Liberty (7-3, 3-0) plays host to Charleston Southern on Saturday for a 3:30 kickoff with the Buccaneers (7-3, 2-2). The Flames lead the all-time series 19-2 and have won the past 8 meetings. The game marks Liberty’s senior day.
Why Charleston Southern can win this game
The Buccaneers are playing well and they have nothing to lose. CSU is coming off impressive wins over Monmouth (27-0) and Gardner-Webb (44-14) after dropping 3 straight games. And as we saw with Monmouth last week, teams playing with nothing to lose can pull off trick plays and gimmicks to compete with teams that are better than them.
Running back Christian Reyes has really picked it up. He ran for 163 yards and a touchdown against the Runnin’ Bulldogs last week.
Defense is Jamey Chadwell’s team’s calling card. CSU is allowing a Big South best 17 points per game and holding opponents to 128 rushing yards per game. Numbers that are even better in their first 4 conference games.
Why Liberty can win this game
19-2. That’s Liberty’s record against Charleston Southern all-time which includes 8 straight wins. This includes Liberty’s 56-14 win over #16 Charleston Southern last year in South Carolina.
The only passing offense worse than CSU’s in the Big South is Presbyterian, and we all saw how Liberty’s defense shut down PC’s offense. If defensive coordinator Robert Wimberly can focus on stopping Christian Reyes & company running the ball, it could be a long day for the Bucs.
With Liberty being bigger, faster and stronger, the Flames should win the line of scrimmage battle on both sides of the ball. Anytime you’re able to do that, you have a great chance to win the game.
X-Factor for this game
Starting fast.
Liberty is 6-0 in games this season when they score on their first drive. Add this to CSU’s difficulties passing the ball, and if the Flames can get up 2+ scores in this game, they should be able to run away with the win. It won’t be easy though as Charleston Southern has been a very good football team all season in the 1st quarter of ball games. The Buccaneers are 7-0 this season when scoring first, and 0-3 when their opponents score first.
