CHIP ON THE SHOULDER

Liberty suffered its first loss in conference play as a member of CUSA last week at Kennesaw State. It also ended a streak of 17 straight regular season wins, the longest in the country.

While very few expected that loss to come against the previously winless Owls, the way the Flames have been playing throughout the season, a loss didn’t come as a complete shock to many. Liberty has been inconsistent throughout the season and has failed to play a complete game. It finally bit them last week.

Now, the biggest question is how the team responds.

“The easier thing is going to be to give up right now,” said Liberty tight end and team captain Bentley Hanshaw. “Our expectations of this grand season, to let that go, that’s the natural thing to do. I think what a man would do and what a team like the team that we want to be would do is continue to press forward and strike the stone.”

That loss certainly puts a damper on the College Football Playoff discussion and also stops a chance at back-to-back undefeated regular seasons, but the Flames still control their destiny for a CUSA title.

“We haven’t played like we had a chip on our shoulders,” Hanshaw continued. “Now, I think we have a chip on our shoulder.”

DEALING WITH A SETBACK

This week is the first time the Flames have had to prepare for another opponent while coming off a loss under this coaching staff. Obviously, the only other loss was against Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl, but then there wasn’t another game to prepare for.

Additionally, the Flames are also coming off its first CUSA setback after winning its first 11 conference games as a league member – which was something no CUSA team had ever accomplished previously. Wednesday night’s contest against Jacksonville State, who is 3-0 in league play, will mark the first time since Nov. 19, 2015 against Coastal Carolina that Liberty hosts a conference game where the Flames enter with a worse league record than its opponent.

The Flames have also been listed as a slight underdog in some sportsbooks, depending on where you look. This week’s game against Jax State will clearly be a different situation than we have seen this Liberty football team deal with in a long time.

MIDWEEK SUCCESS

As we all know, CUSA switched to a midweek football slate during the month of October beginning last year to get its teams more national exposure. Two of the CUSA newcomers from last season, Jax State and Liberty, have had tremendous success in the midweek contests during that span.

The Flames are 5-1 in midweek contests over the last two years, with the only loss coming last week to Kennesaw State. The Gamecocks are 6-1 in midweek action with their only loss coming to Liberty last year.

UNIFORM REPORT

This week against Jax State, Liberty will wear blue helmets with red jerseys and red pants. The Flames are 2-0 in this uniform combo since moving to the FBS, wearing it in wins against New Mexico State in the 2023 CUSA Championship Game and Old Dominion in 2021 Week 3.

Earlier this season, the Flames wore all navy against Campbell, the new light blue jerseys and pants with navy helmets at New Mexico State, all red against UTEP, light blue jerseys with white pants and white helmets against East Carolina, red jerseys with white pants and white helmets featuring the Sparky logo against FIU, and against Kennesaw last week, the Flames wore blue helmets and pants with white jerseys.

INJURY REPORT

With close to no media access this week, including no weekly press conference from Jamey Chadwell, it has been difficult to get a good read on the team’s injuries. Here’s an update on Liberty’s current injury situation, based on what we know:

  • WR Reese Smith did not play last week at Kennesaw State. He suffered an injury against FIU three weeks ago, and Chadwell gave Smith a 2-4 week timeline, so there is a chance he could play against the Gamecocks.
  • WR Treon Sibley left the Kennesaw game with an injury. Chadwell said it was a hamstring and his timetable for return is unknown.
  • DT Jay Hardy was injured in the first quarter at New Mexico State. He did finally return to action last week at Kennesaw State, but went down with another injury early in the game against the Owls. Chadwell said it was a high ankle injury right after the game and he will likely miss around 3-5 weeks, so don’t expect to see Hardy this week.
  • S Christian Bodnar did not make the trip to Kennesaw State with an illness. There has been no word on how he is recovering.