Well the 2019 season came to a close last Saturday and what finish it was. Stephen Calvert finished his final game in a Liberty uniform with 270 yards and 2 touchdowns, Frankie Hickson finished with 125 yards and became the first Liberty back since Rashad Jennings with back-to-back 1,000 yard rushing seasons and the Liberty defense held one of the top rushing offenses in the country to 154 net yards rushing and one touchdown to win the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl 23-16 in Orlando, Florida.
This put a bow on a season that exceeded expectations. Liberty ended a string of six-win seasons, won the first bowl game in school history, and saw a number of records broken.
The season began with the first ever Power 5 team to come to Lynchburg in Syracuse, and Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze battling an infection that left him in a hospital bed coaching from the press box and a 24-0 Liberty loss, the first shutout against the Flames since 2005. After another loss to Louisiana down on the bayou, the Flames ripped off seven wins in the next 10 games, Freeze returned to the sidelines and thanks to Memphis (who lost in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl 53039 to Penn State as I write this), qualified for the first bowl in school history.
I said on the A Sea of Red Forums, that this is a special time and Liberty is a special place, and this has a chance to be a great program that can become a cornerstone of athletic success for everyone to build on. Liberty will have to replace major players on offense in Calvert, record setting favorite target Antonio Gandy-Golden and Hickson, but there are very talented players looking to be the "next man up" at all three areas and I look forward to seeing the Flames in spring ball and as we head toward the 2020 opener at Virginia Tech.
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