The Liberty Flames (7-2) head to SEC country to take on the No. 15 Ole Miss Rebels (6-2) in Oxford, Mississippi. Kickoff from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is scheduled for noon EST on the SEC Network.

Liberty has only faced one other SEC program in school history, getting embarrassed at Auburn, 53-0, on Nov. 17, 2018. This is a much different Liberty team that will head into an SEC venue this time, though, behind head coach Hugh Freeze and quarterback Malik Willis.

Of course, the biggest story of this game is Coach Freeze making his return to Oxford and Ole Miss. It’s a place where he was born and raised, and also a place where he called home as he was the head coach of the Rebels for five seasons. He saw a lot of success at Ole Miss, guiding the Rebels to consecutive seasons finishing in the top 20 nationally as well as Peach and Sugar Bowl trips. Now, Freeze heads to Vaught-Hemingway as a visitor.

“The strangest thing will probably be in the visitor’s locker room and on the visitor’s sideline,” Freeze said. “I told our kids (Monday) morning in the class, I’m real excited to go back and see people. I just choose to remember I had great memories there. I appreciate the people. I was born there, I was raised there, and I will probably be buried there, it’s still home. That’s where my family still lives and so many friends there. So many have reached out and I look forward to visiting with them if I have time. Certainly it will be different, but I am so thankful, I told our guys (Monday) morning, there is no other group I’d rather walk in there with and walk out with than this group of coaches, staff, administrators, and my family. It will be different. There were a lot of great wins in that stadium that I have memories of, appreciate the people there. They are good people. I’m happy that they are winning there and competing again like I knew you could there. There will be some different feelings there, for sure.”

While he gets the spotlight this week, Freeze is not the only member of Liberty’s coaching staff making a return to Ole Miss. Co-Offensive Coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kent Austin played quarterback at Ole Miss in the early 1980s where he ranks fourth in passing yards in the school record books behind Eli Manning, Bo Wallace, and Romaro Miller. He is a member of the University of Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Austin returned to his alma mater as offensive coordinator in 2008 and 2009.

Co-Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Maurice Harris has spent a couple of stops at Ole Miss including from 2012-18 when he was tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator before coming to Lynchburg. Liberty tight ends coach Ben Aigamaua also was at Ole Miss on staff from 2012-18 before joining Freeze with the Flames. Running backs coach Bruce Johnson held several positions at Ole Miss from 2012-17 including offensive line coach and tight ends coach. Special teams coordinator Tanner Burns played for the Rebels and graduated from Ole Miss in 2012 before beginning his coaching career.

Under second year head coach Lane Kiffin, the Ole Miss Rebels started the season 3-0 before falling at No. 1 Alabama. The rebels would rebound with three additional wins before they lost at No. 18 Auburn this past Saturday, 30-21. Ole Miss is currently ranked No. 15 in both the Associated Press and Coaches Top 25 polls this week and ranked No. 16 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season.

Quarterback Matt Corral leads the way for one of the most explosive offenses in the country. Corral has completed 162 of 245 passes for 2,203 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions this season. He also leads Ole Miss in rushing with 519 yards and 10 touchdowns on 11 rushing attempts. Corral is one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy this season and is a potential first round NFL Draft pick. NFL scouts will flock to Oxford in droves this weekend to take in Corral and Liberty quarterback Malik Willis who are both projected as potential first round draft picks in the spring.

“Matt is an incredible talent,” Freeze said of Corral. “I recruited him when I was there. I love watching him. You can really get enamored with watching the tape of their offensive system, their scheme, and the way he just performs in it. He knows when to pull it down and when to go get a dirty three and it turns into a lot more for them sometimes. He knows where the ball should go. He’s playing at an extremely high level.”

Corral is fighting through a lingering ankle injury that has hampered him the past several weeks. He re-aggravated the injury last week against Auburn, leaving the game briefly before returning. Corral did not practice on Monday, but there are no indications at this point that he won’t play Saturday against Liberty.

The Rebels are dealing with numerous injuries on the offensive side of the ball. Dontario Drummond leads the team with 40 receptions for 658 yards and 6 touchdowns. He left the game early against Auburn with a hamstring injury. Fellow receiver Braylon Sanders did not play against Auburn with a hamstring injury. He has 13 receptions for 309 yards and 3 touchdowns this season. Jonathan Mingo has missed over a month due to a foot injury. Despite his absence, Mingo is fourth on the team with 15 receptions to go along with 290 yards and 3 touchdowns. On Monday, Kiffin said none of the group of three receivers were available to practice to begin the week and there is a possibility they could miss Saturday’s game.

Though Corral leads the team in rushing, Ole Miss still has capable backs. Henry Parrish, Jr., Snoop Conner, and Jerrion Ealy all are averaging over 5.2 yards per carry and over 45 yards rushing per game. The Rebels have one of the more successful rushing attacks in the country, currently ranked 3rd behind Air Force and Army with 249.9 yards rushing per game.

“It’s tough to prepare for,” Freeze said of the Ole Miss offense. “There will be an adjustment period to the speed with which they play. They play as fast as anybody in the country, when they want to. (Offensive Coordinator) Jeff Lebby has done a heck of a job, him and Lane, with their offensive system.”

One of the biggest weaknesses Ole Miss had last season was their defense, but behind defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, they have made great strides this year. It’s not always easily apparent in the stats or on the scoreboard, but the Rebels are facing SEC competition each and every week while their offense plays at a tempo that causes there to be additional possessions in most games.

“I didn’t think they played bad against Auburn, really, I didn’t,” Freeze said of their defense. “They are an SEC Defense. #7 is a handful, I think he is either 1 or 2 in SEC in tackles for loss or sacks. (KD) Hill #55 is a big time, strong nose guard that is very difficult to move. #1 and #3 are very active and athletic on the back end. #44, the transfer, I think really improved their football team. He plays so hard, great tackler, really good linebacker. On and on. They’ve got really good players. Durkin knows exactly what he’s doing. They will be well-coached. Very difficult for us to probably sustain long drives on. Got to find a way to get a few stops, for sure, and then we’ve got to try to stay on schedule. If we get behind the chains we will have a long day.”

NOTABLES

  • Liberty has not lost a game by more than three points since Nov. 23, 2019 when the Flames fell to Virginia, 55-27.
  • Liberty’s defense ranks No. 10 nationally for total defense (300.0 ypg allowed) and No. 13 for scoring defense (17.8 ppg allowed). Liberty has held six of its nine opponents this season below the 20 point mark.
  • The Flames will play back to back road games in Mississippi as the Flames are slated to kick off their 2022 slate at Southern Miss on Sept. 3, 2022.
  • Liberty is scheduled to visit an SEC opponent for three consecutive years. Following Saturday’s trip to Oxford, the Flames are slated to play at Arkansas (Nov. 5, 2022) and South Carolina (Nov. 4, 2023).
  • Ole Miss has only lost one home non-conference game since 2012 when they fell to No. 23 Cal in 2019. The last non-Power Five team to win at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was Louisiana Tech who defeated Ole Miss 27-7 in 2011.
  • Liberty redshirt senior offensive lineman Bryce Mathews will have the opportunity to play against his old team as he played in 20 games for Ole Miss from 2017-19.

QUOTABLES

Hugh Freeze on Ole Miss – “We are playing the most talented team that we have seen, and hopefully you can have a scheme that gives you somewhat of a chance to compete, but we are going to have to play our best football for sure.”

Hugh Freeze on Ole Miss – “He’s got a lot of players. He’s got bigger offensive linemen, faster receivers and tailbacks, and quarterback, we’re close. The system, we could make ours look just like theirs if it need be. They are all based in the same world, they certainly are very similar.”

DC Scott Symons on Ole Miss – “He’s tough. He can make every throw. His ability to extend plays. Their ability to run him if they need to. He’s elite as a quarterback. Their running backs, all three of their running backs are the best three we have seen this season. I think they are really talented there. All three can run. All three of them can catch the ball out of the backfield.”

Elijah James – “We get to go back in to Coach Freeze’s old house and show what he did with this new team of his. I feel like we can go in there and fight with these boys.”

Malik Willis on Ole Miss being in the top 25 – “I’m just glad we have another game to play. I’m appreciative that we have another opportunity and definitely feel real blessed that we get to play somebody in the top 25. We just go out there and have fun and just be us. That’s cool.”

DJ Stubbs – “We just want to go out there and show everybody that we can compete no matter who we’re playing. It’s a blessing knowing that we can go out there and play against the best all around the nation.”

Javon Scruggs – “I’m behind Coach Freeze 110% just like he’s behind me. If he’s going to battle, I’m going to battle too. I’m definitely ready to go into Oxford with Coach Freeze.”

Bryce Mathews – “Everything is heightened this week because when you are going against a team of this caliber the margin for error is much smaller.”

PREDICTION

Ole Miss 33, Liberty 30

Hugh Freeze will pull out all the stops in trying to spring this upset over his former team. Malik Willis gives the Flames’ a chance in the game, and the Rebels are a little banged up. Expect this one to be decided in the 4th quarter, as every game with Willis at quarterback for Liberty has been.