Column: Wild and Wylie
The Liberty Flames football team (4-2) will put its four-game winning streak on the line this Saturday when it takes on the Maine Black Bears (2-4) at Williams Stadium on homecoming weekend.
The Flames scorching offense has scored almost 30 points per game this season, with a season-high 62 points coming against Hampton Sep. 21. Quarterback Stephen Calvert has recorded 10 touchdown passes with only three interceptions this season, and half of those touchdown strikes have gone to Antonio Gandy-Golden, the Flames star
wide receiver.
Gandy-Golden is in the midst of a record-breaking season for the Flames. His 28 career touchdowns are the most in school history, and he is close to breaking records for receptions and total
yards as well.
Hugh Freeze has implemented new schemes for the offense and has gotten his players to buy into his methods in his first year as a coach. Calvert has shown more patience in progressing through his reads, and that has manifested in his 60% completion percentage (up six points from last year) and his decrease
in turnovers.
The passing attack has been especially effective for the Flames under Freeze’s new scheme. Gandy-Golden’s 728 receiving yards are good for second on the national FBS list, and Calvert is ninth on the national passing yards list with 1,569.
The defense has also shown improvement this year, allowing only 21 points per game this season. Jessie Lemonier has led the defense with 43 tackles and 5.5 sacks, while linebacker Solomon Ajayi has recorded 40 tackles
through six games.
On the horizon are four difficult road games against tough opponents. The Flames will travel to Rutgers, UMass, BYU and Virginia before their final home game against New Mexico State Nov. 30. If Liberty wins against Maine this Saturday and beats New Mexico State in the finale, it will have to hope to pick up one away victory to have a chance at playing
in a bowl.
Going up against a Maine team that has only won two games and has given up 27 points per game, the Flames will be disappointed if they aren’t able to put this game into the win column. Their chance at playing December football may depend on it.
The Flames are hoping to finish the season with at least seven wins to be bowl eligible, and with a tough part of the schedule coming up, a win against Maine would be a huge step for the program to get a much-needed win and increase their chances of playing in a bowl game.
In order for Liberty to participate in a bowl game, which would be televised on ESPN if it happened, the team must win at least seven games, and the AAC and Sun Belt conferences cannot have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill their allotted spots. Liberty needs seven wins, rather than the normal six, because of the two FCS programs on its schedule.
The game against Maine will kick off shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, at Williams Stadium and will be available for streaming on ESPN+.
My prediction: 31-17 Liberty victory.