Liberty improved to 6-1 on the season following their win on Saturday against Gardner-Webb, 21-20. This week, the Flames will take on BYU for a 3:30 p.m. kick in a game that will be televised on ESPNU. On Monday, Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze held his weekly press conference, here’s everything he had to say, including audio of his press conference:
“I had a great team meeting this morning, started out with the truth. There was some picture on twitter that somebody sent me, it was a picture of the 16 teams that are currently bowl eligible after 7 weeks and there was a big LU right in the middle of it. So, that’s the truth that we concentrated on today in the team meeting. It’s a great accomplishment for our program, our school, our fans, everyone, administrators. We are pleased to be in that group this early in the season. So, that’s the truth we probably spent more time on that and trying to move forward than the negative side of the truth which is we played a very poor football game offensively and third down and penalties on defense. Outside of that, the defense played really well but third and down and penalties. The second quarter, they stayed on the field the whole time with four third down penalties that converted drives and ended up in some points.”
“We did not play great football. Offensively it was a story of sabotage by our own selves much of the game. That’s very frustrating to me. I haven’t felt like this in a long, long, long time. Don’t know if I’ve ever felt like it truthfully, but we didn’t concentrate on that this morning. I had someone ask me, would you rather win the Master’s by one stroke or by five strokes? I don’t really care. It’s kind of the way we are. We are 6-1 and that means we’ve got grit and toughness and fight. Our coaches find a way. Looking at how I called the game, I thought it was two plays that I would probably do over. Thought we called a good drive there in the 4th quarter. Our kids finally executed that drive when we needed to. We made a drive when we had to, so again they found a way to win.”
“We concentrated on the fact that we were bowl eligible after seven games, which only 16 teams in the country can say that. Obviously, quickly turned our attention to the opportunity that is in front of us. This opportunity should be exciting. It should be one that is welcomed. It is a great, great challenge, but yet one that we should be excited and embrace with faith and belief that we’ve done something well to make a game that it has some significance in a lot of people’s minds by playing such a great program like BYU at our home, being in this position. I think they are a top 25 team in the country. I know polls, if you lose, polls beat you up, but their strength of schedule, I mean Oregon, Baylor, Notre Dame, Arkansas. They have to have one of the toughest strength of schedules in the nation. Utah State’s a really good team too. They will play anyone. They are a Power Five team that plays probably a harder schedule that a lot of Power Five conference teams because of where they are currently.”
“It is a tall, tall challenge. They are physically much larger than we are. They’ve got some full grown men. Obviously, they know what they’re doing. They have won a lot of football games at that place. Now, you bring in Kalani. I’ve got some good friends in coaching with Nick and Gus, Kirby and some of those guys, but Kalani Sitake is one of the finest human beings that you will ever meet. He loves his players. I just enjoy being around this guy. I love his core values, what he’s about. It will be fun getting to visit with him. I’m not excited about, well, I am excited about the challenge but I wish they weren’t very good. They are very good. That credit goes to him and his staff and his players.”
“Man, it’s going to be an exciting afternoon on The Mountain. We’ve got ESPN covering the game. What an opportunity, let’s go embrace it. Super talented team. Defensively, they are very multiple. That is a little different. A lot of different pictures. Probably the best linebacker group we’ve faced, for sure. DLine is strong. They’ve done a lot of different looks depending on the games. We will have to figure out how they are going to play us.”
“Offensively, this quarterback is a true dual threat, he’s a problem. Really good running backs, OLine is huge, receivers are really talented. This is one of the best team’s we’ve faced. They are right there with Wake Forest is not maybe a little better at some places. Looking forward to the challenge, I hope our fans and students and everyone is excited as we will be come Saturday afternoon.”
HOW MUCH DOES THIS GAME MEAN FOR THIS PROGRAM?
“We talked about that in our team meeting. We are walking in the fulfillment of a vision that started from nothing, really, other than a belief. To be able to walk in that, I know that Dr. Falwell would be just ecstatic to see the crowd, the atmosphere, and everything that’s going to be on Saturday afternoon here playing a team that he had such high regard for, as do I, in BYU. Hopefully we embrace that part of it also.”
BENTLEY HANSHAW TRANSFERRED FROM BYU TO LIBERTY, WHAT HAS HE BROUGHT TO THE TIGHT END ROOM?
“Well, he’s a mature young man, but physically still has a ways to go. He needs to gain some girth and all of that, but he is playing significant snaps for us even where he’s at. Kalani was incredible in that whole experience in trying to help both parties. Kalani is that type of guy. He is for these young men and these kids that are in our program. In his case, he’s got a lot of 25 year olds. Bentley is going to be one of those for us, hopefully. I hope he gains about 30 pounds for the next three seasons. I’m sure it will mean a lot for Bentley to see his old friends, his old coaches. He will want to compete and win also.”
WHAT DO YOU SEE ABOUT THIS BYU DEFENSE WHO HAS GIVEN UP A LOT OF POINTS?
“Well, he’s played Arkansas, Oregon, and Baylor. Those guys, their depth chart may look a little different than ours right now, currently, especially right now with the injuries we have. I’m not the one that chomps at the bit a whole lot with anybody right now. It’s hard for me to feel like that. We’ve got to block those guys. It hadn’t been typical for them to give up the number of points they have, for sure, but again they are playing some really good players. Arkansas kind of snowballed them. When you watch the tape, it doesn’t feel like they scored 50 points. I’m sure he’s having some of the same feelings I’m having about our offense right now. I assure you, I don’t feel overly confident right now that we are going to walk out there be able to just block them and go up and down the field.”
BOWL ELIGIBLE NOW, BUT HOW DO YOU KEEP THE GUYS MOTIVATED IN THE 2ND HALF OF THE SEASON?
“If we’re having to jump through hoops and create some circus atmosphere to get our kids to want to compete against BYU or Arkansas, we’re probably in big, big trouble. I don’t think the leadership of my team looks at it like, hey, we’ve checked the box, we’re bowl eligible, and we can just put it on cruise. I certainly hope not, I don’t believe that’s the case.”
IS THERE A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF CHALLENGE WITH THE PHYSICALITY OF BYU’S OLINE AND DLINE?
“This is big boy football, for sure. We’re going to be really undersized in a lot of matchups. It’s going to take enormous straining to win on every play for us to have a chance to win this in the 4th quarter. It’s going to take all of our kids doing that. There’s no question that the physical presence of their team is daunting when you look at it, really.”
HOW CLOSE DID CHARLIE COME TO BEING AVAILABLE SATURDAY, WHAT ARE HIS PROSPECTS FOR THIS WEEK?
“I don’t think he was near close enough for Saturday. I do think there was drastic improvement over the weekend. Obviously, Monday’s for us is a very light day. We do red zone work, and he looked fine doing that, but that’s throwing it from here to that wall there. He hasn’t had to turn it loose and throw a 40 yard, 50 yard ball yet. So, I really don’t know. We will have to see how the week progresses.”
THOUGHTS ON THEIR QUARTERBACK?
“He’s just tough, tough young man, smart, savvy, confident. Uses his legs when he needs to and can throw it. It’s a tough matchup.”
HOW DYNAMIC OF A PLAYER IS THEIR TAILBACK?
“They are just really well coached. They’ve got a really good scheme. They’ve got good athletes at tight end, receiver, and running back position to go with their dual threat quarterback and a huge offensive line. In all these games, he didn’t say in his post game press conference that they were struggling offensively, I hope, because they are putting up points against everybody. They’ve got a good scheme.”
THIRD AND LONG DEFENSE, IS THAT SOMETHING WHERE IT IS SCHEMATICS?
“There’s some of it. I think we’ve got a good scheme now, but two of the ones the other night, the quarterback broke contain and our kids came out of coverage on 3rd and 17. We can tackle the quarterback before he runs 17 yards. We don’t need you running up and leaving a receiver that is in your zone. Obviously, we haven’t worked it enough.”
DID YOU COME OUT FAIRLY HEALTHY?
“I think CJ Yarbrough is in concussion protocol. Jaivian Lofton is in a boot. I think that’s the only two that are questionable for this weekend other than the long list we already have.”
DO YOU HOPE TO GET CALEB SNEAD BACK?
“I hope, I hope. He went through red zone work today and looked fine there. Hadn’t see him strain yet, but hopeful.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHT ON THOSE PENALTIES FROM SATURDAY?
“I don’t think any of them were pass interference or are quality fouls. We will see what they say, we turned them in. The late hit on the quarterback, the roughing the passer, it was not very smart by us. The guy had left the pocket and looked like he was running, I just think the roughing the passer kind of set me off because when you run, but it was a late hit.”
“Alright, everybody get ready. It’s going to be an exciting day, hopefully beautiful day. I haven’t seen the weather, but we need the students, the fans, we need all the help we can get to be there to give us enough energy to hopefully make it an exciting 4th quarter. So, come on out. It’s going to be a great day of celebration of kind of where the vision has come that Dr. Falwell cast many years ago.”
