The Liberty Flames (1-0) are at home this week as they have their home opener against Florida International (0-0). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. inside Williams Stadium and will be televised on ESPN3.

The Panthers are led by veteran head coach Butch Davis who is in his 4th season at the helm, leading FIU to three consecutive bowl games to begin his career in Miami. Davis also has head coaching stints at Miami (FL), North Carolina, and in the NFL where he coached the Cleveland Browns for four seasons.

“I think the world of Butch,” said Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze. “I have great respect for Butch. He’s one of the best to ever do it, cares about his kids, and he will have his squad prepared, I know.”

This will be Davis’ and FIU’s first game of the season as their season has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as has the rest of the sports playing world. The Panthers are currently scheduled for 9 games this season, with an off date following Saturday’s contest in Lynchburg, before opening Conference USA play on Oct. 10 against MTSU.

There’s a lot of questions about FIU’s team and what they will look like this season, beginning at quarterback. Davis and company will be looking to replace two-year starter James Morgan. R-Jr Kaylan Wiggins and R-Sr Max Bortenschlager are the most likely candidates to fill in for Morgan, and many expect both to get reps on Saturday.

Wiggins filled in for Morgan when he missed a game due to injury, and he set a school rushing record for a quarterback with 187 rushing yards in a win against New Hampshire. Bortenschlager is a grad transfer from Maryland, and if he gets the start it will mark two straight weeks the Flames go up against Maryland grad transfer quarterbacks, after facing WKU’s Tyrrell Pigrome last week.

FIU is expected to have a very talented running back crew led by senior D’Vonte Price and Arkansas transfer Maleek Williams.

“I’ve never played an FIU team that didn’t have great running backs,” said Hugh Freeze. “In South Florida, they’re going to have very good athletes on this football team. A lot of unknowns, I would think they are very deep at running back. I would believe that.”

Their receivers could be led by Georgia transfer Jeremiah Holloman who sat out the 2019 season after transferring in from the SEC program.

Twin brothers Rishard Dames and Richard Dames lead a talented group of defensive backs. The rest of their defense also has several transfers expected to make an immediate impact including Georgia Tech DT transfer Jordan Woods, Texas DL transfer D’Andre Christmas-Giles, Arkansas DE transfer Alexy Jean-Baptiste, Boise State LB transfer Tyson Maeva, and Iowa CB transfer Josh Turner.

NOTABLES

  • Liberty has won 5 straight at home and are 15-2 in last 17 home openers.
  • Joshua Mack needs just 79 rushing yards to reach 3,000 for his career.
  • This is the first time since 1974 that Liberty’s home opener has taken place on Sept. 26 or later.
  • The Flames are looking for their first 2-0 start since 2017.

QUOTABLES

Hugh Freeze on the season opener – “It’s our home opener, which we’re always excited about. To get to play here on the mountain, it’s got to be a special place. We’ve got to have great desire and determination to do well when we get to play at home. Excited about that, but obviously concerned about a very athletic FIU team that has our respect.”

OL Coach Sam Gregg on FIU – “They’re going to be a great challenge for us, very athletic, very big. They put a lot on the defensive line. It’s going to be a tremendous challenge for us. We are definitely going to have to be ready to play. They’ve got a great program down there.”

C Thomas Sargeant – “They are a physical front. They have some transfers in from some other schools we won’t have tape on them, but we just got to make sure we do what we can do and do it right. We can only control what we can control.”

Liberty DC Scott Symons on FIU – “It’s a tough task when you have a lot of unknowns. Our focus is focusing on us this week, getting better at the little things that we need to improve on from last week’s game. You have to have two different plans for two different quarterbacks. You got a running quarterback and more of a pocket passing quarterback, but at the end of the day football is football. We got our defense installed. We’re not going to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, but you’ve got to have two plans.”

PREDICTION

Liberty 34, FIU 24

Like last week, the first quarter will be important for the Flames. LU is unsure about what to expect from the Panthers, particularly on offense. After a couple of series, Liberty will be able to make some adjustments and settle in to the game. FIU has had difficulties stopping the run in the past, and if that hasn’t improved Liberty’s offense could have a field day.