HEAD COACH MATCHUP

Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell and Kennesaw State head coach Brian Bohannon were the toast of the Big South Conference at certain times. Chadwell saw considerable success while the head coach at Charleston Southern, while Bohannon and the Owls were the team to beat most seasons before making the transition to the FBS.

The two have squared off twice previously, coming when Chadwell was head coach at Charleston Southern. Chadwell’s Buccaneers defeated Bohannon’s Owls 28-14 in 2015 at Kennesaw and 28-7 in 2016 in Charleston.

The two head coaches are both three-time Big South Coaches of the Year. Chadwell won the award in 2013, 2015, and 2016 while Bohannon won it in 2017, 2018, and 2021.

SUCCESS THROUGH 20 GAMES

It’s no secret that Chadwell has had success early in his tenure at Liberty. He is 18-1 through his first 19 games at the helm of the Flames. Under Chadwell, Liberty currently has the longest active regular season winning streak in the country at 17 games.

Under Chadwell, Liberty has equaled the program record of six straight road victories. Chadwell owns a 49-7 record as a head coach dating back to the start of the 2020 season.

Wednesday’s game at Kennesaw State will be his 20th game coaching Liberty. He has already set the program mark for most wins in 20 games as head coach. Hugh Freeze previously owned the Flames’ top record through 20 games with a 15-5 mark.

ONE WIN FROM BOWL ELIGIBILITY

At 5-0 on the season, Liberty is just one win away from bowl eligibility. It would mark a sixth consecutive year being bowl eligible and continue the streak of bowl eligibility for the Flames since its first year being a full FBS member.

With the success the team has had in recent years, bowl eligibility has almost become a foregone conclusion, but it’s something the coaching staff wants to acknowledge as a checkpoint on the way to bigger goals.

“We’ve got a checkpoint coming up,” Chadwell said. “I think our guys understand that. But that’s not necessarily something that we’ll highlight, so to speak, we can talk about it. That’s a checkpoint. A checkpoint just means it’s a stopping point of something bigger.” mindset.”

UNIFORM REPORT

This week in Kennesaw, Liberty will wear blue helmets, white jerseys, and blue plants. This is the first time the Flames have worn this combo this season and the first time it has been worn since the 2023 Fiesta Bowl loss to Oregon. Since moving to the FBS, Liberty is 2-3 in this uniform combo, wearing it in some of the biggest wins in program history including the 2022 win over Arkansas and the 2020 win at Virginia Tech. Liberty also wore this combo in 2021 at Syracuse and in 2018 at Auburn.

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, and red jerseys with white pants and white helmets featuring the Sparky logo against FIU.

INJURY REPORT

Here’s an update on Liberty’s current injury situation:

  • WR Reese Smith is questionable this week and could miss as much as 2-4 weeks from when he suffered his injury against FIU about two weeks ago.
  • S Brylan Green missed the FIU game with a concussion suffered against East Carolina. He’s had three weeks to recover and should be ready to go against Kennesaw.
  • DT Jay Hardy was injured in the first quarter at New Mexico State. Coach Chadwell said he is expected to miss approximately 4-6 weeks which would put him at potentially returning for the FIU or Kennesaw State game in October. He did not play against FIU but should be good to go against Kennesaw.
  • WR Juju Gray is week to week. He has missed every game since the opener, but is hopeful to return this week against Kennesaw.
  • CB Marquis Bell is out with an injury suffered at NMSU.
  • WR Darius Copeland will miss the rest of the season with a lower body injury.
  • WR Victor Jones continues to be out.

“Jay Hardy, who’s been out a while, we feel good that he has an opportunity to come back. Juju Gray, we feel that there’s a good chance that he’ll be back. We’re hoping Donte Lee, Brylan Green, guys who have been missing, we’re hoping those guys are back. Billy Lucas has been banged up from that game, hopefully we get him back healthy. “

For Reese Smith, the original thought was he injured the same knee he suffered a torn ACL and meniscus, but it ended up being the other knee. He was able to avoid a major injury, but the coaching staff wants to be careful with him.

“He did avoid a major injury,” Chadwell said. “Now it’s more of what can he do on that injured knee that he has, that he that he injured in the game. It’s something that, depending on rehab, depending on recovery and how he feels, could he potentially play this week? Maybe. If the rehab and all that continues to go well, that’s his mindset. He wants to play. I think we’re still on probably the 2-4 week type deal. Two weeks would be not till the week after, basically, or close to it. So, we’ll see where he’s at on that. We have to be smart with him, but we did avoid a major one which is big.”