Tag: Liberty football

Top-5 most watchable college football games of Week 10

From a colossal 1 vs. 3 matchup to a Group of 5 spoiler trying to make a splash against Power 5 school, Week 10 has plenty to offer.

The first College Football Playoff rankings are out and the storylines are starting to narrow in focus. But even as the number of contenders begin to dwindle, we are still looking at one of the most wide open and competitive groups of potential playoff teams we’ve seen in years. Fans who have complained about getting the same old teams every year should be thrilled at the way this college football season is shaping up and this weekend’s slate of games benefit from all the parity we’re seeing. From a colossal No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup to a Group of 5 spoiler trying to make a splash against Power 5 school, Week 10 has plenty to offer. Pull up some couch.

Hugh Freeze and Liberty are stuck with each other, saving your SEC team from a terrible mistake

They deserve each other.

Liberty University seemingly locked up Hugh Freeze for the long term, announcing Friday they’ve extended the Flames’ fourth-year coach through 2030.

Liberty’s a private school, so the exact figures of Freeze’s deal aren’t clear. Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, it’s a fully guaranteed contract that will pay him just shy of $5 million per year. That would put him near the middle of the pack compared to SEC salaries and make him the highest-paid coach in the Group of Five when Cincinnati joins the Big 12 next season.

It also means we can hopefully put to rest any discussions of Freeze’s return to the SEC for the disgraced former Ole Miss coach, which seem to pop up every time a middle-of-the-road SEC job opens.

If you’re unfamiliar with Freeze — first, I envy you — he led the Rebels to two wins over Alabama and a top-10 finish in 2015 during his tenure. He also oversaw some of the most blatant NCAA recruiting violations we’ve seen in the modern era which overshadowed the program years after he resigned.

Despite the situation he put the university in, those investigations didn’t ultimately spell his downfall. In July 2017, Freeze resigned under duress after a Mississippi State fan discovered he had used a university-issued cell phone to contact an escort service several times.

After a few years of laying low, he reemerged at Liberty, an evangelical university in Lynchburg, Virginia, which holds its students to a strict honor code — despite having no qualms about hiring Freeze. (It shouldn’t be ignored, either, that athletic director Ian McCaw — who hired Freeze at Liberty and extended him Friday — landed in Lynchburg after resigning from the same role at Baylor in 2016 in the wake of the school’s horrific sexual assault scandal.)

Despite leaving an SEC program in ruins five years ago, it hasn’t stopped Freeze’s name from being thrown around regarding openings at programs like Auburn, Tennessee and more. Still, you can’t deny he seems genuinely happy at Liberty, and clearly they’re happy with him. Maybe this ridiculous extension and prohibitive buyout by Group of Five standards will be enough for SEC (and other Power Five programs) to leave him where he belongs.

[mm-video type=video id=01ggatf7trg4byxhdp73 playlist_id=01eqbz5s7cf4w69e0n player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01ggatf7trg4byxhdp73/01ggatf7trg4byxhdp73-f0674f9f40ccc0bf4f8080ac67bab3f7.jpg]

[listicle id=1976123]

Liberty wideout’s amazing one-handed TD grab left college football fans in awe

You have got to see this amazing catch.

The catch of the day might already belong to Liberty junior wide receiver Jaivian Lofton. Maybe the catch of the year.

Right at the top of the Flames’ Saturday bout with Old Dominion, Liberty freshman quarterback Kaidon Salter’s first completion of the day was a 34-yard rocket to Lofton in the end zone for a touchdown.

Rather than just catch the ball the old-fashioned way, Lofton incredibly snagged the ball with one hand while on the run for the score.

It’s one of the more stunning catches this college football season, one that is undoubtedly going to keep Liberty fans talking for the rest of the year.

Lofton’s catch is going to be one you’re likely to see on repeat on ESPN SportsCenter highlights for the next 24 hours, or at least that’s what the 3-1 Flames think should happen.

Talk about a hot start.

Liberty vs. Wake Forest, live stream, preview, TV channel, time, how to watch college football

The Liberty Flames will meet the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Week 3 of the college football season on Saturday night from BB&T Field.

The Liberty Flames will meet the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Week 3 of the college football season on Saturday night from BB&T Field.

Liberty is coming off a 21-14 win over UAB last week to pick up their second win of the season, while Wake Forest is coming off a 20-point win over Vanderbilt to give them a 2-0 record on the season.

This will be another great day of college football, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the action on Saturday.

Liberty at #19 Wake Forest

  • When: Saturday, September 17
  • Time: 5:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ACC Network
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

How to watch College Football this season

fuboTV has complete NCAA college football coverage (CBS, FOX, ESPN) as well as ACC Network, Big 10 Network, ESPNU, Pac12, and more. fuboTV includes every network you need to watch every college football game in your market.
fuboTV is available on your phone, tablet, desktop, TV, and connected TV devices including Roku. Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV plus many more.
*Regional Restrictions Apply*

NCAA Football Odds and Betting Lines

NCAA odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds were updated at 3:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Liberty vs. Wake Forest (-17.5)

Want some action on college football? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO & NJ.

We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

Additional college football coverage from USA TODAY Sports Media Group:

Alabama football / Auburn football / Arkansas football / Florida football / Georgia football / LSU football / Iowa football / Michigan football / Michigan State football / Notre Dame football / Ohio State football / Oklahoma football / Oregon football / North Carolina football / Nebraska football / Penn State football / Colorado football / Clemson football / Rutgers football / Tennessee football / Texas football / Texas A&M football / USC football / Wisconsin football

Independents Preseason Predictions For Every Game: Preview 2022

College Football News Independent preseason predictions for every game, predicted order of finish, and lookahead to the 2022 season.

The world of the independent college football programs will soon get a tad smaller with Liberty and New Mexico State off to Conference USA in 2023, BYU diving into the Big 12, and Notre Dame joining …

Maybe not yet on the Fighting Irish, but before the independents start finding homes in desperate conferences looking for members, they almost all once again have interesting schedules.

Notre Dame and BYU will make the most noise – as always – with so many high-profile showdowns, but Army could be the most interesting independent. If it can beat Coastal Carolina on the road to start the season, look out. At Wake Forest and the date against Air Force in Arlington, Texas are the only times the Knights should be the underdog.

BYU and Notre Dame play each other in Las Vegas, UMass and New Mexico State play each other, Army plays UConn and UMass, and Liberty plays UConn, UMass, and New Mexico State. And UConn and UMass go at it.

There’s obviously no conference championship to play for, so …

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://collegefoojotballnews.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

2022 Independent Preseason Predictions

Army Black Knights

2022 Preseason Prediction: 10-2
2021: 9-4, Prediction: 9-3
2020: 9-3, 2019: 5-8, 2018: 11-2

Sept 3 at Coastal Carolina  L
Sept 10 UTSA W
Sept 17 Villanova W
Sept 24 OPEN DATE
Oct 1 Georgia State W
Oct 8 at Wake Forest  L
Oct 15 Colgate W
Oct 22 ULM W
Oct 29 OPEN DATE
Nov 5 Air Force (in Arlington, TX) W
Nov 12 at Troy W
Nov 19 UConn W
Nov 26 at UMass W
Dec 3 OPEN DATE
Dec 10 Navy (in Philadelphia, PA) W

Army 2022 Preview
Army 10 Best Players | Army Schedule

BYU Cougars

2022 Preseason Prediction: 8-4
2021: 10-3, Prediction: 7-5
2020: 11-1, 2019: 7-6, 2018: 7-6

Sept 3 at USF W
Sept 10 Baylor W
Sept 17 at Oregon  L
Sept 24 Wyoming W
Sept 30 Utah State W
Oct 8 Notre Dame (in Las Vegas)  L
Oct 15 Arkansas W
Oct 22 at Liberty W
Oct 29 East Carolina W
Nov 5 at Boise State  L
Nov 12 OPEN DATE
Nov 19 Dixie State W
Nov 26 at Stanford  L

BYU 2022 Preview
BYU 10 Best Players | BYU Schedule

Liberty Flames

2022 Preseason Prediction: 7-5
2021: 8-5, Prediction: 11-1
2020: 10-1, 2019: 8-5, 2018: 6-6

Sept 3 at Southern Miss W
Sept 10 UAB W
Sept 17 at Wake Forest  L
Sept 24 Akron W
Oct. 1 at Oklahoma State  L
Oct 8 at UMass W
Oct 15 Gardner-Webb W
Oct 22 BYU  L
Oct 29 OPEN DATE
Nov 5 at Arkansas  L
Nov 12 at UConn W
Nov 19 Virginia Tech  L
Nov 26 New Mexico State W

Liberty 2022 Preview
Liberty 10 Best Players | Liberty Schedule

New Mexico State Aggies

2022 Preseason Prediction: 2-10
2021: 2-10, Prediction: 2-10
2020: 1-1, 2019: 2-10, 2018: 3-9 

Aug 27 Nevada  L
Sept 1 at Minnesota  L
Sept 10 at UTEP  L
Sept 17 at Wisconsin  L
Sept 24 Hawaii  L
Sept 30 FIU W
Oct 8 OPEN DATE
Oct 15 New Mexico  L
Oct 22 San Jose State  L
Oct 29 at UMass  L
Nov 5 OPEN DATE
Nov 12 at Lamar W
Nov 19 at Missouri  L
Nov 26 Liberty  L

New Mexico State 2022 Preview
New Mexico State 10 Best Players
New Mexico State Schedule

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

2022 Preseason Prediction: 9-3
2021: 11-2, Prediction: 10-2
2020: 10-2, 2019: 11-2, 2018: 12-1 

Sept 3 at Ohio State  L
Sept 10 Marshall W
Sept 17 Cal W
Sept 24 at North Carolina W
Oct 1 OPEN DATE
Oct 8 BYU (in Las Vegas) W
Oct 15 Stanford W
Oct 22 UNLV W
Oct 29 at Syracuse W
Nov 5 Clemson  L
Nov 12 Navy (in Baltimore) W
Nov 19 Boston College W
Nov 26 at USC  L

Notre Dame 2022 Preview
Notre Dame 10 Best Players
Notre Dame Schedule

UConn Huskies

2022 Preseason Prediction: 2-10
2021: 1-11, Prediction: 3-9
2020: 0-0, 2019: 2-10, 2018: 1-11 

Aug 27 at Utah State  L
Sept 3 Central Connecticut State W
Sept 10 Syracuse  L
Sept 17 at Michigan  L
Sept 24 at NC State  L
Oct 1 Fresno State  L
Oct 8 at FIU L
Oct 15 at Ball State  L
Oct 22 OPEN DATE
Oct 29 Boston College  L
Nov 5 UMass W
Nov 12 Liberty  L
Nov 19 at Army  L
Nov 26 OPEN DATE

UConn 2022 Preview
UConn 10 Best Players | UConn Schedule

UMass Minutemen

2022 Preseason Prediction: 1-11
2021: 1-11, Prediction: 2-10
2020: 0-4, 2019: 1-11, 2018: 4-8 

Sept 3 at Tulane  L
Sept 10 at Toledo  L
Sept 17 Stony Brook W
Sept 24 at Temple  L
Oct 1 at Eastern Michigan  L
Oct 8 Liberty  L
Oct 15 Buffalo  L
Oct 22 OPEN DATE
Oct 29 at New Mexico State  L
Nov 5 at UConn  L
Nov 12 at Arkansas State  L
Nov 19 Texas A&M  L
Nov 26 Army  L

UMass 2022 Preview
UMass 10 Best Players | UMass Schedule

[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]

[lawrence-related id=532428]

Liberty Flames Preview 2022: Season Prediction, Breakdown, Key Games, Players

Liberty College Football Preview 2022: Team breakdown, season prediction, keys to the campaign, and what you need to know

Liberty Flames Preview 2022: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Liberty season with what you need to know and keys to the season.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://collegefootballnews.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Liberty Flames Preview
Head Coach: Hugh Freeze, 4th year at Liberty, 26-11
12th year overall, 85-43, 2021 Preview
2021 Record: Overall: 8-5
Keys To The Season | Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Liberty Top 10 Players | Liberty Schedule

Liberty Flames Preview 2022

No, Liberty didn’t go 10-1 like it did in 2020, and no, it didn’t come up with a slew of special wins over Power Five programs like it did when it ripped through the ACC.

It was still an eight-win season, there was a third straight bowl win, and head coach Hugh Freeze appears to have the transfer portal rocking and rolling to quickly fill in the gaps.

It’s hard to get better when you lose talent like QB Malik Willis and tacklers like Storey Jackson and Rashaad Harding at linebacker, but the Flames were young last year, they upgraded the depth this offseason, and the schedule is almost a perfect combination of cream-puff and good tests.

It’ll take something disastrous for Liberty to not make a fourth straight bowl game. The question is how many teams it can screw up on the way there.

Liberty Flames Preview 2022: Offense

The offense should’ve been a whole lot better. It became too reliant on Malik Willis, the running backs weren’t tearing off yards in chunks like they did in 2020, and turnovers became a problem.

Even so, and even with the late season power outage with the O failing to score 17 points in any of the last three games, it still averaged 436 yards and 34 points per game. But now it has to replace Willis, and that starts with …

Charlie Brewer – it only seems like he’s been in college football for the last nine years. The former Baylor Bear and Utah Ute isn’t going to run like Willis, but he’s a veteran game manager who’ll get the ball in everyone’s hands and keep the offense going … if he wins the job. Brewer is the safe call, but redshirt freshman Kaiden Salter could be the shot for the stars.

The receiving corps should be better. Demario Douglas and CJ Daniels were 1-2, respectively, in catches last season, but Daniels is coming off a torn ACL.

Campbell transfer Caleb Snead will be a factor, and veteran CJ Yarbrough is back after taking a season off.

The running back situation is strong. TJ Green was the leading back last season with 477 yards and four scores – averaging over six yards per cary – and smallish, quick back Shedro Lewis is dangerous whenever he has the ball. Also in the mix is Hawaii transfer Dae Dae Hunter – he’s got the talent to take over the gig and make it his.

The O line is also getting help from the transfer portal. Nassir Watkins from Kentucky should slide into a tackle spot, and Boston College/Colorado State C Cam Reddy is going to be a fixture.

Liberty Flames Preview 2022: Defense

The defense was able to hold its own throughout last year. The line was great at getting into the backfield, there was a lot of bending-not-breaking, and overall the Flames allowed just 320 yards and 22 points per game.

The line should be fantastic. It’s good as is, and it got help from the transfer portal to add even more depth. TreShaun Clark will be one of the best defensive ends Liberty opponents will deal with all year, and Durrell Johnson isn’t all that far behind. Dre Butler from Auburn will help a promising rotation on the inside.

JUCO transfer Mike Smith will be the man in the middle of the linebacking corps, and there’s work to do around him.

The Flames have talent and a few good veterans – Aikil Washington is a pass rusher who’ll likely play a hybrid linebacker role – to try to replace the 182 tackles of lost production from Storey Jackson and Rashaad Harding.

Jason Scruggs is a tough safety who’ll be among the team’s top tacklers, and the corners should be okay. However, this group didn’t pick off enough passes last year – just seven of the nine – and most of that production is gone.

Keys To The Season | Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Liberty Top 10 Players | Liberty Schedule

Liberty Flames: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats NEXT

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Liberty Flames Top 10 Players: College Football Preview 2022

Who are the top 10 Liberty players going into the 2022 college football season?

Liberty Flames Preview 2022: Who are the top 10 players going into the season?

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://collegefootballnews.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Liberty Flames Preview
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen | Liberty Schedule

LendingTree Bowl: Eastern Michigan vs. Liberty live stream, TV channel, time, how to watch bowl games

The Liberty Flames will face the  Eastern Michigan Eagles in the LendingTree Bowl from Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.

The Liberty Flames will face the  Eastern Michigan Eagles in the LendingTree Bowl from Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.

Liberty is coming off a 7-5 season and is coming off a tough loss to Army in their last game, they will look to bounce back tonight. As for Eastern Michigan, they are coming off a loss as well and will be looking to finish their season with an upset win over the Flames.

Tune in to the LendingTree Bowl today, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the action.

Eastern Michigan vs. Liberty

  • When: Saturday, December 18
  • Time: 5:45 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ESPN
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

How to watch College Football Bowl Season

fuboTV has complete NCAA college football coverage (CBS, FOX, ESPN) as well as ACC Network, Big 10 Network, ESPNU, Pac12, and more. fuboTV includes every network you need to watch every college football game in your market.
fuboTV is available on your phone, tablet, desktop, TV, connected TV Devices including Roku. Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV plus many more.
*Regional Restrictions Apply*

NCAA Football Odds and Betting Lines

NCAA odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds last updated Saturday at 2:20 p.m. ET.

Eastern Michigan vs. Liberty (-9.5)

O/U: 57.5

Want some action on college football? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO, IN, NJ, and WV.

We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

Additional college football coverage from USA TODAY Sports Media Group:

Alabama football / Auburn football / Florida football / Georgia football / LSU football / Michigan football / Michigan State football / Notre Dame football / Ohio State football / Oklahoma football / Tennessee football / Texas football / USC football / Wisconsin football

LendingTree Bowl Prospect Preview: Eastern Michigan Eagles vs. Liberty Flames

LendingTree Bowl Prospect Preview: Eastern Michigan Eagles vs. Liberty Flames #ETOUGH #EXPLO21VE

Welcome to the first Saturday of bowl season and the college football Gods have graced us with six great contests. Personally I would have rather them space these bad boys out a little, but hey here we are.

The LendingTree Bowl pits the Eastern Michigan Eagles (7-5) of the MAC against the Liberty Flames (7-5), who are not affiliated with any conference. Despite the spread being slightly below double digits with Liberty favored, both teams are coming off of a loss and are hoping this win brings some positive off-season momentum.

Honestly though, we don’t care about that. We are going to dive into potential future Browns!

Liberty vs Eastern Michigan: LendingTree Bowl Prediction, Game Preview

Liberty vs Eastern Michigan: LendingTree Bowl prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might or might not win.

Liberty vs Eastern Michigan: LendingTree Bowl prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines: Saturday, December 18

Liberty vs Eastern Michigan: LendingTree Bowl How To Watch

Date: Saturday, December 18
Game Time: 5:45 pm ET
Venue: Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, AL
How To Watch: ESPN, Live stream on ESPN+
Records: Eastern Michigan (7-5), Liberty (7-5)

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://collegefootballnews.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Liberty vs Eastern Michigan LendingTree Bowl Preview

– Both teams will be looking to get past rough finishes to end with something positive.

It was a massively disappointing season for a Liberty program that ripped through several ACC teams in 2020 before closing out with a victory over an unbeaten Coastal Carolina.

The 2021 version came into the year full of experience led by dynamic quarterback Malik Willis and a great running game, and it all fell flat as the season wore on.

– It was a good team, but there were too many turnovers, too much inconsistency, and way too many penalties. The Flames lost their last three games by a combined score of 100-44, but the losses came against Ole Miss, Louisiana, and Army – three of the better teams on the slate.

– Eastern Michigan couldn’t run, couldn’t stop the run, and like Liberty, was wildly inconsistent including losses in two of the last three games. However, unlike the Flames, there aren’t any flags – it was No. 1 in the nation in fewest penalties – and the team didn’t beat itself.

The offense had its moments and the passing game is okay, but there’s a big problem when the ground attack doesn’t work.

Why Liberty, Eastern Michigan Will Win
Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
LendingTree Bowl Top Players To Know

NEXT: Why Liberty Will Win, Why Eastern Michigan Will Win, LendingTree Bowl Prediction

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3