For just the third time in program history, Liberty football is listed as a favorite over a Power Five program as the Flames opened as a 7-point favorite over Syracuse, a line that is currently at 6.5.
That line doesn’t come a surprise. The Flames were expected to be favorites. Coming off a 10-1 season last year where the team was ranked in the top 25. Liberty defeated this same Syracuse team in the Carrier Dome last year, 38-21. The Orange have not had a winning season since 2018 and finished just 1-10 a season ago.
Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze doesn’t buy into his Flames being the team that is expected to win this game against the ACC program though.
“That’s rat poison,” he said on Monday when asked about his team being favored against Syracuse. “I don’t know. I don’t have a comment on us being favored, I don’t feel like that. I just don’t see it that way.”
Syracuse is a Power Five team and has nearly a decade of recruiting in the ACC where they won 10 games under current head coach Dino Babers just a few years ago and were ranked as high as No. 12 in the country. They have depth and talent across the board, and have recruited at a much higher level than Liberty has, as the Flames are the newest members of the FBS level.
“It’s a Power Five school that has Power Five players,” said Freeze. “This idea that because we beat them last year that we should go up there and that should be the expectation from everybody, that’s not the way it works when you are playing these teams that have good coaches and good players at their place on a short week. It’s a difficult task.”
Ever since the calendar turned to 2021, Freeze has been preaching to his team and the media whenever he gets the chance that the 2020 season is over. It’s time to flip the script and move on to 2021 and what this team can accomplish. All the success from the best season in program history doesn’t carry over to this year. Everyone starts the season on equal footing. He hopes his team has believed his message for the past several months.
“I hope I don’t have to say that anymore,” he said. “I’ve been pretty clear. If our team doesn’t get that now after being with me this long that every week you’ve got to prove yourself and you’ve got to prepare. There is nothing that is guaranteed, especially when you are playing a team who’s roster is better than yours top to bottom. That’s not a slight on our kids and that doesn’t mean we can’t win a football game, but if I have to worry about this week our kids thinking because we beat somebody last year that you’re going to automatically get some brownie points for doing that last year, then we are probably not going to win very many games.”
The Orange will enter Friday night’s game as a confident football team. They scored 62 points against Albany, an FCS opponent yes, but the Syracuse offense has been hurting for a breakout performance for some time. Coach Babers and his team have two wins through its first three games, and they will be looking for some revenge against the Flames. Syracuse has explosive playmakers in running back Sean Tucker and wide receiver Taj Harris.
One thing that will be different in the Carrier Dome this year compared to when Liberty went to Syracuse and came away with a win last year, is there will be fans in attendance. Due to the COVID pandemic, no fans were permitted during last year’s game. That won’t be the case Friday night and the Flames are preparing for what they could face.
“We don’t take anything for granted,” said Freeze. “We will prepare like we did for an away game at Troy with some crowd noise, but really that is all that should be different to us. It might be a little bit louder. We don’t expect to have people cheering for us, we get that, but that has nothing to do with our execution of our game plan or our effort. That is the only thing that I’m concerned about. We will prepare a little bit for some crowd noise, but it’s more about execution and the physical play.”
For the first time this season, Liberty will have a chance to make a splash on the national stage. Yes, the Flames are favored, but this is still an ACC team playing on their home field. People will be watching to see if this Liberty team is for real and they will be wanting to see what Malik Willis can do against a Power Five defense. Friday night on the ACC Network with only a couple other college football games on, Liberty has a chance to get on the national stage once again.
“it is a great opportunity,” Freeze said of the game against Syracuse. “I’m sure they’re not happy that we were able to beat them at their place last year. So, I’m sure we will get their best attention. They are a heck of a football team. Their roster is probably better than ours. We’re going to put a good plan together and obviously hope to play well Friday night on TV up in Syracuse.”
