Liberty alumni traveled for Boca Raton Bowl against Toledo

Liberty University alumni from around the country traveled to Boca Raton to support Flames Football in its clash against the University of Toledo Rockets in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 20.

The Flames were looking to continue their bowl game dominance after winning their first three bowl games in the team’s first seasons of eligibility. Toledo entered the game with confidence after defeating Ohio in the MAC Championship goal and defeated the Flames 21-19.

Liberty alumnus Dennis Fields graduated in 1988 with a degree in business administration and management. He currently lives in Burlington, N.C., and is the president and owner of Talon Medical Construction Services.

Fields continues to support Liberty University as a member of the Flames Club, which provides members with the opportunity to financially support Liberty Athletics and offers members exclusive benefits.

With both of his parents working at the university when he was a child, Fields grew up in the Lynchburg area and continues to call it “home.” He also noted that he holds a strong attachment to Liberty because of its focus on faith.

“Liberty is a special school because of its mission. It’s training young champions for Christ,” said Fields.

His passion for the school boils over into his support for Liberty Athletics, and he faithfully travels at the conclusion of each season to watch the Flames in their bowl games. With the exception of the 2020 Cure Bowl, which had a strict attendance policy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fields has attended each bowl game and traveled this year with the Flames Club on a chartered flight.

Fields said that he supports Liberty Athletics because it harkens back to founder Dr. Falwell’s vision.

“Dr. Falwell said that young people speak two languages: sports and music. And he said he wanted a university that’s not only academically superior, but also playing on the highest level of competition with sports and music excellence,” Fields said at the Boca Raton Bowl pep rally the day before the game.

Another alumnus, Nathan Pick (’04), traveled to Boca Raton from Jacksonville Fla., to watch the bowl game. A Flames Club member himself, he buys Flames Football season tickets each year and traveled to Lynchburg several times in 2022 to watch the team in person. He said he also follows Liberty’s basketball program and still remembers attending the 2004 Big South Championship basketball game in which Liberty clobbered High Point 89-44 to send the Flames to their then second NCAA Tournament in program history.

Despite formerly living in Northern Virginia while an employee for the previous presidential administration, Pick moved to Jacksonville over a year ago and now works in the transportation industry.

“The university has meant a lot to me,” Pick said, noting Liberty’s focus on Christian values as an incentive for him to attend the university. “Going there is something that fed my faith. I could have gone to a secular university and that’s a good choice for some people and some believers, but it was a good choice for me to go to Liberty. It made me stronger in my faith and it’s fun to see the football team and the athletics program point people to Christ and have a larger stage these days.”

Graduating almost 20 years ago, Pick noted a large contrast in how successful Liberty’s athletics have become since he was a student. Liberty advanced to FBS competition in 2019 after previously competing in the FCS subdivision as a member of the Big South. While in the Big South, Liberty developed a strong rivalry with Coastal Carolina, a team whose last coach left to accept the head coaching position at Liberty earlier this month.

“It’s like foe to friend overnight because we’ve been very spirited opponents to Coastal Carolina for quite a while now,” Pick said, referring to Liberty’s signing of Head Coach Jamey Chadwell.

Tuesday’s game marked Pick’s second bowl game, after attending the 2019 Cure Bowl in which Liberty defeated Georgia Southern 23-16.

Liberty ultimately fell to Toledo in a close 21-19 contest after failing to convert a potentially game-tying 2-point conversion.