The bye week is here for the Liberty Flames and it comes at a great time for the 7-3 Flames. With no game on the docket this weekend, let’s take this opportunity to press the pause button and evaluate where things stand for Liberty through the first 10 games of the 2021 season.
OLINE PLAY HAS BEEN DISAPPOINTING
Coming into the season, Liberty’s offensive line was expected to be one of the team’s strengths. The Flames returned all five starters including several top reserves from a unit that helped pave the way for a top 10 national rushing offense and kept quarterback Malik Willis clean.
That has not been the case this season as the offensive line has been a disappointment for the Flames and unable to maintain a level of consistency. Through 10 games this season, Liberty has been sacked 38 times with total offense at 446.6 yards per game and rushing for 195.7 yards per game. Last year, in 11 games, the Flames were sacked 22 times while rushing for 252.4 yards per game with total offense at 482.7 yards per game.
In addition to the stats, Willis has frequently had to leave the pocket before he had time to go through his progressions and try to make a play with his feet. It has led to some explosive plays for the dynamic athlete, but it has also led to some mistakes where he took a sack when he didn’t have to and also times where he forced a pass that led to an interception.
SLOW START ON ROAD
The Flames have had a difficult time getting off to a strong start on the road, particularly on offense. Liberty has been outscored 27-7 in the first quarter in the team’s six road games. Compare that to the four home games to this point of the season where Liberty is outscoring opponents 63-6 in first quarters.
Sure, the Flames have faced tougher competition on the road than at home, but a veteran team like this shouldn’t be consistently finding it difficult to get off to a strong start. Last year, and even early this season, Liberty was very successful in getting off to a strong start and scoring on its first drive and playing from ahead for most of the game, even on the road. That hasn’t been the case this season and is a big reason for why the team has lost the three games it has.
The good news is that Liberty doesn’t have any more road games this season. Hopefully the team is able to get off to a strong start in the first quarter of the next two games at home against Louisiana and Army, and then hopefully the same thing carries over into the bowl game.
RUNNING BACKS HAVE BEEN INCONSISTENT
Liberty has a talented trio of running backs in Joshua Mack, TJ Green, and Shedro Louis. All three present their own unique skills and abilities and each has shown flashes of brilliance at times throughout the season. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been very consistent and it has been rare when more than one of them has had a strong game in the same contest.
Last week at Ole Miss was the best combined gamed from the running backs with both Shedro Louis and Joshua Mack having great games on the ground. In the next two games and into the bowl game, Liberty will need to have its running backs to step up if the Flames want to have the success it hopes to in closing out the season. We know that all three backs have the capability to rush for 100+ yards in a game, hopefully they can put it all together to close out the year on a high note.
COMPETED WITH EVERY TEAM
One thing Freeze has preached since he was hired at Liberty, is that his goal for the Flames each and every season, especially as an Independent, is for his team to compete to become bowl eligible each year and be competitive in every game regardless of opponent.
Freeze and Liberty has become bowl eligible in all three of his seasons as head coach, the first three years the program has been a full FBS member. With the exception of a couple games during his first season at Liberty in 2019, the Flames have competed with every team on the schedule. Over the past two seasons, Liberty is 17-4 with three of those losses coming by a combined seven points. Those three games were all decided on the final play of the game. The only loss that came by more than three points, was last week’s loss at No. 15 Ole Miss. After falling behind 24-0 in the first half, Liberty bounced back in the second half and made that game competitive. Also, three of those losses were to Power Five opponents, falling to NC State, Syracuse, and Ole Miss.
UP NEXT
Following the bye, Liberty has two of its biggest home games in school history as No. 24 Louisiana (8-1) and Army (5-3) come to Lynchburg. The Flames will host the Ragin’ Cajuns on Nov. 20 in a game that is scheduled to air on ESPNU with kickoff at 4 p.m. Liberty and the Black Knights will play on Nov. 27 with kickoff time and television details to be announced later.
