Update: At halftime, Liberty HC Hugh Freeze on Charlie Brewer: “It’s a fracture, I heard. I got to get in to talk to the docs, but I don’t expect him back tonight.”
Update: Brewer has returned to the stadium and has his right arm in a sling.
Liberty quarterback Charlie Brewer exited the season opener with 6:12 left in the first quarter with an apparent right hand injury, sources state to ASOR. Sources also state that he has been transported to a nearby hospital for further testing.
Brewer was 3 for 3 passing for 18 yards and had 4 carries for 13 yards in the first quarter. There was no score when he exited the game. Johnathan Bennett entered the game in relief of Brewer.
Brewer was making his first appearance for the Flames after transferring in from Utah prior to the spring semester. He was named Liberty’s starting quarterback towards the end of training camp. Brewer struggled with concussions late in his career at Baylor before transferring to Utah for the 2021 season.
The 6’1″, 208 pound Brewer started 39 games for Baylor from 2017-2020, helping the Bears to the Big 12 championship game in 2019. He began his Baylor career under head coach Matt Rhule who is now the head coach of the Carolina Panthers. Brewer ranks second on Baylor’s career list for passing yards (9,700) and passing touchdowns (65). He then transferred to Utah prior to the 2021 season and won the starting job before being benched three games into the season, at which point he entered the portal.
Having never redshirted and the extra year of eligibility due to COVID, Brewer was able to treat the 2021 season as his redshirt year, and he will utilize the COVID year during the 2022 campaign.
Brewer beat out three other quarterbacks he was battling with during the spring and into the early part of camp. Johnathan Bennett has been in the program the longest and Kaidon Salter and Nate Hampton are both very talented redshirt-freshmen.
Liberty has been tasked since the end of the 2021 season with replacing record-setting quarterback Malik Willis, the former star and two-year starter. Willis was drafted in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans. Brewer will be first up in attempting to lead Liberty in the post-Malik Willis era.
