PENALTIES, PENALTIES, PENALTIES

Liberty has been the most penalized team in the country through the first two games. The Flames have been whistled for 22 flags and 249 yards. That’s nearly a season’s worth of penalties already in just two weeks. Several of those penalties were of the personal foul variety for unsportsmanlike conduct. Coach Chadwell has made it a point of emphasis to get that cleared up moving forward.

“We’ve moved people down the depth chart because of it,” he said. “I’ve suspended somebody because of it. So, we’re doing a part there. I told our guys that, I can run you, but I’m gonna take things that you truly care about. It’s not like guys are trying to go out and do this. In the heat of the moment, we’re not responding in a good way. Our Unity Council really challenged them on that by position. We’ve gotta be able to control our emotions.”

GIVE COOLEY THE BALL

In last week’s game against New Mexico State, Liberty running back Quinton Cooley only had three first half carries. He’s the best running back in Conference USA and one of the best in the country.

Part of him not getting a ton of touches had to do with the way the game progressed. The Flames were just 1 of 11 on third downs and were unable to have any long, sustaining drives for much of the game. Still, Chadwell thinks they need to focus on ensuring Cooley touches the ball early and often.

“As you go back and look at it, we obviously didn’t let Cooley touch the ball enough early on, and so that’s one of the things as a coach you go back,” said Chadwell. “I think he had three carries in the first half, which is just not wise on our part. We gotta make sure the guys that need to get the ball are getting the ball and maybe sticking to that a little bit more when things aren’t going our way a little bit.”

It’s also a long season, so it is understandable the coaching staff would want to keep his legs fresh for the duration of the year, as well as for the fourth quarter of games. But there has to be a happy medium with ensuring your top players get the needed touches.

UNIFORM REPORT

After wearing all blue in the season opener against Campbell, the new light blue jerseys and pants with navy blue helmets last week at New Mexico State, the Flames will be wearing all red this week against UTEP.

INJURY REPORT

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

  • DT Jay Hardy was injured in the first quarter at New Mexico State. Coach Chadwell says 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.
  • WR Juju Gray is week to week and questionable to play this week. He did not play last week at New Mexico State.
  • LG JP Flores is expected to miss several weeks with a leg injury.
  • WR Victor Jones continues to be out.

“Jay, we’re fortunate. Jay’s not going to require surgery,” Chadwell said of his defensive lineman. “We’re a little upset, there was a high low there on that play. It didn’t get called. He’s obviously going to miss time. He’ll probably be out anywhere from 4-6 weeks, hopefully getting back in that time frame somewhere there, but he will avoid surgery, which is a good thing for him.”

“Juju has a has a lower leg injury, and so he’s probably like a week to week, maybe there’s a chance this week,” said Chadwell of Gray. “It just depends on how he recovers. We’re not counting on it, by any means, but hopefully, from a recovery standpoint, hopefully we’ll get him back sooner rather than later.”