DJ Stubbs add some depth. Zac Foutz, a junior, is the starter at TE, while Fidel Ogbeifun and Chris Barrett are the key reserves.

The line is solid as a rock, as 4 starters return. Julio Lozano (LT), Ethan Crawford (LG), Thomas Sargeant (C), and Dontae Duff (RG) all return. Sophomore Tristan Schultz projects as the starter at RT as we head to fall camp, but James Passmore and Sam Isaacson will try to change that. Damian Bounds is a key reserve inside.

Breakdown Defense: The Flames defense had some serious issues stopping anyone last fall, as they allowed 30.4 points per game, 225 yards rushing per game, and 223.5 yards passing per game. In all, Liberty allowed 448 yards per game last fall, which is hardly a number you want to take into a move up in standing.

The line has 2 starters returning in Juwan Wells and Tolen Avery, bit at the DE spots. Wells finished with 11 TFLs and 4.5 sacks, and added 11 QB hurries last season. Jayod Sanders, Jesse Lemonier, and Austin Lewis will attempt to add some depth, something that was not available last fall.

Devin pearson looks as if he has locked up the NT position after spring ball, but the DT spot is still open for competition, as Mitchell Hurtado and Vincent Elefante appear locked in battle. Emmanuel Cater is the 3rd unit guy.

Brandon Tillman has moved to LB from the secondary, and should be right at home at the WILL spot. He totaled 60 tackles last season. The MIKE spot appears to be an ongoing battle heading into fall camp. Remington Green and Lucas Irons appear to be the finalists there, but Solomon Ajayi is in the mix as well. Look for Kedrick Bailey and David King to add depth. Ceneca Espinoza has a lock on the SPUR spot, a hybrid LB/DB position.

The secondary will have 3 starters who did not finish the season as such last fall. Jeremy Peters is the lone returning starter in the group at CB. Malik Matthews, who had a solid spring, is the opposite CB to Peters as we head into fall camp, but could still be in a battle with Jimmy Faulks. Kimani Donaldson is the backup.

The Safety spots seem unsettled heading into fall camp. Elijah Benton moved to SS to open up FS for Benjamin Alexander, but Rion Davis (FS) and Corbin Jackson (SS) are in the mix as well.

Breakdown Special Teams: Alex Probert hit just 14/20 FGs last fall, which may have been OK in 2017, but will not cut it in FBS football. He will have to gain more consistency.

Aidan Alves, a RS freshman, will be in line to take over at Punter, as Trey Turner has moved on.

Frankie Hickson, who is involved in the hunt for the RB spot, is the main KR man, while DJ Stubbs returns punts.

Final Analysis: Best of luck to this program trying to start up as an Independent, with no other landing spot in sight. It gets harder every year to make it as an independent not named Notre Dame or Army, and Liberty will find that out rather quickly. While future scheduling has been solid, many schools got in a rush to schedule Liberty as the new kid on the FBS block that many feel they can cash in on for an easy win. Whether or not that takes place remains to be seen, but this is going to be a tough go, as they struggled enough to stay head above water in the Big South. If Liberty cannot fix their ground game, and a defense that struggles to stop anyone, this could be a long slow go in their new home.