Bowl Ready: Team, band, fans psyched to cheer on Flames at Boca Raton Bowl

Liberty Flames Football looks to claim its fourth-straight bowl victory when it faces the University of Toledo Rockets in the 2022 Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl at FAU Stadium on Tuesday, Dec. 20, with plenty of bowl events for fans leading up to the game.

Bowl festivities actually opened last week when both schools sent their mascots to participate in the Boca Raton Holiday Street Parade on Dec. 7.

The teams are scheduled to arrive in Florida on Friday afternoon, and the first bowl-hosted event is a community outreach on Sunday. Players will venture out into the city and complete service projects as they interact with the community. Liberty will partner with Toys for Tots at the Palm Beach County Fairgrounds.

Fans looking to include their stay in part of the festivities are encouraged to check out LibertyFlames.com to stay at the official Liberty fan hotel.

A large pep rally for both teams will be held at Mizner Park Amphitheater at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 19, the night before the big game. The Spirit of the Mountain Marching Band will join LU’s cheerleaders, Sparky, and fans to pump up the excitement for the game.

Fans and students alike wait in anticipation to see how the Flames will perform against Toledo, this year’s champion of the MAC.

“It’s exciting to see how we compare to a Group of 5 conference champion going into our first year in CUSA,” said Liberty junior Steven Hakun, who will attend the game along with several members of the Jokers, a student fan group.

Ron and Nerissa Cooper have been Flames Club members since 2018 and are headed to the bowl game.

“We saw Liberty win its inaugural Cure Bowl in Orlando, and we’re excited for a chance to see them win their fourth-straight bowl game and a chance for our seniors to go out and win,” the couple said.

Following the pep rally, fans and alumni are encouraged to join together for the Flames Bowl Bash at the nearby Yard House Restaurant from 7-9 p.m. All attendees will receive free appetizers courtesy of the Flames Club.

Flames Club is also chartering a plane that leaves Sunday and returns directly after the game.

With kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 20, all bowl game fans will be treated to a pre-game fan fest and family midway from 3-7 p.m. with food, rides, games, and live music for the general public. The Flames Club and Liberty Alumni Association will host a tailgate in the fan fest area and greet the team as they arrive at the stadium.

After these festivities, the bowl game will kick off. The Spirit of the Mountain will perform a portion of the team’s “More than Conquerors” 2022 halftime show at the midpoint of the game.

The RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl is in its ninth year. This matchup will mark the first between the two squads since Toledo defeated the Flames 35-34 in 2007. The Rockets are currently 3-0 all-time against the Flames.

Liberty Athletics Director Ian McCaw said the invite to the Boca Raton Bowl was a “a great opportunity for us to play a championship-caliber program, and it’s a great destination.”

He made the announcement on Dec. 4, the day Liberty welcomed its new Head Coach Jamey Chadwell.

“We’ve been looking at Boca the last couple years thinking that could be a destination for us,” McCaw said during the press conference. “We like warm weather. We like going to Florida, and I think our team’s going to be really excited about it.”

Toledo enters the game 8-5 coming off a strong 17-7 victory over the Ohio Bobcats in the MAC Championship game. This will be the second time that the Rockets will compete in the Boca Raton Bowl, having defeated then No. 24 Temple 32-17 in 2015.

Liberty will enter the game 8-4. The Flames will be led by Interim Head Coach Josh Aldridge, who previously served as the team’s co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach under Head Coach Hugh Freeze.

Aldridge and Liberty players expressed gratitude to have another opportunity to close out the season. During a press conference on Wednesday, Aldridge stated that he viewed this as a “second senior day” and another opportunity for those graduating from the team to finish with a victory.

“I want to see us compete and have fun. I think if we do that, we’ll probably win.” Aldridge said. “If we go out there and play with high energy and effort, we’re talented enough to go out there and compete with a lot of people. We’re playing a good football team, but I think (if) we can be hungry and go out there with effort and energy, we’ll like what the scoreboard says at the end.”

This year will mark Liberty’s fourth-straight bowl appearance after moving to FBS, with the Flames winning all three previous games. Liberty defeated Georgia Southern 23-16 in the 2019 FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla., before returning to the Cure Bowl in 2020 to defeat then No. 9 Coastal Carolina 37-34 in an overtime thriller. Last year, Liberty took home the trophy after trouncing Eastern Michigan 56-20 in the 2021 LendingTree Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

Liberty and Appalachian State are the only two NCAA football programs to win bowl games in each of the first three seasons as an FBS program.

The Boca Raton Bowl will be broadcast on ESPN. Listen Live on the Liberty Flames Sports Network.

View more bowl game information at LibertyFlames.com.