Liberty (5-1) plays host to Gardner-Webb (2-4) on Saturday afternoon at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia. The Flames’ will be looking to pick up its sixth win of the season and become bowl eligible for a fourth straight season, entertaining the Runnin’ Bulldogs on homecoming.
Saturday will mark the 25th all-time meeting in the head to head series that Liberty leads, 14-9-1. The Flames are 10-1 in their last 11 meetings with the Runnin’ Bulldogs. Following Saturday’s game, Gardner-Webb will be the team that Liberty has most faced in the football program’s history.
Of course, the two have not met since Liberty left the Big South and FCS to join the FBS ranks for the 2018 season. Since joining the FBS, Liberty is 7-0 against FCS opponents, winning by an average score of 50.7-22.4.
GWU may be an FCS opponent and have a losing record, but they have Liberty’s attention. The Runnin’ Bulldogs have already faced two FBS opponents, falling to Coastal Carolina by a score of 31-27 and losing at Marshall, 28-7.
“I honestly believe that this team we are getting ready to play is as good, if not better, in their totality than last week’s opponent,” Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze said of Gardner-Webb. “If you watch their game against Coastal and against Marshall, it’s concerning.”
Tre Lamb is in his third season as head coach at Gardner-Webb, leading them to a 2-2 record in the shortened 2021 spring season and a 4-7 mark last season. He is just 33 years old and has spent his time as a quarterback coach at Tennessee Tech and Mercer before spending two seasons as offensive coordinator back at Tennessee Tech before making the move to Boiling Springs.
“I’m impressed, I don’t know Coach Lamb personally, but impressed with the way his kids play,” said Freeze. “Really impressed with his offensive scheme. Look, he does a lot of things. You are looking at pole cats, trick plays. Watched his games against the Group of Five opponents like Marshall and Coastal and there’s a lot of stuff going on with him trying to give his kids a chance to win a football game that would have significance for them.”
Bailey Fisher is the reigning Big South Offensive Player of the Week after a big performance in last week’s game against Robert Morris, a 48-0 Gardner-Webb win. Fisher, playing in just three quarters, completed 20 of 24 passes for 243 yards and 3 touchdowns. He added 16 yards on the ground and another touchdown. Fisher is a veteran, having thrown for over 8,000 yards during his career. This season, he has completed 103 of 163 passes for 1,219 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. Fisher also has five rushing touchdowns on the season.
Seven different players have had at least 11 carries this season for Gardner-Webb, including Fisher who leads the team with 47 rushing attempts. There are also seven different ball carriers who have scored a rushing touchdown on the season.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs could begin to focus the bulk of their running back work to Narii Gaither moving forward. Gaither, who is an FCS All-American candidate and preseason Big South Offensive Player of the Year, got injured in the game at Coastal Carolina which forced the experienced back to miss a couple of games. Gaither, who entered the season with over 2,000 all-purpose yards and nearly 1,500 rushing yards in his first 26 career games played, was back on the field last week against Robert Morris. In his return, Gaither rushed 11 times for 106 yards.
TJ Luther leads the team with 464 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns on his 21 receptions. Cutrell Haywood leads the team with 32 receptions to go along with 277 yards and 2 scores. Karim Page, Deland Thomas, and Donovan Jones are other threats in the receiving game.
William McRainey leads the Runnin’ Bulldogs with 54 tackles as well as his 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sack, and interception. Ty French and Janathian Turner have proven to be able to cause havoc on opposing team’s backfields with their pressure. They have combined for 12 TFLs and 8 sacks so far this season.
“There are two really good defensive linemen in 1 (Turner) and 47 (French),” Freeze stated. “We wanted 47. 1 is really, really good, big, strong, active in the secondary. Really well coached. Very different than last week’s, but man these guys know what they’re doing, all 11 are on the same page. They are in the right spots. Their front is one of the strengths of their team on the defensive side.”
PREDICTION
Liberty 40, Gardner-Webb 14
Line: Liberty -23.5
Picks results this year:
Straight-up: 6-0
ATS: 4-2
