QUESTIONS REMAIN AT KICKER

As late as last week, Liberty continues to have questions at the kicker position. Will Nick Brown win the job again? What about North Greenville transfer Colin Karhu? We might not have an answer until we see who trots out there Saturday night.

“I don’t know if somebody’s completely taken it yet,” Chadwell said last week about the kicker spot. “I do think we’ve made some progress. I think all the kickers have had moments where they did some really good stuff and you feel like, hey, there’s some confidence there. I think there’s sometimes you wish they’d make the one that you really need to make.”

Brown has been the primary kicker for the team the last couple of years. In 2023, he made 5 of his 10 field goal attempts with a long of 41 while connecting on 65 of his 66 extra points. In 3 years at North Greenville, Karhu made 32 of 41 field goals including 14 of 18 in 2023 with a long of 54. He also made all 25 of his extra points last season.

“I think we’re close on that,” Chadwell said on Tuesday. “I think we know, as of right now what we’re leaning toward. We want to have a couple more opportunities just to finalize the direction we want to go from there, but it’s been a spirited competition. There’s been some good things there. There’s been some the last couple, two, three days, we’ve had some great consistency. It’s what we’re looking for. We’re not expecting them to make all of them, but just consistency when we go out there. We believe who wins that job, who we name as the starter, we have confidence they can go out there and do what they need to do.”

CJ BAZILE READY TO STEP INTO THE SPOTLIGHT

In 2023, Liberty defensive end/Joker CJ Bazile finished with 49 tackles, including 10.5 tackles for loss. The latter number led the Flames and was good enough for fifth in CUSA. He also had three sacks and 11 quarterback hurries. The 6’1″ 250-pound junior was an All-CUSA Honorable mention at the end of the campaign.

However, much more is expected out of the junior who is stepping into more of a leadership role. He was named Preseason CUSA Defensive Player of the Year, something that came as a little bit of a surprise.

“That was a little surprising, honestly, not because we didn’t think he was that good of a player, but I didn’t realize everybody else recognized him,” said Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell.

Bazile felt the same way.

“It was a little surprising. I don’t really look into the awards and such, so it caught me by surprise, but its preseason, can’t get too caught up into those things. Have to go chase it.”

The Flames are hopeful and confident that Bazile can step into that spotlight and live up to some of the preseason hype surrounding him.

“One thing about CJ that I think the team will tell you and all the coaches will tell you, he goes hard all the time,” said Chadwell. “There’s no relaxing in him. If you are supposed to run through the line, he’s going to run through the line, and run through the next line, and run through the next line. He’s one of those guys that just loves to keep going, he loves to keep playing. That mindset that he has, I think helps him because he is relentless in what he pursues. He plays extremely hard”

REESE SMITH WORKING BACK TOWARDS GAME SHAPE

If you were at Liberty’s Fan Fest scrimmage a couple weeks ago, you might have been surprised to see No. 6 in the red involved in so many plays. The former West Virginia transfer Reese Smith, joined the Flames prior to the 2023 season, but a knee injury derailed his hopes of reaching the field for Liberty last season.

His injury caused him to miss this past spring and he was a slow go to begin training camp a month ago. But, during camp, he was able to return to the field and now he is itching to get back on the field.

“Reese is somebody that receivers and the coaches trust,” Chadwell said last week. “He’s gonna be where he needs to be. I think the challenge for Reese is, he’s healthy, but it’s a mental thing. Anytime you get injured, there’s that mental thing. I think anytime that you’re working through an injury, you’re always in the mind thinking, is it going to happen again? It’s getting over that mental block. He’s still working through that.”

Chadwell says Smith is 100% healthy, it’s just getting back into game shape and him having confidence in his knee once again. He has been practicing with a brace on his leg, something that he won’t have to wear all season. Smith is someone who can compete to be one of the Flames’ top targets on the field when healthy.

INJURY REPORT

We will provide an updated injury report in this space each and every week during the season. The information is a little unknown entering the season, but here is what we do know.

  • JP Flores, a transfer from Louisville who had cemented himself as a starter at left guard for the Flames during camp, was on crutches on the sidelines of Tuesday’s practice with a brace on his right knee. With him not on the practice field, Aaron Fenimore was working with the first team offensive line at center while normal starting center Jordan White had shifted to Flores’ spot at right guard. It certainly appears this will be the way the Flames take the field to begin the season on Saturday against Campbell.
  • WR Victor Jones, the transfer from Nebraska, missed last season due to a knee injury. He had a setback during the offseason and has not been practicing. He is not expected to be available at least for the early part of the season and could be out longer and perhaps miss a good chunk, if not all, of the season.
  • CB Joshua Wiggins missed a good chunk of training camp and had a boot on his right foot. He was not in pads for Tuesday’s practice.
  • CB Elijah Hopkins had offseason shoulder surgery and has been limited in practice throughout much of camp.
  • CB Alex Oliver has been banged up during camp and missed some time.
  • The same can be said for DE Grey Carroll. He’s been hampered by injury during camp but has been on the field most of the time we have been to practice.
  • S Quinton Reese missed some time during camp, but it is expected that he should be ready to go.
  • WR Darius Copeland, who everyone was raving about early in camp, got injured during the middle of camp, causing him to miss some time. He was back on the practice field Tuesday with no apparent limitations.