For the first time this season, Liberty football has opened as an underdog, as the Flames are listed as a 2 point road underdog this week against UAB. Liberty (3-1) faces the Blazers (3-1) on Saturday night from Birmingham Alabama at 7 p.m. EST in a game that will be televised on CBS Sports Network in the first ever meeting between the two programs.
Liberty fell from the ranks of the unbeaten this past week when the Flames lost at Syracuse, 24-21, on Friday night thanks to a Cuse field goal on the final play of the game. The Flames will look to rebound from a loss, having not lost consecutive games since November 2019 when Liberty fell to BYU and Virginia.
The Flames have not lost to a Group of Five team since Sept. 7, 2019 when the team fell to Louisiana, 35-14, in Hugh Freeze’s second game as Liberty’s head coach. Since that time, Liberty’s losses have come against Rutgers, BYU, Virginia, NC State, and Syracuse.
UAB improved to 3-1 with an upset win on the road Saturday night over Tulane, 28-21.Quarterback Dylan Hopkins threw three first half touchdown passes as the Blazers took a 21-0 lead and held on for the win. Starting the sixth game of his career, Hopkins threw three touchdown passes for the second straight game and his 240 yards on 18 of 26 passing is a career best. Alabama-Birmingham opened the season with a 31-0 win over Jacksonville State before losing to Georgia 56-7 in week two. Following that loss, UAB defeated North Texas 40-6.
Saturday night’s game will be the first ever at UAB’s brand new Protective Stadium. The nearly $200 million project began construction in late 2019 and will be its debut for the UAB Blazers football team.
