Malik Willis had a record-breaking season for the Liberty Flames in 2020, guiding the team to the program’s first ever national ranking, first ever wins over an ACC opponent, and first ever win over a ranked FBS team. Due to Willis’ play and the Flames’ success last season, some of the national media has begun to take notice of the quarterback.
Brad Crawford of 247Sports expects Willis to continue his upward trend that he began in 2020, projecting him as the No.12 quarterback in the country during the upcoming season.
“Malik Willis, an Auburn transfer, managed 34 total touchdowns and over 3,000 yards of total offense as Hugh Freeze’s best player with the Flames,” Crawford wrote of Willis in his breakdown.
Willis started all 10 games he played while completing 64.2% of his 265 passes for 2,260 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. He also led the team in rushing with 944 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground.
Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler is ranked No. 1 on this list with North Carolina’s Sam Howell just behind him. Willis is ranked ahead of Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall who checks in at No. 13 and Auburn’s Bo Nix who is ranked No. 21. Nix beat out Joey Gatewood and Willis for the starting job at Auburn in 2019 before Willis elected to transfer and ended up in Lynchburg.
The Flames and Willis begin their season on Saturday, Sept. 4 against Campbell. The season opener against the FCS team will be played at Williams Stadium. Liberty is looking to duplicate some of its success from the 2020 campaign when the Flames finished 10-1 and ranked No. 17 in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll, the highest ranking in school history.
