OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES

It’s no secret that Liberty’s offense struggled during Saturday’s Spring Game, and that is something that happened frequently throughout the spring. Freeze spoke of it during his press conference following the Spring Game on Saturday.

“I thought our play offensively was atrocious pretty much, for most of the day,” he said. “I think our defense has a chance to be pretty good. We created some scoring opportunities, but got behind the chains a lot and of course have a lot of kids out right now too. We held a lot of them out.”

It is certainly a catch-22 in the spring when one unit dominates a live practice session, as the defense does have a chance to be pretty good this coming season with the amount of talent that returns and has been added to that side of the ball. The Flames are certainly a work in progress on offense, particularly at quarterback with four guys rotating into the lineup at this point.

“We just lost, what appears to be, a first round draft pick,” Freeze said of losing starting quarterback Malik Willis. “I don’t care where you’re at, you lose a first round draft pick at quarterback, there’s very few people in the country that just roll out another one, I would say there are five or less that do that on a regular basis.”

TRANSFERS MAKING THEIR MARK ON OFFENSIVE LINE

Liberty’s offensive line faced its fair share of struggles during the 2021 season, and the Flames’ coaching staff has made that position a priority when targeting transfers this past recruiting cycle. Liberty brought in three transfers to join the offensive front, and all three of them are pushing for starting spots.

Cam Reddy has already surged into the starting center spot, while tackles Naasir Watkins and Reggie Young are both firmly in the mix at either tackle spot.

“I would think that they steadily progressed and moved up the depth chart all spring,” Freeze said of Watkins and Young. “Obviously, (returning starting RT) Cooper (McCaw) had shoulder surgery so he hasn’t been with us. Brian Hannibal was having a really good spring too and he got injured, but Naasir and both Reggie I think improved not only their play, their understanding, but they put themselves in a really good position coming into camp.”

HUNTER AND SMITH SHINE IN THEIR LIBERTY DEBUTS

Hawaii transfer Dae Dae Hunter and JUCO transfer Mike Smith, Jr. each flashed on Saturday. With TJ Green and Shedro Louis each missing the spring game due to injury, Hunter got the bulk of carries at running back and he shined. Freeze has mentioned him a couple times this spring, and he should be expected to bring some playmaking ability to the offense this fall. The Flames have certainly lacked for a go to running back the past couple of seasons, as quarterback Malik Willis was the top rusher on the team.

At linebacker, Smith was expected to immediately compete for playing time and he has shown why this spring. With his size and experience, having played three years at the JUCO level due to COVID, Smith is one of the veterans of the linebacker room. He recorded an interception on Saturday while also showcasing his speed and ability to get into the backfield and disrupt plays.

SATURDAY’S FIRST AND SECOND STRING OFFENSE AND DEFENSE

Here’s a look at the way the first and second string offense and defense looked on Saturday, noting that several who will be on this list in the fall were out due to injury:

First Team Offense

16 QB Charlie Brewer
0 RB Dae Dae Hunter
30 TE Michael Bollinger
5 WR Noah Frith
8 WR Caleb Snead
6 WR Jaivian Lofton
65 LT Naasir Watkins
64 LG Jacob Bodden
60 C Cam Reddy
55 RG Brendan Schlittler
70 RT Reggie Young

First Team Defense

10 DE TreShaun Clark
91 DT Kendy Charles
5 DT Henry Chibueze
11 DE Durrell Johnson
7 LB Mike Smith, Jr.
35 LB Tyren Dupree
9 S Juawan Treadwell
1 S Javon Scruggs
6 S Rocket Rahimi
4 CB Chris Megginson
8 CB Daijahn Anthony

Second Team Offense

7 QB Kaidon Salter
23 RB Malik Caper
83 TE Austin Henderson
21 WR Treon Sibley
6 WR Jaivian Lofton
19 WR Brody Brumm
51 LT Harrison Hayes
50 LG Chase Mitchell
53 C Andrew Adair
79 RG John Kourtis
52 RT Jonathan Graham

Second Team Defense

3 DE Stephen Sings V
15 DT Dre Butler
92 DT Chris Boti
77 DE Khristian Zachary
0 LB Jerome Jolly, Jr.
57 LB Carl Poole
13 S Jaylon Jimmerson
22 S Jayden Sweeney
28 S Chance Smith
26 CB Amarian Williams
18 CB Dexter Ricks, Jr.

BIG RECRUITING WEEKEND

This past weekend was the first big weekend on the recruiting calendar for the Flames for the 2023 class. Liberty hosted over 200 recruits over the course of the weekend, the majority of them rising high school seniors. The list of recruits included several of Liberty’s top targets in this class. We will have much more on some of these top targets in the coming days.