Football schedule finalized
The 2016 football schedule has been finalized with news leaking of a game between the Flames and FCS national runner-up Jacksonville State. The rest of Liberty’s 2016 non-conference opponents are Virginia Tech, SMU, Jacksonville, Robert Morris, and Coastal Carolina. The Flames will face the preseason #4 (Jacksonville State), #6 (Charleston Southern), and #8 (Coastal Carolina) teams next season. Expect an official announcement on the complete 2016 schedule soon.  

Fobbs to Tulane
Liberty running backs coach Jamaal Fobbs is taking the same position with Tulane in the American Athletic Conference per FootballScoop. Fobbs joined Coach Gill on staff at Liberty as running backs coach when Gill was first hired prior to the 2012 football season. He will be returning home as he is originally from New Orleans.

Flames’ split a pair
The Flames had a 2-game winning streak for the first time since 2014 after beating Coastal Carolina and Campbell. The win streak came to an end at 2 though as Liberty lost to Charleston Southern on Thursday night by 1. The Flames trailed the majority of the 1st half and went into the break down by 11, but they came storming in the 2nd half. Liberty grabbed a 1 point lead just under the 10 minute mark. There were a total of 10 lead changes in the final 10 minutes and Liberty never led by more than 2 points all night. 

Basketball commits update

  • Brock Gardner had 27 points, 17 rebounds, and 6 assists in a win Thursday night. Gardner is averaging 25 points, 12 rebounds, and nearly 4 assists per game. Tri-City Christian Academy is 8-0 on the season.
  • Signee Xzavier Barmore scored 28 points in a game this past week. He’s now averaging 21 points 5.6 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 6 steals per game.
  • Josiah Talbert has improved his numbers in each game since returning from injury. He had 19 points and 14 rebounds in a win on Tuesday night. Talbert is averaging 13 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4 blocks per game in his 3 games played this season.
  • Liberty commit Elijah Cuffee scored 32 points in a win on Wednesday. 

Football recruiting update
Hopefully you read our football recruiting update from earlier this week. We will continue to monitor the prospect board and will have another update in the next couple of weeks. The Flames did pick up a commitment this week from wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden. 

Flames in the NFL update
Rashad Jennings finished 2015 with 863 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 195 carries which is a 4.4 yards per carry average. He also had 29 receptions for 296 yards and 1 touchdown. Walt Aikens played in all 16 games for the Miami Dolphins, including starting in 3. He had 29 tackles on the season.

Women’s basketball update
The Lady Flames lost to Presbyterian, 60-42, last Saturday in Clinton. Liberty shot 27% from the field as they fell to 4-2 in conference play. They host Winthrop on Saturday. 

FlameFans thread of the week
This week’s FlameFans thread of the week is 2016 Schedule discussion.