Flames fans take part in pre-game parade, pep rally in downtown Mobile, Ala.

Flames Nation was well represented on the downtown streets of Mobile, Ala., on the eve of Saturday’s LendingTree Bowl, where Liberty University will take on Eastern Michigan at the University of South Alabama’s Hancock Whitney Stadium at 5:45 p.m. EST, broadcast on ESPN. Liberty’s Spirit of the Mountain marching band and the Eagles’ marching band both performed along the route, and Liberty cheerleaders and Flames fans added to the lively crowd.

The city of 185,000, located on Mobile Bay just off the Gulf of Mexico, has a bit of a New Orleans vibe to it, so if Friday night’s parade was reminiscent of a Mardi Gras celebration, that’s because those French-influenced festivities got their start in Mobile in 1703, well before they became a springtime staple of the Big Easy.

“We are excited to have both teams here in the City of Mobile, the birthplace of Mardi Gras,” Mayor Sandy Stimpson said. “We feel like we were born to celebrate. We know that (only) half of ya’ll will be celebrating after this bowl game, but while you are here, we hope you really enjoy yourselves. The entire city and community welcomes you and we are excited to host the LendingTree Bowl.

The parade was followed by the official LendingTree Bowl “This is Alabama” Pep Rally and Street Party, highlighted by the Spirit of the Mountain’s drumline. Afterward, the Flames Club hosted a Football Fan Party at T.J. Crockmier’s, a restaurant on Dauphin Street, with appetizers provided by the Flames Club and the Liberty University Alumni Relations Office.

Alabama has a sizeable population of Liberty alumni, including 500 living in the Mobile metro area. Close to 2,000 tickets have been sold to Flames fans from in and out of the state for Saturday’s contest. Over 80 students boarded buses on campus early Friday morning for a full-day trek.

The portside destination provides a change of scenery for Liberty, which is hoping to repeat the success it experienced over the past two seasons in the Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla.

Both the Flames and Eagles are 7-5 and are appearing in a bowl game for the third season in a row, though Eastern Michigan has not won one a postseason game since the 1987 California Bowl. In the teams’ only previous meeting, in October 1989, Liberty defeated EMU, 25-24, for its first victory over an FBS team, nearly 30 years before reaching that level (in 2018). Eric Green, still the Flames’ only first-round NFL Draft pick, caught the winning touchdown pass with 11 seconds remaining in that contest.

Flames third-year Head Coach Hugh Freeze is now 4-1 in bowl games for his career. In 2012, his only season at Arkansas State, he qualified the Red Wolves for the then-named GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile, but did not coach in that game as he accepted the job as head coach for Ole Miss before it was played.

“I am thrilled to be back in Mobile,” Freeze said. “(LendingTree Bowl President Jerry Silverstein and) the staff here (have) done an outstanding job putting together a bowl week that has been memorable. I love the community service projects and the other events so it’s been a great week for us and we are excited to get to (Saturday). We are going to have to play one of our better games to beat this Eastern Michigan team. They are very disciplined.”

Senior quarterback Malik Willis, who could become Liberty’s second first-round NFL Draft pick in late April 2022, will be playing in Mobile twice in the next six weeks — in Saturday’s LendingTree Bowl and the Feb. 5 Reese’s Senior Bowl, also at Hancock Whitney Stadium.