Liberty Football Succumbs to SEC Competition

In only its second matchup against an SEC team, Liberty’s football team fell 27-14 to the No. 12 Ole Miss Rebels in Head Coach Hugh Freeze’s emotional return to Vaught Hemingway Stadium.

Freeze served as the head coach for the Rebels from 2012-2016 prior to joining the Flames in December 2018. 

What was predicted to be a battle of two top-tier quarterbacks ended in a solid victory for the Rebels and quarterback Matt Corall. Corall finished the game with 324 yards in the air with one touchdown. For the Flames, quarterback Malik Willis gained 173 yards in the air and threw three interceptions but gained 71 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown. 

The Flames doubled the Rebels in rushing yards, posting 284 yards to Ole Miss’ 142 yards.

The Rebels shot out to a quick start in the contest with Jarrion Ealy taking the ball for a 70-yard touchdown run the second play of the game. This set up what would be a rough first half for the Flames. 

Despite gaining a little traction on its first drive by reaching Ole Miss’ 30-yard line, Liberty could not answer with any points and punted back to the Rebels. Ole Miss likewise failed to build momentum the following drive and punted after five plays. 

Liberty’s second drive again looked promising, and the Flames advanced all the way to the 12-yard line. A costly sack on third down forced the Flames to settle for a 38-yard field goal attempt by Brandon Beck. Beck’s kick was no good, which squandered a second scoring opportunity for the Flames. 

The Rebels took the ball over and started the drive firing deep. Corral completed a 50-yard pass to Dannis Jackson. Liberty’s defense held after the explosive play, and Ole Miss settled for a 43-yard field goal to increase the lead by three points. 

Liberty again punted the ball as the Rebels’ defense continued to stifle Willis and company. 

Liberty’s defense could not replicate the success of its Ole Miss counterparts and allowed another touchdown on a 4-yard touchdown rush by Ealy. 

Matters worsened for the Flames as Willis threw an interception on the following drive in Ole Miss territory. Although the pass was originally called a reception, official review reversed the ruling to hand Ole Miss its first takeaway of the game. 

Ole Miss did not capitalize on the turnover and handed the ball back to Liberty after unsuccessfully attempting a fourth down conversion in the red zone. 

As the half began to wind down to an end, Willis threw another interception, this time caught by Rebel A.J. Finley. Only five plays later, the Rebels found themselves in the end zone again after Dannis caught a 40-yard touchdown pass. 

Liberty’s lackluster first half offense tried to whittle down the deficit prior to the break, but it could not gain enough momentum to move the ball up field. The Ole Miss defense held strong to force the first half shutout. 

Following halftime, the Flames finally began to ignite. Willis led a 9-yard drive that concluded with a 28-yard rushing touchdown by Shedro Louis. This marked the first time in program history that Liberty football scored on an SEC opponent (Liberty lost 53-0 against Auburn in 2018). 

“It’s just a blessing. Whatever I got to do to help my team win, and I want to do it,” Louis said after the game. 

On the Rebels’ next drive, the offense regained some ground with a 38-yard field goal.

Liberty’s offensive success continued on the second drive of the half and ended with a 3-yard keeper by Willis. This score cut Ole Miss’ lead to 13 points, but neither team scored again in the contest. Each team had opportunities, but a 41-yard field goal miss by Costa and a late interception by Ole Miss prevented the scoreboard from changing. 

Liberty finished the second half outscoring the Rebels 14-3, but the hole the Flames dug for themselves in the first half proved to be their downfall. 

After the game, Freeze spoke about how special it was for him to return to Ole Miss after coaching the team for several years.

“I want to say to the Ole Miss people: thank you for your kindness to me and my family,” Freeze said as he fought back tears. “It couldn’t have gone any better from that regard. Obviously, I don’t like losing and wish we’d had a chance to win that in the end, but as far as the reception from the Ole Miss people last night… They were just incredibly kind, and that is an answer to prayer for Jill and I.”

Junior safety Javon Scruggs emphasized the resilience of the Flames squad. Despite having the odds stacked against them entering halftime, the Flames refused to go down without a fight. 

“We knew that we were going to go out there and finish regardless of the score on the board,” Scruggs said. 

Even though the Flames did not see the desired result on the field, they left the field proud of their efforts. Regardless of the skill level of the opponent, the Flames would not be intimidated.

Mistakes proved to be the differentiator for the Flames. Willis finished the game with three interceptions and was sacked nine times in the game. The Flames also had key dropped passes late in the game that hindered their momentum. 

On defense, the team allowed big yardage plays. Although they played strong in the red zone, they failed to cover deep and paid dearly for it. 

Freeze showed displeasure at the number of mistakes made in the contest and acknowledged that those errors may have cost Liberty the game. 

“I’m going to be sick watching the film, you know, whether it’s a missed field goal or something that killed our drive or turnover,” Freeze said. “I’m going to be sick… We didn’t play well enough in the first half. 

Regardless of the final result, Freeze said that he was proud of the team for their efforts.

“I’m as proud to walk out of the stadium with them today as I was when I walked in,” Freeze said.

The Flames will have a long-awaited rest this week as they take a break from competition before hosting the No. 24 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Nov. 20 at 4 p.m.

Shields is the asst. sports editor. Follow him on Twitter.