Liberty is back in action this Saturday to take on No. 21 Louisiana at 4 p.m. EST in a game on ESPNU. The Flames will be looking get to the 8-win plateau for a third consecutive season. On Thursday, Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze met with the media to give his final update prior to kickoff. Here are the main takeaways from his media session.

LIBERTY FIELD HOCKEY PLAYING FOR A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

On Friday, Liberty’s field hockey team will play in the Final Four against Maryland at noon on ESPN+. It marks the first time a Liberty athletics team has competed in the Final Four of any NCAA Division I sport, and it has head football coach Hugh Freeze’s attention.

“When you advance to the Final Four in your given sport, that’s pretty high cotton, it’s a pretty high achievement,” said Freeze. “When our student-athletes and our coaches get to exemplify and represent Liberty University on a national stage of any type, irregardless of how small or how big that stage is, it’s a chance for people to say, ‘Something’s going on on the Mountain.’ Hopefully they see a little difference in us some. I’m quite sure that our coaches and our ladies from the field hockey team are going to represent our university and our foundation of what we believe in a magnificent way. Obviously, we are very proud of them and pulling for them. Again, just keep expanding the LU brand.”

AARON PIERRE NO LONGER ON THE TEAM

Liberty linebacker Aaron Pierre is no longer on the team, Freeze said. His name was removed from the official roster this week after he had been away from the team the past few weeks. Previously, Freeze had mentioned that Pierre was attending to family matters during his time away.

Prior to leaving the team, Pierre was a team captain and had started all 11 games in the 2020 season when he recorded 41 tackles. In 6 games played this year, Pierre recorded 14 tackles.

“It’s all family related and we wish him the best,” said Freeze. “He’s doing what he thinks is best for his family. We hate that he’s not with us, but when somebody tells me this is best for my family or my mom or my child or whatever it is, I don’t argue with that a whole lot.”

FLAMES LOOKING TO LIMIT LOUISIANA’S EXPLOSIVE PLAYS

Louisiana has a very explosive offense, and they are capable of breaking a big play at any time. Behind quarterback Levi Lewis, the Ragin’ Cajuns have the play-makers to pick up chunks of yardage at a time. However, when defenses have been able to limit those explosive plays, Louisiana has at times struggled to consistently drive the field and put points on the board.

“If you look at our games, when our defense doesn’t allow those explosives, they are really stingy with points,” Freeze stated. “Take away the explosives in the Ole Miss game, I think that game is right down to the wire. We’ve just got to find a way, but they’ve got great players, great receivers, great quarterback, great running backs, offensive line, they are a really solid football team, maybe the best we have faced, certainly in the Group of Five. They are really solid in every phase. It’s important that we limit the explosive plays, for sure.”

SOLID ASSIGNMENT PLAY ON DEFENSE CRUCIAL

One of the biggest keys to limiting those explosive plays is to play sound, assignment football on defense. That has been something the Flames have struggled with at times, particularly at linebacker, as mainly newcomers in Storey Jackson, Rashaad Harding, and Ahmad Walker have seen the vast majority of the reps there.

“It’s critical on every play that everybody do their assignment,” Freeze explained. “Some of the throws, depending on what coverage we have called as to where they are supposed to be, but the expectation would be that they execute that coverage correctly. When you don’t, it leaves seems. That’s happened to us some. They have a tough assignment because you are facing good run teams, they will play-action on you, that’s a tough task. We’ve got to execute better when those certain things are called like that.”

FREEZE HAPPY WITH HIS CURRENT VERBAL COMMITS

We are just about one month away from the early signing period in college football, and Liberty currently has commitments from 11 players in the class of 2022. On Thursday, Freeze mentioned that the offensive line, offensive tackle in particular, is a big need in this class, as is linebacker and corner. He also mentioned that he is very high on his current list of commitments. Look for a more in-depth football recruiting update on Friday for ASOR Club members.

“Offensive tackle is a big need,” he said. “Offensive line in general, we need to really hit on these 3-4 that we take, and linebacker is a big need and corner. Those are where most of the needs reside, not that we won’t take other kids, obviously. I like our commitments. I watched them again this week on tape, their recent games and stuff.”