LIBERTY LOOKING FOR REVENGE AGAINST NMSU

If you are a Liberty fan, you can remember last year’s regular season finale when the Flames took on New Mexico State at Williams Stadium. Just hours before kickoff, while the team was loading onto the bus to head over to the stadium, news of head coach Hugh Freeze likely headed to Auburn broke. The team came out flat and the Aggies took advantage, rolling to a 49-14 win.

“We want to show who we really are,” said Liberty CB Kobe Singleton. “I think last year was tough playing that game.This year we’re really going to set that standard of being able to bounce back from losses. That’s what makes great teams great.”

FLAMES HOPING FOR IMPROVEMENT IN RUN DEFENSE

One area where Liberty struggled in week one was on defense against the run. The Flames gave up 191 rushing yards to Bowling Green at 6.2 yards per carry. Going up against a New Mexico State team this week that is averaging 240 rushing yards per game and will certainly test that Liberty run defense.

“I think the thing we noticed from the game is that we play hard, but sometimes we didn’t do the things that they are supposed to do on the play calls,” Chadwell said of his defense. “What I mean by that is in the emotion of the game or in the moment of the game, just lost their coaching on those. We harped a lot on that yesterday as far as being able to use the emotion that we have but we have to be detailed. We can’t give up the yardage we did in the run game like that. Our guys know that. It’s guys doing our job and not trying to do too much. We had too many guys trying to be the player of the week instead of just doing our job.”

JACK TUCKER EMERGING ON THE OL

Texas Tech transfer offensive lineman Jack Tucker is part of Liberty’s second team at offensive line. He got some playing time in the second half of the season opener and he impressed his teammates and coaches with his play. As the season continues to progress, expect Tucker to see his snaps increase, particularly if he keeps playing at a high level.

“We knew when we brought him in that he was going to be a developmental guy, a guy that we thought once he got stronger and did some of the things that he could be good for us,” Chadwell said of Tucker. “It was good to see him come in when we had an injury issue. He came in, I think he played 13, 14 snaps, he graded out well, he was actually one of our mentions for the week. If he continues to improve, continues to believe in himself each week he will have a role and he will play. I think you will eventually see us have a rotation there among our tackles just to keep them guys fresh and to continue to develop them in games.”

CUSA OPENER

On Saturday, Liberty will make its Conference USA debut as the Flames kick off league play against the Aggies. This comes on the heels of five years where Liberty played as an FBS Independent. The Flames have not been in a conference since the 2017 season. The Flames were voted second in the CUSA preseason coaches’ poll and will aim to earn a spot in the 2023 CUSA championship game which will be held on Dec. 1. Liberty is 9-1 all-time against teams who were members of CUSA at the time of meeting.

“This is the first conference game for a lot of our guys that have never been a part of that conference,” said Chadwell. “We’ve obviously got guys that have been a part of a conference at other places but maybe haven’t played much. That’s more of our focus is just a conference opener. Trying to get 1-0 and the importance of climbing the ladder in your conference. Your 8 conference games and the importance of those and what those mean and how each step is vitally important. You can’t get to the top without taking that first one, that’s been our message.”

INJURY REPORT

Kendy Charles missed Liberty’s season opener due to an injury he suffered on Monday prior to the Bowling Green game. It sounds like he is unlikely to play this week against New Mexico State. He was not at practice for the open periods available to media on Tuesday.

“He’s week to week,” Chadwell said following the Bowling Green game. “He’s got a lower body injury. It’s a week to week thing. We’re hoping that it heals properly. He will be back. Hopefully sooner rather than later but we’re going to take the cautious road. I”m not anticipating next week but we will see how his recovery comes. He will be back sooner rather than later.”

True freshman defensive end Larry Jones also missed the Bowling Green game due to being in concussion protocol, but he is expected to return to the field on Saturday against the Aggies.