The 2022 Liberty football year is now in the history books, and the Flames finished with a fourth straight bowl appearance but for the first time in school history came up short in a bowl game, falling to Toledo in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Liberty finished the year at 8-5, dropping four straight to end the season after beginning 8-1 and being ranked in the top 20 following wins over BYU and Arkansas.
There were many great contributors and individual performances this season and, without further ado, here are our season awards.
Offensive MVP: Dae Dae Hunter
The Hawaii transfer made a case to be team MVP in his first year with the Flames. Unfortunately, he was injured in the game at Arkansas and missed the final four games of the season. Liberty was 8-1 with Dae Dae in the lineup and 0-4 without him, that’s no fluke. He led the team in rushing with 854 yards and 8 touchdowns as he was well on his way to a 1,000 yard season if he was able to stay on the field through the end of the year. Hunter finished 3rd on the team in receptions despite only playing in the nine games with 18 catches to go along with 149 yards and a score.
Defensive MVP: Durrell Johnson
The Liberty senior earned All-American honors after putting up video game like numbers. He recorded 58 tackles with a school record 27.5 tackles for loss as well as 9 sacks, 1 interception, 4 PBUs and 3 fumble recoveries. Johnson was a menace to opposing teams, particularly in the backfield. Now, he will try to take his talents to the NFL and create havoc on Sundays.
Special Teams MVP: Aidan Alves
The senior Liberty punter transformed into a weapon for the Flames after a slow start to his career. This season, Alves averaged 41.5 yards per punt with a long of 64. 23 of his 60 punts finished inside the 20 yard line, and he had several that were downed inside the 5.
Offensive Newcomer Of The Year: X’Zauvea Gadlin
Gadlin was a huge part of the turnaround for the offensive line this season. The Tulsa transfer started all 13 games and rarely came off the field. He played at several different positions on the line, able to go in anywhere except for center.
Defensive Newcomer of the Year: Mike Smith, Jr.
The JUCO transfer continued the line of immediate impact for transfer linebackers. Smith led the team with 85 tackles and added 10 TFLs, 1 interception, 4 PBUs, and 3 forced fumbles. He was an anchor and team leader for the defense throughout the season.
Most Improved: Kendy Charles
It’s difficult to call Charles improved because it’s not like he was a slouch last season, but this year he ramped his production up to another level. The defensive tackle finished the season with 59 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and 5.5 sacks.
Rookie Of The Year: Brylan Green
As Liberty has continued to ramp up its depth across the roster, the impact true freshmen have made has subsided. Not due to a lack of talent, but just from the standpoint that they aren’t needed to make immediate impacts. Still, true freshman Brylan Green made a strong impact on the team this season. He played in all 13 games and finished with 32 tackles. He should continue to have a strong impact on the defensive secondary moving forward.
