Fan the Flames Football Preview: Maine

Liberty returns to action this week needing three wins in its final six games to become bowl eligible. Why three? Because this week's opponent cannot count toward bowl eligibility because Liberty already defeated Hampton from the FCS Big South Conference this year.
The Flames are on a four game winning streak after sweeping New Mexico and New Mexico State in consecutive weeks.

Maine (2-4, 0-3 Colonial Athletic Association)

vs. 

Liberty (4-2, FBS Independent)

Matchup

Location:Williams Stadium, Lynchburg, VA

Series:  Second Meeting

Last Meeting: Maine 42-20 (10/10/92)

Kickoff: 6 p.m.

Radio: The Journey FM Radio Network/Liberty Flames Sports Network (Liberty) Alan York play-by-play; Black Bear Sports Network (Maine) Rich Kimball play-by-play

Television: Liberty Flames Sports Network/ESPN +, Matt Warner, play-by-play

Coaches: Hugh Freeze (First season at Liberty 4-2 record) , Nick Charlton (First season at Maine, 2-4 record)
Last Week: Liberty BYE, Maine lost to Richmond 24-17

This is a game where Liberty has everything to lose and nothing to gain as far as postseason ambitions. Having already defeated Hampton earlier in teh season, this game cannot count toward the six-win bowl threshold, but a loss, with trips to UVA and BYU on the horizon, could be a major blow. Maine. who went to the FCS semifinals last season, is in a pretty significant hole themselves, as according to Mike Lowe of the Portland Press-Herald when I talked to him earlier this week, "Maine is one loss away from seeing its playoff hopes end".
Liberty is well aware of the history of FCS teams beating FBS teams because they WERE the FCS team beating FBS teams like Baylor in 2017. Liberty will not overlook tjhe Black Bears, especially with former Maine running back in the Flames backfield for this one.

Liberty 42
Maine 21

Fan the Flames Beat Writer Interview: Mike Lowe (Maine)

As the Liberty Flames get back to the business of football on the field, they welcome the first CAA program to Williams Stadium since the move up to FBS as the Maine Black Bears make their first ever trip to Williams Stadium.  Who better to talk to than the man with the "dirty job" (Not quite...that guy starts with an R) of following the Black Bears:

Fan the Flames: Maine came into this season following a trip to the FCS Semifinals in 2018. How has the season been compared to expectations after last year?

Mike Lowe, Portland Press-Herald: It’s been an extremely disappointing season for the Black Bears, who returned eight starters on defense and seven on offense. Expectations were very high. But after a season-ending injury to middle linebacker Deshawn Stevens in the opener, the defense has struggled, especially against the run. And  when the run defense has been good, the secondary has given up huge explosive plays. Offensively, they weren’t able to run the ball effectively until just recently. The passing game has been the one bright spot, and now QB Chris Ferguson is injured.

FTF: With coach Charlton taking over following 2018, does that take a lot of the emotion out of the fact that former Maine Black Bear Josh Mack is facing his former team Saturday?

ML: Not really. Many of the defensively players were here when Mack was here. They’re all looking forward to getting a couple of hits on him. They know his style and look forward to seeing him. As one player said, “There’ll be a lot of love. After the game.”

FTF: How do the Black Bears regroup after a tough loss against Richmond at home?

ML: They don’t have a choice. At 2-4, Maine is one loss away from seeing its playoff hopes end. The players know this. They need to get back to playing sound football and try to control the tempo.

FTF: What is the key to combating Liberty's passing attack, particularly the Stephen Calvert-Antonio Gandy-Golden connection?

ML: Maine needs to get a pass rush, something that hasn’t happened much this season. They play a lot of man-to-man defense in the secondary and have some very good cover corners. But the pass  rush has been ineffective most of the season, giving opposing quarterbacks plenty of time to find open receivers.

FTF: What is the key for Maine at quarterback with either freshman Joe Fagnano or junior Chris Ferguson under center, given the very raucous environment at Williams Stadium?

ML: If Fagnano plays, it will likely be a more basic offensive approach, a lot less gadget plays. Maine has to run the ball effectively. That’s the key no matter who is in at quarterback. They need to take the pressure off whoever is in and eat time off the clock.

FTF: Maine comes in allowing an average of 27.2 points per game, and faces a Liberty team that averages 24.7 points per game, but dropped 62 on Hampton in their previous matchup against an FCS team, and last year scored 48 on Homecoming in a win over Idaho State. What will be the key for the defense when facing an offense that potent?

ML: Maine’s defensive success always starts with the front seven. They need to control the line of scrimmage and keep Liberty from setting the tempo. They’ve also given up a lot of long touchdown passes this year. So the secondary has to step up as well. This is a very big challenge for the defense.

Fan the Flames Beat Writer Interview: Damien Sordelett

With the Liberty Flames on a bye week as they reach the halfway point in the 2019 season, I thought that this week I would take a minute and talk to the guy who follows them from Las Cruces to Lexington...

Fan the Flames: How surprised are you at the Flames results through the first half of the season?

Damien Sordelett, Lynchburg News and Advance: I’m not surprised at all with the 4-2 record. The manner in which Liberty got there, yes, I am surprised. My thoughts before the season were the offense would continue shining and the defense would make gradual improvements. The fact it has been reversed is something not many saw coming. The defense has been the best surprise so far with its strong play and ability to not break, especially in the red zone. Take away the game at Louisiana and this defense has really been the unquestioned bright spot for this team. In one of the several radio interviews I did leading up to the season, I mentioned this team has the potential to go 8-4 with the way the schedule was laid out, 6-6 at worse. With Rutgers having its issues and BYU’s quarterback situation still up in the air when the Flames make the trip to Provo in early November, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to see eight or nine victories this season. But back to your original question, no, I’m not surprised at all with the record.

FTF: Which players have stood out for you on offense? defense?

DS: On offense, wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden and running back Joshua Mack have easily stood out so far. Mack has really rebounded from the fumble on his second carry against Syracuse and is showcasing how dynamic of a threat he is in the offense, and Gandy-Golden continues to shine. Defensively, cornerback Kei’Trel Clark and nose guard Ralfs Rusins are the two who have stood out the most. Clark, a true freshman, has been arguably the team’s best cover corner and his ability to take away one side of the field has allowed the defense to continue to shine without Bejour Wilson and Emanuel Dabney. Rusins is a dominating force inside and has made a huge impact in the run defense. His ability to get a push up front has been a reason why this defense has been rather good in short-yardage situations.

FTF: How high of a ceiling does Antonio Gandy-Golden with his name starting to come up in quite a bit of NFL Draft discussion?

DS: I’ve seen projections ranging for the first or second day for Gandy-Golden, and I’m going to side with those projections. You can’t teach 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, and his gymnastics background allows him to do so much more as a receiver than others his size bring to the table. His biggest growth this season is the ability to plant his foot on a route and get open that way. Going back and watching replays of games has proven he has added another dimension to his game that will serve him well at the next well.

FTF: To what do you attribute the success of the defense this year, especially the last two weeks after allowing 103 points the first 4 games?

DS: Liberty has allowed 40 points in its three victories against FBS teams (Buffalo, New Mexico and New Mexico State), and most of the points allowed against Hampton came in the second half when the Pirates had their first-string defense in and the Flames were playing youngsters. The key to that success has been red zone defense (sixth in the nation) and turnovers forced. I mentioned this in the first question that Liberty’s ability to bend but not break has been vital to the team’s success on defense. Forcing two turnovers inside the 10-yard line against New Mexico State is the main reason the Flames left Las Cruces with a victory.

FTF: Who had really opened your eyes on offense and defense this year? (Outside of SBC, AGG, JL) 

Wide receiver Kevin Shaa has been a nice surprise on offense, considering we heard a lot about him last season before he unexpectedly asked to redshirt the final eight games of the season. He gives Liberty’s a dynamic outside receiver who is quick in open space. The slot receivers (DJ Stubbs and Damian King) already bring that, so adding a similar element creates several mismatches the offense can utilize during the season. Defensively, free safety JaVon Scruggs has really emerged as a quality tackler. Safety is Scruggs’ natural position and he is not afraid to tackle, so seeing him fly around and finish plays is something the defense was missing last season.

FTF: If you could give a grade A-F to the offense, defense, special teams and team as a whole through the first 6 games, what grade would you give them?

DS: 

Offense: B

There is definitely more this unit can do, especially in the red zone. There is no reason this offense should rank near the bottom in the nation in red zone efficiency. If Liberty is going to play complementary football this season, each drive that reaches the red zone needs to end with touchdowns. That opening drive against New Mexico State is a classic example of what can’t happen for this team: 13 plays, reach the 12-yard line, and then penalties and self-inflicted wounds force a 50-yard field goal attempt that clanked off the right upright. Liberty’s margin of error is slim to begin with, so minimizing those mistakes is crucial moving forward.

Defense: A-

What more can you ask from a unit that statistically was one of the worst in the nation each of the past two seasons? The players are flying around and making plays, which wasn’t the case previously.

Special Teams: Inc

There’s not enough there for me to really give a grade. Alex Probert hasn’t had many opportunities for field goal tries, Aidan Alves is punting well, and the return game could have more to show for it if not for penalties. Maybe we’ll see more in the upcoming weeks to give a grade to this unit.

Fan the Flames Football Preview Game #6: New Mexico State

Liberty hits the halfway point of the 2019 season with another trip to scenic Las Cruces, NM following an unusually low scoring affair at Williams Stadium between two teams who dropped 50 points in their last games, as Liberty held off New Mexico 17-10.

Stephen Buckshot Calvert finished 24/36 for 306 yards with two touchdowns while Maine transfer Joshua Mack finished with 95 yards on 14 carries, and Antonio Gandy-Golden continued to add to his NFL Draft stock with 6 receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown, which was significant because he passed Darrin Peterson for the all-time record in receiving touchdowns with 28.

The Liberty defense stepped up in a major way last week as they held the Lobos to 362 yards of offense, a team that averaged 482 yards prior to coming to Lynchburg. Austin Lewis and Ralfs Rusins each had 1.5 tackles for loss and .5 sacks as the defense routinely swarmed the backfield and Tevaka Tuioti could not get on track.

This was the third straight win for Liberty, the first time the Flames had a streak of at least 3 wins since 2017 (when they had two).

There is no rest for the weary though as they have one more game before a well-deserved bye week:

Liberty (3-2, FBS Independent)

vs.

New Mexico State (0-5, FBS Independent)

Liberty makes the second of two trips to the Land of Enchantment as they complete a two-year home and home series with the Aggies (NMSU travels to Lynchburg for the Flames' season finale November 30). Last year's trip to Las Cruces was a back and forth affair with the teams combining for 89 points, 1,085 yards of offense, including 767 passing yards and 6 touchdowns by quarterbacks Stephen Calvert and Josh Adkins, and while there were only two ties and one lead change, lots of excitement down to the end. Here's the matchup for this week's meeting

Matchup

Location:Aggie Memorial Stadium, Las Cruces, NM

Series: Third Meeting

Last Meeting: Liberty 28-21 (11/24/2018)

Kickoff: 8 PM (6 PM local time)

Radio: The Journey FM Radio Network/Liberty Flames Sports Network (Liberty) Alan York play-by-play; New Mexico State Radio Network/Learfield IMG College (New Mexico State) Jack Nixon play-by-play

Television: New Mexico State Sports Network/FloSports, Adam Young play-by-play

Coaches: Hugh Freeze (First season at Liberty 3-2 record) , Doug Martin (Seventh season at NMSU, 20-58 record)
Last Week: Liberty d. New Mexico 17-10; NMSU lost to Fresno State 30-17

New Mexico State is winless on the year (and a regular part of ESPN's Bottom 10) and has not had an above .500 regular season since 2002 (the Aggies won the 2017 Arizona Bowl to finish 7-6). and has only scored more than 10 points once (last week vs. Fresno State) and allowed 50 or more points three times, including a season high 62 against Alabama.
On paper this looks like a romp for Liberty, but last year, NMSU came into the first game in Las Cruces at 1-4 and averaging 16.4 points per game before scoring 49 against Liberty. The Flames will need to start fast and keep one foot on the gas, and the other on the metaphorical throat of the Aggies for 60 minutes to leave with a victory and keep the good vibes going after getting a couple of key commitments for the 2020 recruiting class this week.

Im gonna go with the Flames in this one, and I hope the score isn't even this close

Liberty 38
New Mexico State 27

Fan the Flames Football Preview Game #5: New Mexico

Last week the Liberty Flames won their second consecutive game, 62-27 over the FCS Hampton Pirates, their first victory over Hampton since 1996. Antonio Gandy-Golden tied Darrin Peterson for the all-time record in receiving touchdowns with  27 after two scores. Stephen Buckshot Calvert threw for 319 yards and those two touchdowns to extend his school record for touchdown passes in a career to 71 (a fitting number given when Liberty was founded). Brandon "Pop" Robinson led the Flames in rushing with 105, including an electrifying 75-yard touchdown in the 4th quarter. The Flames will need more from the running backs in this last in a three-game homestand before heading out to Las Cruces, NM for their first road game since week 2.

New Mexico (2-1, 0-0 Mountain West)

vs.

Liberty (2-2, FBS Independent)

The Flames welcome the Lobos in the second of a two-game series after the Flames went out to Albuquerque in 2018. New Mexico is the first-ever team from the Mountain West to make the trip to Liberty Mountain and Williams Stadium, the third first-time FBS opponent to make the visit after Syracuse in week 1 and Buffalo two weeks ago. Here is a breakdown of the matchup:

Matchup

Location:Williams Stadium Lynchburg, VA

Series: Second Meeting (Liberty leads 1-0)

Last Meeting: Liberty 52-43 (9/29/2018)

Kickoff: 6:00 PM

Radio: The Journey FM Radio Network/Liberty Flames Sports Network (Liberty) Alan York play-by-play; Lobo Radio Network (New Mexico) Robert Portnoy play-by-play

Television: Liberty Flames Sports Network/ESPN + Matt Warner play-by-play

Coaches: Hugh Freeze (First season at Liberty 2-2 record) , Bob Davie(8th season at New Mexico 35-55 record)
Last Week: Liberty d. Hampton (FCS) 62-27; New Mexico d. New Mexico State 55-52

This is a key game for Liberty as noted by our friends at A Sea of Red Liberty athletics blog, as this is the third in a run of seven consecutive games where Liberty is favored according to ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI), and seven straight very winnable games for the Flames in this first year under Hugh Freeze. With only the HAmpton game serving as a counter for bowl eligibility, and the Flames heading to BYU and Virginia in November, it is paramount that there be no "WTF" games during this stretch if there is a chance for LU to go bowling this year. The Lobos have scored a LOT of points under coach Davie, scoring 55 in their win over in-state rival New Mexico State, and 39 in edging FCS Sam Houston State in their opener, and scoring 40 or more points in all three of their victories in 2018.

I expect a ton of fireworks on the field as well as off, as the two teams combined for 95 points in their meeting last season, and with the over/under on this matchup at 72 1/2 and Liberty as a 7 1/2 point favorite heading into today, Vegas expects the offenses to put on quite a show. Im picking the Flames in this one to start fast, and keep the Lobos at arm's length and get a win

Liberty 63
New Mexico 41

Fan the Flames Football Preview Game #4: Hampton

The Liberty Flames got the first win of the Hugh Freeze era last week with a 35-17 victory over the Buffalo Bulls inside of Williams Stadium last Saturday night. Stephen Calvert threw for 325 yards and 4 touchdowns, two to his favorite target Antonio Gandy-Golden, who caught 8 passes for 174 yards.

Let's take a look at this week's game:

Hampton (2-1, 0-0 Big South)

vs.

Liberty (1-2, FBS Independent)

Liberty welcomes the Hampton Pirates to Williams Stadium for the first time since 1998 when the Pirates come for Family Weekend. The Pirates have actually won the last two meetings with the Flames, when Liberty was an FCS independent in 1997 and 1998.

Matchup

Location:Williams Stadium Lynchburg, VA

Series: Seventh Meeting

Last Meeting: Hampton 21-0 (10/10/1998)

Kickoff: 6:00 PM

Radio: The Journey FM Radio Network/Liberty Flames Sports Network (Liberty) Alan York play-by-play; Hampton Pirates Radio Network (Hampton), Richie Summerville play-by-play

Television: Liberty Flames Sports Network/ESPN + Matt Warner play-by-play

Coaches: Hugh Freeze (First season at Liberty 1-2 record) , Robert Prunty (Second season at Hampton, 9-4 record)
Last Week: Liberty d. Buffalo 35-17; Hampton d. Howard 41-20

Fan the Flames Beat Writer Interview: Stephen Bailey (Syracuse)

After a long hiatus, Fan the Flames is back and better than ever as the Liberty Flames enter into their first full season at the FBS level.

The Flames get a big test for their opener this year as they welcome the #22 ranked Syracuse Orange as the first-ever P5 program to come into Williams Stadium, and I had a chance to talk to Stephen Bailey, Syracuse writer for Syracuse.com You can follow him on Twitter @stephen_bailey1

Fan the Flames: Syracuse is coming off one of the best seasons in recent memory for football and comes into this matchup ranked for the first time since 2001 when Paul Pasqualoni was head coach. What is the mood and mindset like around Syracuse in Dino Babers' 4th season?
Stephen Bailey: Syracuse enters 2019 extremely confident. Coming off the school’s first 10-win season since 2001, the Orange returns talent and experience at most position groups. It also faces its softest schedule since joining the ACC. Internally, this is a group that was almost entirely recruited by Babers. The whole coaching staff from a year ago is back. Continuity in scheme and culture has been established.
FTF: The Orange lost probably one of the best quarterbacks in their recent history with the graduation of Eric Dungey. What is the feeling around his replacement Tommy Devito?
SB: It’s funny. It really doesn’t feel like a quarterback transition is going on. Part of that is because DeVito stepped in last year and pushed Dungey for his starting job. As a redshirt freshman, DeVito flashed his top-end arm talent in victories over North Carolina (2OT) and Florida State. I think those shared winning experiences are what has led the team to embrace him so easily. There’s no shortage of confidence in that regard. It will be interesting to see how Syracuse utilizes DeVito’s arm and the versatility it returns at running back and tight end as the season goes on.
FTF:  This is the first trip for the Orange to Lynchburg and the first G5 road game for Syracuse since 2016. What is the attitude of the team heading into this game? Is there confidence bordering on overconfidence or is it a more businesslike approach?
SB: Babers has made it clear that he respects Hugh Freeze as a coach and that he does not want his team to take the game lightly. The hardest part for the Orange is preparing for an opponent that doesn’t have any game film. Add on to that the unclear status of Malik Willis and I think SU’s players are heeding their coach’s warning. While a bit of overconfidence is possible, I think this Syracuse team is just too good and too hungry to get trapped on Saturday.
FTF: Syracuse finished with 10 wins last year, the most wins since 2001. The next season the Orange finished 4-8 and did not garner another winning season until 2010. What will Syracuse need to do to prevent another letdown similar to that?
SB: Basically, keep DeVito upright. With loaded position groups at running back, defensive line, secondary and special teams, the floor for this team is probably around five or six wins barring catastrophe. While the team may have overachieved last year, there’s no denying the progress Babers has made in building a stronger, faster and deeper roster. Another 10-win season would be exceeding expectations, but not be a crazy margin.
FTF: Syracuse travels to Maryland the next week after leaving Lynchburg. How important is it for them to not be caught "looking ahead" to that game or the week 3 showdown in the Carrier Dome with defending CFP National Champion Clemson?
SB: I think that’s a  Week 2 storyline. Babers and his staff have been preaching the one-game-at-a-time mindset at every opportunity. But players know what the Clemson game means – there’s no shaking that. I don’t think Syracuse is looking two weeks down the line to the extent that the team will come out flat in Lynchburg. In College Park? Now that’s a scenario I could see unfolding.

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