HOSTING P5 BECOMING RARE
Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech will be just the second time a true Power Five team from a Power Five conference has played at Williams Stadium. In 2019, the first game for Hugh Freeze as Liberty’s head coach, the Flames hosted a top 25 Syracuse team. That ended in a 24-0 Liberty loss.
The last game played at Williams Stadium just a few weeks ago, the Flames hosted BYU, a team looked at as P5 and one moving to the Big 12 Conference next season, but never before has Liberty hosted a team like Virginia Tech. An in-state, traditionally strong program from just down the road.
“It will be fun,” Coach Freeze said of the atmosphere. “I know we need our crowd there. We’ve been undefeated at home this year, I would like to keep that streak up. We need all 25,000 people here and make it very difficult for them to play in and give us a little extra juice at this point in the season. Excited to see our students stay around and obviously our normal fans to come and let’s make it a very exciting place this Saturday at noon.”
With the students getting out of class on Friday for Thanksgiving break, student attendance is expected to be lower than normal. The Liberty administration has done everything in their power to try to keep as many students on campus as possible and several thousand are expected to be in attendance. Liberty has sold tickets on each side of the student section to paying fans due to the expected lower turnout from the students. The berm is also close to being sold out.
“I think it’s very significant and I think it’s becoming quickly obsolete, it appears in a lot of ways,” Freeze said of getting a P5 team to play at a G5. “Congratulations to Ian, Mickey, and those guys. I’m not sure exactly how it came about. I don’t know if it was a 2 for 1, but I think it’s great. I think it’s awesome. I think it’s good for our town, our city, our fans, our University to have that type of excitement. Kudos to Ian and those guys for being able to pull it off.”
BIG WEEKEND FOR RECRUITING
Having an in-state Power Five program visit Williams Stadium in Lynchburg will also be a big draw for recruits visiting campus. The Flames are expected to have a nice showing of recruits at the game, including a few official visitors. Two commits, Eliyt Nairne and Cal Grubbs, are both expected to be among the visitors.
“I’m expecting a lot of guys,” Freeze said of recruits this weekend. “We have a full staff right after this, I’ll get caught up on exactly who all is expected to be here, but I would think it would be a really good recruiting weekend. I know we have a few official visits. Obviously, you use every win in recruiting, but should we be on some Virginia kids, you probably use a win against Virginia Tech it certainly is good ammo to have if you can pull it off. They are all big for recruiting, but this one obviously could mean something more to a certain clientele.”
INJURY REPORT
LB Mike Smith, Jr. got injured in the second half of the Arkansas game, was a game time decision at UConn before being a late scratch. The Flames are hopeful to have him back this week for Virginia Tech. This will be critical as fellow starting linebacker Ahmad Walker will miss the first half of Saturday’s game after being ejected in the second half of the UConn game due to targeting.
Quinton Reese was injured during warmups prior to the game Saturday in Connecticut, forcing him to miss the game. He, like Smith, was back at practice on Tuesday with a non-contact jersey.
“Day to day. Hopefully, Mike said he felt better today, Quinton I just saw him as I was walking over here,” Freeze said on Monday. “He will try hard to get there. His is an AC joint that he sprained in warmups. It would be helpful to have both of them back for sure.”
Shedro Louis, who was not injured but missed last week’s game at UConn to be with his family for his dad’s funeral, was back with the team at practice this week and is expected to play.
The Flames also are close to full strength at wide receiver as Caleb Snead, CJ Yarbrough, and Jaivian Lofton were all back in action last week at UConn.
Those who remain out with long-term injuries include RB Dae Dae Hunter, LB Kaci Seegars, OL Jacob Bodden, WR Eddie Ogle, TE Brayden Monday, and DL Marquise Brunson.
