Liberty Flames Preview 2024
In six years as an FBS college football program, Liberty has yet to have a losing season, it went to five straight bowls, and it now knows what it’s like to play in a Fiesta Bowl.
Dog the schedules all you want, but this has been one impressive start.
Start with the problem, and it matters when it comes to perception going forward in a new era with a Group of Five champion getting a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff.
Liberty is 3-11 against at-the-time Power Five programs, and two of them came in the weird 2020 season when Syracuse and Virginia Tech weren’t good. The other was in 2022 against an Arkansas team that went 7-6.
Now for the flip side of that - so what? We're talking about Liberty's potential to make the CFP.
The Flames are winning lots and lots of games - if it was so easy, everyone would do it. One season in, and they're a Conference USA champion that got to shoot its shot against 2023 Oregon - and scored first.
It helps to have great coaching, and going from Hugh Freeze to Jamey Chadwell was a big deal - no one would’ve blinked it it was Chadwell that got the Auburn job instead of Freeze. He started 13-0 with a league title, has another good team returning, and it should all keep going.
For a second straight year the schedule is light and breezy - Conference USA isn’t nearly what it was two seasons ago - the team is explosive and talented, and the coaching is there to do nothing less than win at least ten games.
Liberty has grown into a powerhouse among Group of Five programs, and it’s not stopping.
Liberty Flames Preview 2024: Offense
- Jamey Chadwell needed no time to bring his high-octane offense over from Coastal Carolina to Liberty. Quick passes, run through wide-open spaces, win third downs, control the clock, control the tempo, keep everything moving.
The Flames finished fourth in the nation in total offense, ninth in scoring offense, and fourth in third down conversions. This should all keep going - at least for the nation’s No. 1 rushing attack - because …
- Kaidon Salter is back. The quarterback who made it all go - he ran for 1,089 yards and 12 scores and threw 32 touchdown passes with just six picks - flirted with the transfer portal before locking down again with the Flames. He’s explosive, top rusher Quinton Cooley ran for 1,401 yards and 16 scores, and Billy Lucas added 597 yards.
Helped a bit by the transfer portal, the line should be fine in time. The system helps make the line, but all-star OT Xavior Gray is the only returning starter.
- The receiving corps might need a little bit. Top target CJ Daniels is now at LSU meaning deep threat Treon Sibley is the only returning wide out among the top five from 2023. TE Bentley Hanshaw caught six touchdown passes, but the rest of the corps is a bit green.
Liberty Flames Preview 2024: Defense
- The D wasn’t as good as the O, but it was still good enough to finish on top of the Conference USA standings. The pass rush wasn’t overwhelming, but it was good enough with the production spread out. End CJ Bazile is the top playmaker behind the line, but all four spots up front can hold up.
- The linebacking corps will be okay. Third-leading tackler Joseph Carter is back, but the production was inconsistent. East Carolina transfer Teylor Jackson will get work inside, Jerome Jolly made 55 stops outside, and …
- The secondary needs a tad bit more work. The Flames lost parts through the portal, with top corner Kobe Singleton leaving for Oregon State and safety Preston Hodge is now at Colorado.
Second-leading tackler Brandon Bishop is also done, but Quinton Reese is a good tackling veteran safety and transfer Eldric Griffin should be a statistical star. The corners are good enough - starter Amarian Williams is back - but …
Liberty Flames Key To The Season
The pass defense has to be a bit tighter.
The stats aren’t fair because everyone had to throw to try keeping up, and getting hammered by Oregon for over 400 yards didn’t help the cause, but the difference between a good season and another great one might be the secondary.
Western Kentucky has the one offense that might go off - it threw for 381 yards and four scores in the 42-29 Liberty win last year - but the pass D allowed teams to hit 60% or more of their passes seven times and gave up 250 or more eight times.
Liberty Flames Key Player
WR Treon Sibley, Sr.
Go ahead and pick any of five or more Liberty defensive players and you might have the key player. The running game can certainly carry the offense, but the receiving corps took a hit when it lost CJ Daniels along with a few other key parts.
Sibley averaged over 20 yards per catch, but he only made seven grabs over the final eight games - he was banged up for a bit. It would be a huge help if he became a reliable No. 1 target.
Liberty Flames Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss
Top Transfer In: LB Teylor Jackson
Does keeping Kaidon Salter count?
The linebacking corps would’ve been okay without Jackson coming in from East Carolina, but adding a four-year veteran who made 52 tackles with four broken up passes to the middle spot will matter.
Top Transfer Out: WR CJ Daniels
Good in his first two years, Daniels was poised for a breakout 2022 but only worked in four games. Healthy last season, he blew up with 55 catches and ten scores averaging over 19 yards per grab. Now he’s a part of the LSU receiving corps.
Liberty Flames Key Game
at Appalachian State, Sept. 28
Let’s just say Liberty isn’t exactly extending itself with the schedule.
Go 13-0 again and there should be a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff to follow, but it might need to be a buffer in case there’s a loss somewhere. Appalachian State on the road is the toughest date on the slate - the Flames might need to be impressive.
Liberty Flames 10 Best Players
1. Kaidon Salter, QB Jr.
2. Quinton Cooley, RB Sr.
3. Jay Hardy, DT Sr.
4. CJ Bazile, DE Jr.
5. Xavior Gray, OT Sr.
6. Billy Lucas, RB Sr.
7. Brylan Green, S Jr.
8. TJ Bush, EDGE Soph.
9. Treon Sibley, WR Sr.
10. Joseph Carter, LB Jr.
Liberty Flames 2023 Fun Stats
- Fumbles: Liberty 17 (lost 12), Opponents 11 (lost 4)
- Time of Possession: Liberty 33:04, Opponents 26:56
- Sacks: Liberty 25 for 149 yards, Opponents 9 for 65 yards
Liberty Flames 2024 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen
The schedule is ridiculously easy. Liberty should be favored in every game except for, maybe, the road game at Appalachian State, and it’s a Jamey Chadwell coached team. Expect at least ten wins.
In his last three seasons at Coastal Carolina and one year at Liberty, Chadwell went 44-7 with two conference championships, another division title, and three seasons with 11 or more wins and one 9-3 run.
It’s going to take something crazy to knock Liberty off of its Conference USA pedestal.
There’s a loss in there somewhere. Maybe its at App State, maybe it’s on the wrong day at Middle Tennessee, or at home against Western Kentucky, or maybe the Jacksonville State offense goes off.
Assume another run to at least play in the Conference USA title, but that one loss will be just enough to keep it out of the new-look CFP.
Set The Liberty Flames Win Total At … 10.5
Likely Wins: Campbell, FIU, at Kennesaw State, at UMass, UTEP
50/50 Games: at Appalachian State, East Carolina, Jacksonville State, at Middle Tennessee, at New Mexico State, at Sam Houston, WKU
Likely Losses: No projected sure-thing losses
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