UPDATE: Liberty has confirmed the report of the game being canceled and the Flames are pausing all team-related activities due to an elevated number of COVID-19 cases within the football program. The school release also states that this announcement “brings to a close Liberty’s regular-season schedule” and that Liberty will now await a possible announcement regarding a bowl game invitation later this month.
Liberty’s football game scheduled for this Saturday, Dec. 5 in Conway, South Carolina against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers has been canceled following an increase in positive COVID-19 cases among the Liberty football team, according to multiple reports and first reported by Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated.
No. 14 Coastal Carolina (9-0) has plans in place to face No. 8 BYU (9-0) on Saturday in Conway according to several media reports. College GameDay which was originally scheduled to broadcast from Coastal Carolina ahead of the game featuring the former Big South rivals remains on as scheduled but will instead feature the top 15 matchup between the two unbeatens.
This news comes on the heels of our report Wednesday that Malik Willis had tested positive for COVID-19. Liberty University athletics officials stated that the football program was dealing with COVID concerns but was still planning to face the Chanticleers. The Flames held a normal team football practice Wednesday morning.
These are the first extensive issues Liberty has had with COVID this season, with head coach Hugh Freeze continually saying the team was blessed to not have any games affected through the team’s first 10 games. According to a report by ESPN, Willis and at least 10 other Liberty players have tested positive or been quarantined as part of contact-tracing protocols and the team has been without the majority of the defensive staff this week. We can confirm that Liberty defensive coordinator Scott Symons would have been unable to coach in the game at Coastal Carolina this Saturday had the game been played.
No. 25 Liberty (9-0) and Coastal Carolina were preparing to play for the first time with both teams ranked in the Top 25, at either the FCS or FBS level as the former Big South rivals have meet on the gridiron 14 times. The Flames and Chanticleers are two of only four 9-win seasons in college football so far this season, joining Notre Dame and BYU.
Saturday’s game at Coastal Carolina was Liberty’s final scheduled regular season game.
