VIRGINIA BEST OPPONENT FLAMES HAVE FACED

Virginia is the fourth Power Five opponent Liberty has faced this season, if you count BYU, and Flames’ head coach Hugh Freeze says they are the best opponent Liberty has faced this season.

“They are the most solid opponent, top to bottom,” said Freeze. “BYU was very talented. They had some injuries that maybe cost them some of their depth. This is the first one we’ve played, that quarterback-wise, is like they are. He is pretty special. I think it’s our toughest task of the year.”

He’s talking about Virginia quarterback Bryce Perkins, obviously. Perkins is 227-of-350 passing for 2,439 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. He also leads the team in rushing with 493 yards and 8 touchdowns. He will be a huge challenge for the Flames’ defense.

The Cavaliers have also spent some time in the top 25 this season after opening the year at 4-0. They then dropped three out of four games before responding with two straight wins as they come into Saturday’s game at 7-3. The Cavaliers will play next week against Virginia Tech with a spot in the ACC Championship Game on the line.

WILLIS TO PLAY PERKINS IN PRACTICE

Liberty has an advantage that many teams don’t as the Flames can utilize Auburn transfer quarterback Malik Willis as the scout team quarterback this week to mimic what Bryce Perkins will be Saturday.

“It’s definitely very helpful to have an athlete like Malik as the scout team quarterback,” Liberty linebacker Brandon Tillmon said. “He can run, he can throw. It will be similar to what we’re going to see on Saturday. It’s an advantage to have an athlete like him back there.”

Willis is sitting out this season after his waiver to be immediately eligible to play following his transfer from Auburn this summer was denied by the NCAA.

FLAMES TO BE TESTED AGAIN IN KICK RETURN

Liberty will be tested once again Saturday in kick return defense as the Cavaliers and Joe Reed feature one of the best kick return units in the nation.

“I almost get tired of (Special Teams Coordinator) Tanner Burns coming to me and saying, ‘Hey, it’s another top returner,'” Freeze joked. “I say, ‘how many top returners are there? Every week there’s a different one that you’re telling me about.’ But no question, they’re really well coached in it, but Tanner has done a great job of us being able to find ways to defend that. (I’m) trusting he will have a great play for (Reed) also.”

Reed has 2,989 career kick return yards and is averaging 29.0 yards per kick return during his career. He is the only player in FBS history to have 2,700+ career kick return yards. Reed returned a kick for touchdown against the Flames last season in the Cavaliers’ win.

FREEZE ABLE TO UTILIZE TAPE FROM LAST YEAR’S GAME

Liberty has had very few opponents this season that the team played last year. In the team’s first 10 games, only three were against teams played last year. This week the Flames will play a 4th, and Hugh Freeze has taken full advantage of being able to watch last year’s game film.

“I watched it last Friday,” Freeze said of the Liberty-Virginia game from a season ago. “The coaches were on the road recruiting, and I had all day to watch a lot of tape. I watched last year’s game, it was very competitive for the first half. We turned the ball over a bunch, you can’t do that. I think they’re better this year defensively than they were last year. They do a few different things, mix it up from odd to even quite a bit more than they did last year. Parts of (last year’s game) gave me confidence, parts of it made me cringe, but I don’t think Buckshot is the same that he was last year at this point this year. Hopefully he will continue his play in taking care of the ball.”

SCRUGGS’ IMPACT WILL BE VITAL THIS WEEK

Liberty’s Javon Scruggs has quickly become one of the leaders of the defense, particularly in the secondary. He returned to the lineup at BYU after missing the UMass game from a concussion he suffered against Rutgers. Against BYU, he had one of his best games to date as he tied for the team lead with 6 tackles, while leading the team with 2.5 tackles for loss, a pass breakup, and a quarterback hurry. His play this week against Virginia quarterback Bryce Perkins will be critical.

“We moved him to nickel (against BYU),” said Freeze. “He was more physical. We needed a bigger body there for that game. We need him this week to play a couple different positions. We haven’t quite decided exactly where we’re settled on that yet. He’s a competitor, and he’s really getting better.”